Shopsmith Forums

Eventually I would like to do the 3-phase with variable speed controller mod. The original 10ER with the analog speed changer was able to spin at 6,800rpm. My question is; given new/modern ball bearings and lubricants, how fast could the arbor be safely spun?

I'm not trying to chase speed just for the sake of chasing speed. Small router bits should be spinned at much higher RPMs. So should flute cutters. I'm hoping that somebody has done some testing on this arena and that reliable numbers are known. 10k-to-12k would be a half useful speed for those.

I have not done any testing on high speeds, but the limiting factor would be the bearings.

I imagine as much, but I'm hoping that somebody would have done some testing after all these decades.

Given enough speed it could make for a half-decent overhead/pin router. Half decency would start around 10k RPMs, gaining on said decency the further it goes north from that.