Hi Fast Eddy,

Not sure how heavy your Porter Cable is, but my spindle (which is the watercooled 1.5KW version of the one you linked to) is around 4kg (dry). Might have been my post you read about? Link below -
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showth...or-mk2-upgrade!

As others have mentioned, this needs a 3 phase VFD supply. This can be manually started and stopped, or be controlled from the PC. I went for the 1.5KW water cooled unit (for the quietest operation, although you need to add your own cooling system). The air cooled ones will be slightly noisier due to the fan, but I would guess they are still nothing like a router.

I'm sure someone will correct me on this, but a router has a Universal Motor which is very powerful for it's size, but is always noisy. The spindles use Induction type motors which have no brushes and run very quietly. But they do need a special power supply.

I had read a few horror stories around the Chinese VFD units, so in the end went for a Moeller unit from a UK supplier:
http://www.inverter.co.uk/electric-m...eller-DV51.htm

Also bought the remote keypad, mains filter, and 200W brake (to slow it down when stopping). This was about £450 (on top of the spindle cost). I've yet to fire it all up (still finishing the machine itself), but think this will be great for wood, and OK for light occasional aluminium.

Going back to your Kress option you can control a router on/off with a relay board such as this:
http://www.diycnc.co.uk/html/exrelay.html

Barry