Replacement Spindle for benchtop milling machine

[magicniner]

I'd be really surprised if you couldn't get a local engineering company to do the press work for you.
My little benchtop mill is based on the Connect Contour, the smaller model than yours I think.
A 10mm Endmill holder gives me 8 1/2" Z clearance, ER11 collet chucks on short 10mm shanks take 1" of that, then add the cutter protrusion of choice.
I've profile cut stainless parts 12mm deep from solid with 6mm single and 2 flute cutters in an ER11 in the 10mm endmill holder, it's not fast but it does it and tool life is OK.


I'm in the process of machining a column to take an Emco milling head for a friend, he has a high speed spindle and it doesn't come down to low enough speeds with high enough torque to do much of what he wants,

- Nick

[Rabs]

I'd be really surprised if you couldn't get a local engineering company to do the press work for you.

I'm sure you are right but that's not the route I want to go down. It would take a lot of my time (and probably quite a bit of money) to extract all the parts, source replacements, find someone to reassemble it, take it to them and then hope (with no guarantee) that it works and runs true when it get it all back together. Once I've factored in the cost of this and the 2 or 3 easychange holders I'd need to buy it's going to be more expensive than any of the replacement spindles I'm looking at. So, as I say, I'm not going to try to repair what is there at the moment.

I'm in the process of machining a column to take an Emco milling head for a friend, he has a high speed spindle and it doesn't come down to low enough speeds with high enough torque to do much of what he wants,
- Nick

That's interesting. Do you know where he got the milling head? Does someone sell them as spares? One of the problems with my list is that most of them are coming from overseas, so if there is a UK supplier of spare parts for a suitable mill then that might be a good option.


Thanks for your help

[magicniner]

That's interesting. Do you know where he got the milling head? Does someone sell them as spares? One of the problems with my list is that most of them are coming from overseas, so if there is a UK supplier of spare parts for a suitable mill then that might be a good option.

I don't think it would work for you, it's small and you'd have no-where to mount a motor, it's not an "off the shelf" solution.

My suggestions were all aimed at getting it up and running as quickly as possible with the least cost and the best overall machining capacity.
Buy a spindle that fits where the old quill went and live with the speeds/torque/tool capacity you get but don't throw away the old bits, they will enhance the resale value,

- Nick

[m_c]

Are the original bearings noisy?
If they're not noisy, I'd try adjusting them up, and then test it again. Even if you just tighten the one ring to remove play, it'll give you a far better idea of what condition the spindle is in.

As for potential replacements, it'll depend on the space available. Do you have any photos of the existing head?
Personally, I'd be looking at something that makes tool changes reasonably easy, like a BT spindle, so you can swap tools without having to worry about setting tool lengths.