Water cooled chinese spindle collets, Advice from owners please

[Jonathan]

Yep but better than sat on a shelf or in the scrap bin.!!

True, but even better would be to just couple it to a brushless RC motor and keep it as a high speed spindle. With the right motor it could be better than new...something like this:


http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=11187

Plus it's no big deal or expense to change the bearings know is it.!

Assuming you can find tapered roller bearings the same size, but that's rather unlikely as I think those spindles use a pair of 70xx series bearings?

Is it not a case of just ordering the CNC3040 with a larger spindle to cover a larger range of sizes? The 2.2 kw spindle can handle up to 1/2" and is man enough for most jobs including steel milling.

Ordering the CNC3040 without a spindle and getting the 2.2kW spindle separately might be easier? Either way it's worth asking.
I've found it's not really man enough for steel milling. I've made a couple of bits from mild steel with my cnc router and that spindle, but the problem is the torque at low rpm for that type of spindle is so low that you're limited to only very small cutters and running them a bit fast. A VFD with vector current control would help matters, but it's still going to have limited torque and rigidity.
If you actually want to cut steel regularly you need a lower rpm spindle and a much stronger machine than a CNC3040!