decent quality small spindle?
So I bought a Nomad 883 pro and its been great to teach me about cnc but its never been quite as capable a machine as I need. So I'm looking in to building my own similar design, similar work envelope, just way more rigid. Current plan involves ordering granite parts from china but we'll se what that ends up costing.
My main issue in my budgeting process has been finding a spindle. It all seems to be cheapo Chinese stuff so can anyone give some recommendations one some better options?
I'm looking for something capable of >15k rpm probably er11 or 16. Not planning on doing metal machining but I want to do good quality plastic and hardwood machining in a speedy manner.
Re: decent quality small spindle?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
belzzz
So I bought a Nomad 883 pro and its been great to teach me about cnc but its never been quite as capable a machine as I need. So I'm looking in to building my own similar design, similar work envelope, just way more rigid. Current plan involves ordering granite parts from china but we'll se what that ends up costing.
My main issue in my budgeting process has been finding a spindle. It all seems to be cheapo Chinese stuff so can anyone give some recommendations one some better options?
I'm looking for something capable of >15k rpm probably er11 or 16. Not planning on doing metal machining but I want to do good quality plastic and hardwood machining in a speedy manner.
If budget is the issue then importing granite from China seems like an unnecessary expense (as it's super heavy).
If you're only cutting wood and plastic then granite is overkill. It's benefit is in vibration damping for metal milling.
As for the spindle, there are tons of low cost options for cutting wood at 15,000rpm+ but needing it to be "speedy" doesn't tell enough about the application for a recommendation.
If you were starting a wood furniture business then opinions would differ to someone making a few hobby parts. Almost any cnc spindle or handheld router from home depot can cut wood. What do you mean by speedy?
Re: decent quality small spindle?
My main problems with the Nomad has been rigidity resonance and the relatively slow spindle (10k). My goal with this build is to make something that is very quite and compact (live in an apartment) (the loudest thing in the setup needs to be the quietest vacuum i can find for chip removal).
So I've been toying with the idea of using cheap/used granite surface plates/rulers for parts of the frame and perhaps custom order some granite parts. Seems like a good idea since I need the weight for such a small machine.
Why I'm being a bit picky is I've found that to get good surface finish on plastics with small tools <3mm you need good runout and so on so I'm hesitant to buy some woodworking/ebay stuff...
Application... it's just hobby projects, gears and sprockets, 3d relies and other things. Mostly plastics some hardwood. It would be nice to do non ferrous but frankly I can do without that mess... work envelope of the Nomad is 8x8x3in and as I'll go for something similar. (so no furniture)
I'm currently looking at mechatron HFS-6508-24-ER11 but I was wondering if there were any alternatives, perhaps something belt driven to make it less tall, I am thinking water-cooled though since I will be making the machine properly enclosed for noise.
Re: decent quality small spindle?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
belzzz
My main problems with the Nomad has been rigidity resonance and the relatively slow spindle (10k). My goal with this build is to make something that is very quite and compact (live in an apartment) (the loudest thing in the setup needs to be the quietest vacuum i can find for chip removal).
So I've been toying with the idea of using cheap/used granite surface plates/rulers for parts of the frame and perhaps custom order some granite parts. Seems like a good idea since I need the weight for such a small machine.
Why I'm being a bit picky is I've found that to get good surface finish on plastics with small tools <3mm you need good runout and so on so I'm hesitant to buy some woodworking/ebay stuff...
Application... it's just hobby projects, gears and sprockets, 3d relies and other things. Mostly plastics some hardwood. It would be nice to do non ferrous but frankly I can do without that mess... work envelope of the Nomad is 8x8x3in and as I'll go for something similar. (so no furniture)
I'm currently looking at mechatron
HFS-6508-24-ER11 but I was wondering if there were any alternatives, perhaps something belt driven to make it less tall, I am thinking water-cooled though since I will be making the machine properly enclosed for noise.
I doubt the performance on that one you linked would be any better than any of the far cheaper 2.2kw water cooled Chinese spindles off ebay. Especially on a small diy machine.
Real precision spindles are a lot more expensive (add an extra zero) but you may find a deal on a used Jager or Precise spindle on ebay though.
For a new spindle, a 1500 euro budget provides plenty of options. With an enclosure any small water or electric fan cooled spindle should be quiet enough not to disturb your neighbors. The cutting noise may though...
I use a 5.6kw electric fan cooled PDS spindle in my garage. The fan sounds loud in the room but I can't hear it from the rest of the house. Just avoid shaft fan spindles as they are all loud.
Take a look at the smaller Teknomotor electric fan cooled options like this:
https://www.damencnc.com/en/electros...rpm/a3320?c=31
Or, if you have the extra cash, this one is more versatile:
https://www.damencnc.com/en/quicktoo...rpm/a3969?c=22
The Colombo RS line might be an option too. Like this:
https://www.northsi.com/collections/...motor-in-stock
Or, if you can wait, the PDS ADES and Adec line are nice. I have personal experience with them and the Colombo RS line.
IMO, you should set expectations on "precision" for your budget though. I paid 5x more to get a German made brand name spindle instead of a cheap Chinese one. I wouldn't do it again.
The build quality is definitely better on a PDS or Colombo spindle but there are so many other factors in performance, I can't honestly say that I notice a $2000 difference in finish quality.
As it's just for hobby use, I'd suggest grabbing a cheap 2.2kw 24,000rpm water cooled spindle off ebay and use hand-finishing to touch up plastic parts.
Plastic is very easy to sand and if you go up to 2000 grit then you'll achieve a far better finish than any spindle in any price range would leave.
Re: decent quality small spindle?
I had great success using a small 104Watt square BLDC Motor, its a bit expensive for its size but its very quite [Amazon item B08CMHPJ3S] also available on Aliexpress but not any cheaper
