Kress v trend

[motoxy]

Very new to cnc and building my first m/c. I was wondering about which small router would be best. I thought between kress 1050 and trend t4ek which has the removable base and is currently 1/2 the price of the kress. I am mainly intrested in m/c wood and maybe a bit of light ally work. Any thoughts?

bruce

[Jonathan]

This will be far better than any router:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-2KW-WATER-COOLED-SPINDLE-MOTOR-2-2KW-INVERTER-DRIVE-VFD-GRINDING-ENGRAVING-n4-/190618666009?pt=UK_BOI_Industrial_Automation_Contr ol_ET&hash=item2c61c20419

Get the 2.2kW as it takes ER20 collets which go up to 13mm which is good for 1/2" router cutters, compared to the 1.5kW spindle which only accepts up to 10mm.

When I bought mine I was thinking of getting a Kress and I'm glad I didn't. These spindles are much more rigid and have lower runout which is very important if you want to cut aluminium.

Also by the time you've added a set of collets on to the Kress it gets expensive.

[Web Goblin]

I have to agree with Jonathan on this one. If you are going to go down the cnc route then go for a router/spindle motor that is designed for cnc work.

Ian

[motoxy]

Thanks for that guys. I had seen these but had not given it much thought before. Seems to make sense. Just youtubed it and was suprised how much quieter it is.
2 questions. £258 inc delivery is that about right? And i take it that there are a few threads with various ideas on providing the water?

I will post some pictures of my attempt in the build log section. Please have a cushion ready for when you ROFL:rofl:

Thanks for your good advice.

Bruce

[Jonathan]

Just youtubed it and was suprised how much quieter it is.

Was that my video :lol:, it's had a surprising number of views! They are much much quieter, but bear in mind the actual cutting often makes more noise.


2 questions. £258 inc delivery is that about right? And i take it that there are a few threads with various ideas on providing the water?

Yes it is and yes there are threads about it. All you really need is a reasonably big (say 20L .. more the merrier) container of de-ionised water with anti-freeze or something to stop any algea growing. As long as the volume of water is big enough the cooling due to conduction/convection into the surrounding air is sufficient to keep it cool. There's no need to buy a fancy heat exchanger, colour the water green and put flashy lights on it :whistling:
Plenty of options for pumps - the pond pumps on eBay for <£20 are fine as long as you have the tank at a similar height to the Z-axis.

This is the seller I got mine from:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-2KW-WATER-COOLE-SPINDLE-MOTOR-ER20-INVERTER-DRIVE-e-/250792695325?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6468d61d

Use the best offer and you will get it cheaper.

[johngoodrich]

i got my pump on ebay for a fiver. its a whale caravn pump, 12v so you can run it from the computer psu aswell

[motoxy]

Thanks Jonathan. I have put up build log but I still have to be moderated:whistling:. I may as well go and order one as i need to think about my z gantry next. Need to do it when the wife's not watching. She still thinks I am starting a nice little cheap hobby.

Bruce

[Jonathan]

i got my pump on ebay for a fiver. its a whale caravn pump, 12v so you can run it from the computer psu aswell

I use, and suggested people use one of those, for quite a long time but mine died after several months. It turns out they are only rated for a 25% duty cycle (i.e. 15 mins on, 60min off) which implies it's going to break at some point if you run it constantly for the spindle.

[motoxy]

i got my pump on ebay for a fiver. its a whale caravn pump, 12v so you can run it from the computer psu aswell

You guys can be so adaptable. I will go searching for the £5 pump and then I can show the wife. She will think this is great.

Jonathan - Flashy lights... now theres a thought

[motoxy]

which implies it's going to break at some point if you run it constantly for the spindle.

Ouch!! Not good for a water cooled spindle. I would have thought that a submerged self cooling pump would probably be best. Or pond pump as you say.

Bruce

[Jonathan]

I will go searching for the £5 pump and then I can show the wife.

Like this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHALE-GP1002-12v-SUBMERSIBLE-PUMP-/220614405754?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item335da4ae7a

However:

http://www.whalepumps.com/documents/183.05.pdf

...says 'Duty Cycle 30 min' per hour. Clearly they do work for longer than that ... is it worth the risk though when you could get one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24w-Multi-Use-Submersible-Water-Pond-Pump-Filter-1400L-H-Aquarium-/180758732599?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2a160f5f37

The head on these pumps is not much, hence my suggesting you put the tank at about the same altitude as the spindle.

[motoxy]

I noticed this in the spec "This series have been equipped with thermal protectors in order that the motors will be able to cut off the power automatically once the motors get too hot while their working." Have you ever had a problem with them?

bruce

[motoxy]

Quick question. I really appreciate active moderation. Are all posts delayed for moderation or does it let up when the mods are happy with you. This is not a complaint just a query.

Bruce

[luke11cnc]

Yes it took over 27 hrs for my first post

I have a bush-less motor pond pump from eBay and it's working well I think I paid £15.00

I also have some tubing you are welcome to have just send me your address pm me your email and I will reply and then you can send me your address

How big is your CNC Machine going to be??


James

[Jonathan]

Moderation stops after a little while yes. When I joined there wasn't moderation.

Additional big advantage pond pumps is they use a brushless motor, so there are no brushes to wear out. That may be what happened on mine.

[motoxy]

The machine is a 600 x 1200 base. My posts are arriving out of sequence while in mod so please forgive me if you get a reply that only made sense 10 mins ago. lol

I have put up the start of my build log.

Bruce

[Jonathan]

My posts are arriving out of sequence while in mod so please forgive me if you get a reply that only made sense 10 mins ago. lol

That explains this then:

5165


I have put up the start of my build log.

But we can't see it yet due to the moderation!