Three phase motor choice

[Mud]

Mud,
I'm not the expert here but that 2.2Kw (3HP) motor weighs 22Kg before you add the rest of the gear you need to drive the spindle. Most of us here use a Chinese water cooled 2.2Kw spindle that is somewhat lighter and runs up to 24,000 rpm without the complexity of a pulley system and separate spindle. BST Automation (owned by the unlikely named 'Fred') is a well regarded supplier. This link shows you the package...

This spindle includes an ER20 collet chuck which will hold (if you buy a separate set of standard ER20 collets) any tool sized from 1mm to 13mm.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/7139...348c696fzeIZSW

Kit

Hi Kitwn, I've got a couple of machines with those spindles (a 2.2kW and a 3.0kW), and this time around I fancied doing it a bit differently. In my experience those spindles work well up to a 6mm cutter in aluminium, but not much further.

Note the Brook-Crompton's note on shaft seals at the higher quoted RPMs - clearly a cautionary note about running too fast.

Heh, true...I'm thinking the 2.2kW Universal motor is probably the winner right now as it's lighter and half the price. I've got an 85:34 pulley ratio on hand so 10.5k rpm is achievable. I guess that's still HSM, and with a decent flood setup and the high torque I hope to trouble more than just the end of the cutter ;)