Hello, here is my new machine

[Lee Roberts]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-1-5KW-...EAAOSwurZZIn4H

anygood?

Hiya,

Its an upgrade to what your machine will come with that's for sure, the only thing I would consider is that it has an ER11 size collet.

Although thinking about it more and giving the overall strength of such machine consideration, ER11 is probably about the right limit to place on it...

...a machine like this really isn't designed to cope well with any kind of substantial machining.

Bigger Tooling = Bigger Forces

[ravihotwok]

Cheers lee, this machine is pretty much only going to be used for engraving fibreglass and plastics, not sure how well it will cope with that?

[Clive S]

The motor you linked to is air cooled and very noisy the water cooled one's are very quiet. You will also need a VFD to power it.

[A_Camera]

The motor you linked to is air cooled and very noisy the water cooled one's are very quiet. You will also need a VFD to power it.

The one he linked to is not going to work anyway because his machine is just not made for these large spindles. Also, in regard of noise, I must say I disagree that it matters. I have a similar spindle, and while it may be noisier than a water cooled one, it is MUCH quieter than the one he has at the same RPM. I had a similar DC motor like he has and I know this for fact. Also, once the spindle starts cutting the cutting noise is several times more than the spindle noise. Not to mention the vac... :)

So, air cooled vs. water cooled... water cooled wins by miles when you cut air, but when you use it for cutting it makes no real difference at all.

[ravihotwok]

Cheers lads some good info there, hoping to have it connected to a pc this evening, like I say im mainly using it for engraving plastic and fibreglass sheets. What is a vfd? I have seen a few spindles for sale which have some sort of pcb stating mach 3 controlled or something to that description

[Desertboy]

I just bought a 2.2kw spindle and it arrived today I fitted it into the spindle mount (80mm you would need to buy new spindle mount and modify your machine to fit) and then weighed them both and it weighed 6.5kg's I would think that a 1.5kw would be far too heavy for your machine.

It's making me rethink my gantry and I have a lot chunkier aluminium than yours has in the first place.

I would go with the 500w spindle linked earlier if I were you as it seems more in range what your machine can handle and a drop in replacement.

[ravihotwok]

cheers desertboy, my head is in the shed now lol not sure which to buy

[ravihotwok]

is this a good compromise?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-0-8KW-...wAAOSw5cRZMk-X

[Desertboy]

is this a good compromise?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-0-8KW-...wAAOSw5cRZMk-X

If I were you I would just play with it as is for a week or 2 and see how you get on it will give you a better idea of what you want from it and then make a decision. I've found many many times in my life a rushed purchase as a band aid to a problem just cost you 3 times! 1st time when you buy it, 2nd time a cheap hack to try and fix it, 3rd time you buy the thing you should have in the first place.

[A_Camera]

is this a good compromise?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-0-8KW-...wAAOSw5cRZMk-X

You can't buy that one, as I said earlier.

1.) That one is a 65mm diameter and you have a 52mm diameter holder. Your Z is far too weak and small for that one, in my opinion it is not worth the effort of necessary modification.
2.) That spindle requires a VFD, and considering you asked above "what is a VFD?" I think the challenge of making it work will be too much for you. VFD = Variable Frequency Drive. Google for the details you want to know.

Just like I mentioned earlier, I think you should get a DC motor which is more powerful than the 200W which comes with your kit. I linked to a 500W, it is a motor with 52mm diameter and you can just simply replace your existing motor with this one. If the power supply is strong enough you can use the one you have, but if not then you may need to buy a stronger one.

The last option is to do nothing now, just learn how to use your machine, learn what you like and don't like in it and act accordingly. Maybe you are happy with it as it is, maybe you will want to buy or build a completely new one which is more rigid and more powerful. Don't underestimate plastic or fibre glass. Even those benefit from better machines or spindles.