Big routers compatible with external speed controls

[Gerald Senburn]

I'd like to get a new router that's compatible with those external speed controls. But I all I can find are 1.75hp routers, are there any 3+ hp routers that will work with them?

[Curt Harms]

Any router that doesn't have soft start and/or built-in speed control will work with external speed controls AFAIK. I had a P-C8529's speed control fail and they can't be found for any price. I removed it, wired straight through and an external speed control works fine.

[Gerald Senburn]

Any router that doesn't have soft start and/or built-in speed control will work with external speed controls AFAIK

Right, the problem is that all the large routers I can find have one or both.

[Greg R Bradley]

You can still remove the cover/top to get to the electronic soft start or speed control and connect it directly to the switch and/or power cord. Connecting through the internal switch would still work fine unless the router has a switch that only controls the electronic soft start and speed control.

[Nathan Callender]

One thing easily missed is that with the external controllers you don't get any type of electronic speed feedback, so there's no way for the controller to compensate for load on the router. So, for example, if you set a large bit to spin at 14K with no load and then apply the load, the rpms drop and the controller doesn't compensate so the torque on the motor suffers. This isn't good as it will turn your large router into a very underpowered large router.

Anyway, that was my experience with these things - I went ahead and got a 3hp router with electronic feedback and was amazed at the difference.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

While designed for CNC use, these are probably the best speed controls you can get for a router. Uses an optical sensor for rpm feedback. Much more stable rpm than a built in speed control.

http://www.vhipe.com/product-private/SuperPID.htm

[Mike Heidrick]

The Super PID looks like a swwet add on to a cnc machine running mach!

[John Coloccia]

I'd like to get a new router that's compatible with those external speed controls. But I all I can find are 1.75hp routers, are there any 3+ hp routers that will work with them?


Right, the problem is that all the large routers I can find have one or both.

Why not just use the built in speed control?

[Gerald Senburn]

Why not just use the built in speed control?

Because I'm building a totally enclosed base with dust control, I'd like to be able to do everything without having to reach inside.

[Myk Rian]

Because I'm building a totally enclosed base with dust control, I'd like to be able to do everything without having to reach inside.
I just open the door, adjust the speed, and go to work. No pain, no strain.

[Curt Harms]

Because I'm building a totally enclosed base with dust control, I'd like to be able to do everything without having to reach inside.
I've not done it but I've seen where people have removed the integral speed control unit-mine had 3 wires excluding the neutral I think, extend the wires and mount the speed controller in a box and mount the box to the router table. Worth the hassle? Not for me to decide that.

[Nathan Callender]

Exactly what Curt said - if the pot isn't soldered onto a circuit board you could easily get it out of the enclosure and extend the leads. That would be much better than an external speed controller with no feedback.

[John Coloccia]

re: moving the speed control knob

If it's just an analog control, that will probably be fine. If it's digital, my immediate concern would be introducing noise into the system with unpredictable results.

[Brad Sperr]

I picked up an older Makita 3612 on ebay that's compatible with an external speed controller. I haven't tried using it with any larger bits at slower speeds, so I don't know how it performs.