Using Shark on Metal

Discussion specifically about the Shark's bigger brother, the CNC Shark Pro

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Doug
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:29 pm

Using Shark on Metal

Post by Doug »

Has anyone used their Shark for drilling into 10GA steel panels? I have approx 400 24 x 24 panels that I need to drill 30 holes into each one. Each panel has the exact hole pattern. I have used mine for milling some soft metal but not for drilling a number of holes. One of the concerns I have is the metal shavings and cutting oil getting on future wood projects. All thoughts and recommendations are welcome.
Doug

rungemach
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:24 am
Location: Sarasota, Florida

Re: Using Shark on Metal

Post by rungemach »

Hello Doug

If you are using a pro (non HD) machine with a colt router, I do not suggest drilling holes with it in anything harder than wood..

The main reason is that the colt is not made for plunge type cutting, it is a trim router and made for side cutting. What will happen is the the axial force pushing up on the drill bit will eventually (pretty quickly) push the lower router bearing up into the housing and loosen it up. There is no positive stop for this bearing as it is pushed in from the top when assembled. A wave spring on the top bearing will push the armature assembly back down into place when the force is removed. The result of this movement is that the bottom bearing gets loose and sloppy as the bearing bore expands. Then all your other cuts get sloppy and the router gets loose and noisy. The lower bearing in the colt is pressed into a composite material bore that allows it to get loose. Since it is the housing that gets loose, replacing the bearing has no effect, you have to replace the lower housing to fix it.

Since you are trying to cut steel, If you have a colt router I would not use your shark for this. You could however, use the shark to make a drill template in a softer material, that you could use to locate the holes on the panels when you drill them another way. Since you have 400 pcs, it sounds like match for a job shop with a cnc punch or laser cutter.

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