[Joa]

I'm looking for the best bang for the buck in a CNC router spindle that can handle very long router bits (actually endmills) for cutting foam. Probably something in the 3 hp - 5 hp range.

The cuts aren't that heavy but they need to be deep so the spindle needs to have beefy bearings to handle the loads put on the long bit.

Also, I would prefer that the spindle be fairly quiet.

Ideas?

Thanks folks.

[Joa]

Ideas?

[atwooddon]

If you are just cutting foam, I would not be that concerned about the bearing being 'stout', not much load on them cutting foam. However, I would be concernded about 'runout' and/or bits flexing under load due to the length.

Don

[Walky]

I would go with a chinese spindle and a good VFD (people in the forums seem to like Hitachi). Not that I've tried this option myself, but I've read a lot of opinions about it and it seems a reasonable choice if you're in a budget. In fact, I hope to be able to go that way too someday.

[Joa]

Is the runout acceptable and are the bearings pretty good in those Chinese spindles? What seems to be the common failure mode in them- what usually quits working first or needs servicing?