This is my first new post here and I am soon to be a first time CNC router owner. Right now I am trying to decide on a spindle. For my budget it looks like I can get a Chinese water cooled 2.2 kW spindle and Hitachi WJ200 VFD or move up to a 3 kW spindle with Huanyang VFD. I’ve read good things about the Hitachi VFD but have also read many posts here where people have been running the Huanyang VFD for years. I suspect the 2.2 kW spindle will be adequate but I do have the ‘Tim Taylor more power’ gene and if moving to a 3 kW spindle will be noticeable or significant then I would rather do that now than to find out in 6 months I should have gone with 3 kW in the first place. If moving to the 3 kW spindle reduces machining time 20%, for instance, then it is a good move but without prior experience on these I don't have a gut feeling for the difference between the two spindles and their power.
This will be a 4 axis 2’x4’ welded steel frame with THK style linear rails and R&P, NEMA 34 637 oz. in. motors, and I will be cutting hardwoods like Walnut and Maple along with some exotic woods and the occasional milling of aluminum and MDF. I'll also do some work in White Pine and other softer woods but I imagine either of these spindles will cut through those woods like a hot knife through butter.
I am building acoustic guitars and will use the CNC for that to a degree, probably more for making accurate molds, templates, jigs and fixtures, but have many other things I intend to make from signs to artsy designer accessories for homes to whatever will fit on the machine. I have a couple of local shops wanting me to do some small production runs for custom hardwood and exotic trim for mantles, kitchens, etc. but not sheet goods or cabinet doors. I also plan to add an A axis for doing some rotary work but that won’t be in the initial build. While I don’t play electric guitar and may never build one I do have some guys wanting me to cut some solid bodies for them, so if the 3 kW spindle speeds this and other jobs then it is probably a good move.
So the question on the table is 2.2 kW with Hitachi or 3 kW with Huanyang – thanks!
David