[DIYedInTheWool]

Does anyone know of a small cnc mechanical-only kit with a 80mm spindle mount? Or has anybody made simple mods to the inexpensive, ubiquitous 3040 kits to fit the big spindle?

Or, backing up--I'm thinking about doing the thing where I set up a starter cnc to build a DIY cnc. I'd like to buy hefty (Nema 23) electronics and an 80mm spindle for a bigger DIY router project, then first pop them onto a small (3040?) frame to mill custom aluminum plates for my build. I would then have some fun building the mechanicals of the big router, then move the electronics and spindle over to the new machine and maybe sell off the small kit just as I received it, hopefully no worse for the wear. I could just have my custom plates machined locally but the price is actually comparable to the cost of a cheap mechanical-only 3040 kit, and making them myself I would have more freedom to iterate and get things perfect and have fun and gain experience in the process because it's a hobby thing for me anyway.

Any advice about a good starter/plate maker setup you guys have seen that can re-use as many components as possible? Thanks!

[DIYedInTheWool]

This guy has done it. He explains my exact situation in the 1st minute of his video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htsXSj8kclI

It looks like he just made a custom mounting plate for a standard 80mm bracket for a kit that originally came with a smaller spindle mount. No big deal, but it's just that some of the kits look like the spindle mount might be integrated with the z-axis bearing housings (http://chinaplccenter.com/image/cach...r3-750x750.jpg), hard to tell, so I thought it might not be totally simple, esp. without access to good equipment. Nobody's seen a similar kit with an 80mm mount stock?