Hitachi 12vc is AWESOME!

[Earwigger]

My x-carve is finally all that I hoped it would be. The Hitachi EATS and allows the use of 1/2" end mills (in a 1/2" collet). Here are pictures. I used 1/4" aluminum plate, three sets of v-wheels along with easy to accomplish rigidity modifications. I planned to upgrade to larger steppers, but I really don't think it is necessary. The Hitachi's variable speed control seems to be very consistent as well.

Here it is partially assembled:

Front:

Three sets of v-wheels:

Mounted:

Half Inch Collett:

1/4" Depth of cut, 50 inches per minute, perfect cut in poplar (harder wood):

[Earwigger]

I do have a custom collet for my hitachi with 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2" inserts. It came from precisebits.com and supposedly has very, very low runout.

[EricDobroveanu]

That thing is BEEFY. Nice work

[MattThompson]

That's a beast!

[DavidBrown]

Just keep an eye on the X axis rails. With that kind of beast I'd look for twisting.

[Earwigger]

My X has 3/16" steel sandwiched in there. No twisting will occur.

[ChristopherCruz]

Wow!, Good to know, because I have one of these routers..... I'm not too keen on the 1/2 inch collet that came with it because I kept having to take it out of the router to pull off the bit.

Would you mind providing more info on your setup so that others like myself could possibly mimic?

[Earwigger]

Here is the collet I use (I don't have to remove it from the machine): http://www.precisebits.com/products/equipment/bosch_1618_kits.asp?tsPT=!!!Bosch_1618!!!KIT!!!PG!!!

Here is a link to the rigidity mods i did. This literally took one trip to the hardware store and about 3 hours of time (plus wire routing, belt-tightening, squaring, etc.). Some people are WAY over complicating some of these simple mods:

It seems to be working nicely. Here are pics of the mods: 3/16" steel sandwiched, y-axis supports, thicker, longer spindle mount with three wheels. Spindle Mount: http://garritanoreunion.com/rexel/rigidity/IMAG0681.jpg Sandwich: http://garritanoreunion.com/rexel/rigidity/IMAG0683.jpg Y-Axis Support: http://garritanoreunion.com/rexel/rigidity/IMAG0684.jpg

The Hitachi mount (I only used the two brackets, not the big black backboard): http://www.zenbotcnc.com/mounts/hitachi-m12vc

I used the standard spindle mount plate as a template and made it 1" taller and used three sets of v-wheels.

It is solid as a rock (at least compared to my last three machines).

[JayJohnson]

To be clear, what is the Hitachi Model?
Also, Did you state that you are using a collet on it from "Bosch"?