[MechanoMan]

Anyone know about these Inverter? Are they better than the black round one?

SALE CNC Router Milling, CNC Laser, CNC plasma machine, China, Servo Motor Drive, UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Thailand

They don't give a name brand, so it's just another Chinese take-a-crap-in-a-box VFD.

Why are you still looking there? DrivesWarehouse will give you a 3HP Hitachi X200 for $255, free shipping. SAME PRICE. Or spend $200 on the 2HP... unlikely your spindle load will exceed 2HP anyways. But AFAIK, you DO need to match voltage, so don't buy a VFD that runs off 110V for a spindle designed for 220V. Will a 220V VFD drive a spindle designed for 110v? I dunno, maybe, it steps down voltage by design, so maybe, but I can't say. Really there's no need to try to figure that one out, just get parts that work together.

The spindle you're looking at is a 1.5KW, not a 2.2KW. I agree, these bearing claims are all dubious at best. SaleCNC seems to be in China so I'd say the chances of genuine NSK are "slim-to-none". If the bearings say "NSK", $5 will get you $10 that they're counterfeits of NSK. It may be difficult to determine if your bearing labeled "NSK" is a genuine NSK, and regardless, your ability to get a Chinese company to take it back is next to nil. The shipping alone would exceed the cost of getting it rebuilt with real bearings in the USA. It wouldn't matter if the bearings were made of cardboard labeled "HAHAHA Stupid Americans buy whatever we sell!" inside; you bought it and that's the end of the deal.

You could buy the "cheap" one, and buy genuine NSK bearings yourself, and press them in for less anyways.

I'll say this- I DO like their spindle mounts:
SALE CNC Router Milling, CNC Laser, CNC plasma machine, China, Servo Motor Drive, UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Thailand

"nice". People selling the 2.2KW spindles are a dime-a-dozen, but only a few places carry the essential spindle MOUNTS.

[diyengineer]

Damn that is a beefy mount. Looks to be cast.

I have the 80mm from K2cnc. All machined.
K2 CNC Mount for 80mm air or water cooled spindles | eBay

They don't give a name brand, so it's just another Chinese take-a-crap-in-a-box VFD.

Why are you still looking there? DrivesWarehouse will give you a 3HP Hitachi X200 for $255, free shipping. SAME PRICE. Or spend $200 on the 2HP... unlikely your spindle load will exceed 2HP anyways. But AFAIK, you DO need to match voltage, so don't buy a VFD that runs off 110V for a spindle designed for 220V. Will a 220V VFD drive a spindle designed for 110v? I dunno, maybe, it steps down voltage by design, so maybe, but I can't say. Really there's no need to try to figure that one out, just get parts that work together.

The spindle you're looking at is a 1.5KW, not a 2.2KW. I agree, these bearing claims are all dubious at best. SaleCNC seems to be in China so I'd say the chances of genuine NSK are "slim-to-none". If the bearings say "NSK", $5 will get you $10 that they're counterfeits of NSK.

You could buy the "cheap" one, and buy genuine NSK bearings yourself, and press them in for less anyways.

I'll say this- I DO like their spindle mounts:
SALE CNC Router Milling, CNC Laser, CNC plasma machine, China, Servo Motor Drive, UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Thailand

"nice". People selling the 2.2KW spindles are a dime-a-dozen, but only a few places carry the essential spindle MOUNTS.

[jimmyaz]

Humm.. I am a bit confused now.

So the Hitachi X200 is the driver right? 3hp or 2hp depend on which Spindle Motor i chose... So which Spindle is a good choice to go with it then?

I think I only need 2hp.

[ger21]

2.2kw = 3HP

[testfly]

And 1.5 kw = 2 hp.

I used K2's mount for my water cooled spindle.
http://www.seabreezeparachutes.com/2...oled-1.5kw.wmv

You can't believe how quiet the water cooled spindle is.

[MechanoMan]

There is no harm in putting a lower-power spindle on a more powerful VFD. The VFD should be configured to handle it, the VFD must be manually configured for your spindle anyways.

AFAIK, there is also no danger in putting a larger spindle on a smaller VFD, as long as the load does not exceed the VFD capacity. From what I can tell, it sounds like people are saying 2.2KW is major overkill. I'm guessing wood routers probably never get about 0.5KW. I'm guessing the larger spindle runs cooler though.

But, if the VFD's max capacity is exceeded- or you have the VFD programmed for "my spindle's a 1.5KW, I know you're a 2.2KW VFD and all but don't give my spindle more than 1.5KW", the VFD will have to decrease the voltage to the spindle and slow it down IF the maximum power is exceeded. That's bad. Your CNC rails will not know to slow down. Instead, they'll drive through the oak at the same speed, the spindle is not going fast enough and may load even deeper as the teeth have to take a bigger bite of wood per rotation.

At best, the finish will be inconsistent, at worst, the slower speed demands more current, the VFD says no, go slower, but this only increases current. The spindle stalls entirely, then either the bit breaks, the woodwork is yanked off the hold-down solution, or the gantry or drive system gets bent or stripped.

This is why people say "I could get a 1.5KW and save like $50 over the 2.2KW, but why?" and "I could save $40 by getting the Chinese VFD. Then again, I could stab myself with an icepick repeatedly. The question is, why would I do that to myself?"

[diyengineer]

"...Then again, I could stab myself with an icepick repeatedly. The question is, why would I do that to myself?"

hahahhaha!!!

[diyengineer]

And 1.5 kw = 2 hp.

I used K2's mount for my water cooled spindle.
http://www.seabreezeparachutes.com/2...oled-1.5kw.wmv

You can't believe how quiet the water cooled spindle is.

What kind of foam is that? Looks like it machined well. I'm a begginer and wouldn't mind starting off in something soft incase i screw up ya know?

Thanks!! (i also have the same K2 mount, i like it a lot.)

[MechanoMan]

Looks like extruded polystyrene (Styrofoam) wallboard to me.

Cuts quite easily, a long bit like that can chatter in other materials. It's dirt cheap... of course, it's also only got a limited niche of things which require little strength but must be lightweight, like things that fly... or, just as insulation.

[jimmyaz]

What kind of foam is that? Looks like it machined well. I'm a begginer and wouldn't mind starting off in something soft incase i screw up ya know?

Thanks!! (i also have the same K2 mount, i like it a lot.)

I think those are called Blue Core, homedepot and lowe's sometime have them (depend on seasonal or something like that) Normally people use them to build RC airplane or flying things. work good, cheap.

[rowbare]

But AFAIK, you DO need to match voltage, so don't buy a VFD that runs off 110V for a spindle designed for 220V.

You have to look at both specs. A 110V input VFD can output 220V. A VFD basically converts to DC and then back to AC. However most 110V input VFDs are limited to motors in the 1HP range.

bob

[jimmyaz]

So complicated! I think I am going to build my own, since I have a lathe.

Do you guys think a ER16 collet is strong enough for milling aluminum?

[rowbare]

So complicated! I think I am going to build my own, since I have a lathe.

Do you guys think a ER16 collet is strong enough for milling aluminum?

If you think this is complicated, wait till you start dealing with the complexity of building a spindle. There are a lot of threads here on the topic. Make sure you do sufficient research.

ER 16 collets work well in pretty much any material. Just make sure you torque the nut down to spec when dealing with high helix cutters. That will help prevent pullout. Torque Specifications Chart for Collet Nuts and Tool Holders

bob

[jimmyaz]

Hi bob,

Well.. you might be right, as I often found myself in the middle of a DYI saying... crap I should have just bought one instead.

But I guess what it come down to is... at least when it break I can fix it. By using a regular router with a dyi spindle there's no electronic involve that can break that I am not capable of fixing.

Well, I already bought the ER16 collet with 3/4 shank... let us pray.

[MechanoMan]

What are the options in buying quality replacement bearings?

Google is notoriously unhelpful. Searches for NSK 7005c mostly lead me to a) vendor sites which have no prices, or b) Alibaba Chinese vendor pages which are probably not NSK.

This makes it difficult to shop around, ya know.

[diyengineer]

What are the options in buying quality replacement bearings?

Google is notoriously unhelpful. Searches for NSK 7005c mostly lead me to a) vendor sites which have no prices, or b) Alibaba Chinese vendor pages which are probably not NSK.

This makes it difficult to shop around, ya know.

Replacement bearings, that are rated up to that high of speed cost more than the spindle. High quality bearings are not cheap. I got a quote from my local bearing dealing @ around $350. Sadly, Cheaper to just buy another spindle.

[MechanoMan]

I can't verify that no quality bearings can be had cheaply without more info. People SAY they aren't cheap but it's largely an assumption, no one has a lot of thorough info to back that up. I mean a LOT of tech items are crazy expensive, if obtainable at all, when bought direct from the official mfg salesperson while the same product, authentic, may be available online for a fraction of the price.

"Buying a replacement spindle" is somewhat pointless seeing as you'll buy the same problem all over again. "Buying a spindle with better bearings" sounds sweet in theory, but there's no way to tell whether you're actually getting better bearings. In my experience, determining the quality by the price is poor judgement, merely shopping for the highest-price seller would be foolish. You could literally have a vendor who can't sell a spindle at $300 mark it up to $450 to make it sell as a "premium" item.

My best idea would be to buy the cheapest spindle around and buy and install bearings of "known" quality myself.

[diyengineer]

"Buying a replacement spindle" is somewhat pointless seeing as you'll buy the same problem all over again.

What "problems" are you having?

I've talked to a few people that run there spindles 8 hours a day M-F, all year round making them $$. Most average a year and a half from that source, and his application. Not bad for at all. Of course you always have a few bad apples here and there. "mileage may vary".

Prices from love happy shopping on ebay (including shipping, no VFD).

.8KW= $201
1.5KW air cooled = $220
1.5kw water cooled= $220
2.2KW watercooled= $313
3kw air cooled= $400

If you can get a year of service out of them, running them all week long, all year, making $$ its basically an expendable item and a tax write off.. If your a hobbyist and not using it for business, then it will probably last you an extremely long time if your just fooling around on the weekends.

Really what other options do we have? A 2.2KW HSD spindle costs almost $2600 dollars. A PDS Colombo spindle costs $3-$4K.


$313 dollars starts to sound really good Damn these cnc machines. They nickel and dime us to death, and there so addicting! haha

[lgalla]

Colombo spindles are not as expensive as you say but still pricey.I would buy the Colombo to save on the worry of a Chinese spindle not working on delivery or having a short life span.A breakdown is going to cost a bundle if your living is made with your machine.
http://store.kvalinc.com/colombo-c808.aspx

[diyengineer]

Colombo spindles are not as expensive as you say but still pricey.I would buy the Colombo to save on the worry of a Chinese spindle not working on delivery or having a short life span.A breakdown is going to cost a bundle if your living is made with your machine.
Motors, Routers, Electrical Components / Motors, Servos, Amplifiers, Routers / Colombo -- KVAL INC Online Store

wow! Those prices are really good. No wonder why DynaCNC went out of business. that is what they were trying to charge me for a Colombo 2 years ago. Maybe they just saw a chance to take advantage of me, since i was "new" to every thing.

Anyways, that link is awesome! Thanks lgalla!