The main problem I can see is that the C26 has two spindle speeds of 4,000 and 6,500 rpm respectively. These speeds are simply too slow for a router cutter and are designed with conventional spindle moulder cutterblocks in mind. To begin using a spindle with router tooling you ideally need a machine capable of 12,000 to 15,000 rpm (like the Felder) as even 10,000 can reduce the feed rate to a crawl and can result in poor quality of cut.
To demonstrate the point:
A 100mm 2-flute spindle moulder cutterblock is run at 6,500 rpm. This gives it a peripheral speed of approximately 2040 m/min and with a feed speed of 6 metres/min will give 2.166 cuts/mm (or a cut pitch of 0.46mm). That is a very acceptable feed speed and surface quality for most purposes and the peripheral speed is high enough to ensure good severing of wood fibres.
A 25mm 2-flute router cutter is run at the same speed. It gives a peripheral speed of approximately 510 m/min and the same number of cuts per inch as the spindle moulder block above. The difference is that the peripheral speed is too low to cut cleanly. Ideally we aim for at least 1250 to 1500 m/min peripheral speed on cutter blocks to ensure clean severing of fibres. The same 25mm router cutter run in a router at 18,000 rpm would yield a peripheral speed of 1414 m/min.
So the problem of running a router cutter in a spindle moulder is that the rotation speed is just too low in most cases to ensure a good quality of cut.
For the mathematically inclined the calculations are as follows:
Peripheral speed = Pi (22/7) x Diameter of cutter (in metres) * Spindle revs/min
Cuts per mm = (No. of cutter flutes x Spindle revs/min) / Feed rate in m/min
Cut pitch (mm per cut) = 1 / Cuts per mm
Hand feed work can often be done at between 2 and 6 metres/min on the spindle moulder with similar feed rates achievable on the router
Scrit