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IndustryArena Forum > CNC Electronics > Spindles / VFD > Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    19

    Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    I've been using a 2.2kw spindle for several years now and it has served me well. I'm getting two new machines and need to get a spindle or 2. I'm thinking about moving up to a 4.5kw spindle or a 7.5kw spindle. My shop is located in an industrial zone and I have good 220 power. I'm going to be machining a lot of bronze and aluminum.

    For a VFD I was looking at the Huanyang GT. Just not finding that much info on it. It's also important to me that I can set the VFD to display RPM. The few video's I've seen used 300 hz etc. I tried that for a minute on my 2.2kw spindle and hated it.

    I'm leaning towards a 4.5kw chineese spindle for price and since it's water cooled. All the 7.5kw I'm finding at good prices tend to be fan cooled and I'm worried how they will hold up with my all day run times.

    If anyone can share some spindle/vfd recommendations I would appreciate it.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    926

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    I use a 5.6kw spindle with a "7.5kw" HY GT VFD.

    On mine it displays HZ when I adjust it and voltage when it's running. I'm not sure if it can be changed. It's definitely annoying but not enough for me to start trying to read their pigeon-English manuals again...

    They aren't the best VFDs or even good but they work and are the cheapest. That is the only reason to get one.

    You have to go up a a size or two even though they advertise 1ph in / 3ph out, so you can't use their 7.5kw vfd for a 7.5kw spindle.

    Unless your 2.2kw spindles are stalling, I wouldn't recommend going up in power. Upgrading from a 2.2kw 24,000rpm to a 4.5kw 24,000rpm spindle won't allow you to use large tools or work well at low speed etc.

    You may be able to take slightly more aggressive cuts in wood. If the aim is to use 3/4"+ tools in aluminum then you're better off adding a second belt drive spindle with a gear reduction.

    Or, upgrading to a 2.2kw spindle that reaches full power at 6000rpm like this:

    https://www.damencnc.com/en/quicktoo...rpm/a3969?c=22

    It has way more low speed torque than my 5.6kw spindle without wasting power when using small tools at high speed.

    My spindle uses an electric fan. It works fine for all day use as long as I cut aluminum with coolant. It's better than a Chinese shaft fan spindle as it cools even at lower speed. Water cooling is still better though.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    19

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Thanks for the input. I know on my current cnc I haven't ran into any stalling issues unless I made a mistake. But I also can't always run at the full recommended feeds due to a lack of machine rigidity. That's really the main reason I'm getting more rigid machines, to go faster. One will use flood cooling and the other will use a mister. I do need to get at least one new spindle though. I think I'll follow your lead and pair a WC 4.5kw spindle to a 7.5KW HY GT VFD. In the upcoming year I do plan to get an ATC going. I'm just really not looking forward to figuring it all out. I almost ordered an ATC cnc from china to have something plug and play but shipping was insane and the machine didn't fully meet my needs.

    My best

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    15362

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Quote Originally Posted by CFANDZ View Post
    I've been using a 2.2kw spindle for several years now and it has served me well. I'm getting two new machines and need to get a spindle or 2. I'm thinking about moving up to a 4.5kw spindle or a 7.5kw spindle. My shop is located in an industrial zone and I have good 220 power. I'm going to be machining a lot of bronze and aluminum.

    For a VFD I was looking at the Huanyang GT. Just not finding that much info on it. It's also important to me that I can set the VFD to display RPM. The few video's I've seen used 300 hz etc. I tried that for a minute on my 2.2kw spindle and hated it.

    I'm leaning towards a 4.5kw chineese spindle for price and since it's water cooled. All the 7.5kw I'm finding at good prices tend to be fan cooled and I'm worried how they will hold up with my all day run times.

    If anyone can share some spindle/vfd recommendations I would appreciate it.
    Videos can give you bad information, there are some spindles that are 300Hz 18,000 RPM

    If your spindle is 400Hz then the Parameters must be set for 400Hz

    The HY GT VFD Drive works well and it can display RPM you just have to use the shift Key to select it
    Mactec54

  5. #5

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Quote Originally Posted by CFANDZ View Post
    I've been using a 2.2kw spindle for several years now and it has served me well. I'm getting two new machines and need to get a spindle or 2. I'm thinking about moving up to a 4.5kw spindle or a 7.5kw spindle. My shop is located in an industrial zone and I have good 220 power. I'm going to be machining a lot of bronze and aluminum.

    For a VFD I was looking at the Huanyang GT. Just not finding that much info on it. It's also important to me that I can set the VFD to display RPM. The few video's I've seen used 300 hz etc. I tried that for a minute on my 2.2kw spindle and hated it.

    I'm leaning towards a 4.5kw chineese spindle for price and since it's water cooled. All the 7.5kw I'm finding at good prices tend to be fan cooled and I'm worried how they will hold up with my all day run times.

    If anyone can share some spindle/vfd recommendations I would appreciate it.
    4.5KW should be enough.
    http://cncmakers.com/cnc/controllers/CNC_Controller_System/CNC_Retrofit_Package.html

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    926

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Quote Originally Posted by CFANDZ View Post
    Thanks for the input. I know on my current cnc I haven't ran into any stalling issues unless I made a mistake. But I also can't always run at the full recommended feeds due to a lack of machine rigidity. That's really the main reason I'm getting more rigid machines, to go faster. One will use flood cooling and the other will use a mister. I do need to get at least one new spindle though. I think I'll follow your lead and pair a WC 4.5kw spindle to a 7.5KW HY GT VFD. In the upcoming year I do plan to get an ATC going. I'm just really not looking forward to figuring it all out. I almost ordered an ATC cnc from china to have something plug and play but shipping was insane and the machine didn't fully meet my needs.

    My best
    If possible, look for a spindle that hits 4.5kw at 12,000rpm instead of one that doesn't reach full power until 24,000rpm. It will be a more meaningful upgrade if the goal is to work faster and take advantage of the improved stiffness of the new machine.

    4.5kw / 12,000 delivers 2.6 ft lb of torque which should be enough to use some 1/2" and 5/8" for roughing in aluminum. In my (albeit limited) experience, this should help improve the work time. Roughing with a tiny twig is painful to watch.

    With that said, power is only one factor. There's speed and precision in aluminum too. I love watching this Datron video where they make an aluminum mold on 2,000lb / 3kw spindle machine faster and better than many 20hp+ 16,000lb VMCs:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lh600hVyt8

    The reason I chose to spend $2000+ on a PDS spindle instead of a Chinese ATC spindle is that I was worried about run-out and build quality. I didn't want the spindle to be the limiting factor.

    I still don't know if I made the right call. If you buy a Chinese ATC spindle, please let us know how you get on with it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    19

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Goemon, if you don't mind the next time you have your HY GT running with the spindle on, can you hit the shift key and see if it switches to RPM's? I read a comment from HY rep that said just hit shift while the spindle was running.

    In my experience you can't go wrong with quality parts. The new spindles are going to be temporary as we workout a path to going with some ATC solutions.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    15362

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Quote Originally Posted by CFANDZ View Post
    Goemon, if you don't mind the next time you have your HY GT running with the spindle on, can you hit the shift key and see if it switches to RPM's? I read a comment from HY rep that said just hit shift while the spindle was running.

    In my experience you can't go wrong with quality parts. The new spindles are going to be temporary as we workout a path to going with some ATC solutions.
    Yes that is all you have to do, it does not always need to be running to do that also if you can select that mode at any time, the same as the regular HY VFD Drives
    Mactec54

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    19

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Thanks for the info.I'll give it a try tomorrow.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    926

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    Quote Originally Posted by CFANDZ View Post
    Goemon, if you don't mind the next time you have your HY GT running with the spindle on, can you hit the shift key and see if it switches to RPM's? I read a comment from HY rep that said just hit shift while the spindle was running.

    In my experience you can't go wrong with quality parts. The new spindles are going to be temporary as we workout a path to going with some ATC solutions.
    It works. I was able to make mine display rpm. That's way better!

    Obviously higher quality is better than lower quality but "fit for purpose" is also important. Especially for hobby and small business use.

    A $15,000 - $25,000 Weiss spindle probably won't deliver that kind of value on a diy 80/20 T-slot build.

    And, while some here may consider a $2,500 Colombo MTC spindle to be high quality, they are really entry level spindles. They aren't much different under the hood to Chinese spindles.

    The key differences are a higher grade of bearings and thicker casing. There's a small improvement in the finish they leave on aluminum. On wood you probably wouldn't see any difference.

    ATC spindles are different though because the tool clamp and actuator bolt is a common point of failure (even on non-Chinese spindles). I wouldn't touch any of the Chinese ISO30 or ISO20 models...

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    19

    Re: Moving up to a 4.5 or 7.5kw spindle?

    I checked out the shift button on mine too and was able to cycle through all the options. The Amps selection is interesting. You can use it to track your tool life. I've started recording my amp readings for new tools and hopefully will be able to gauge better when I'm getting closer to need a new bit as the amp draw climbs higher.

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