Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan View Post
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:
Yep thats an option but not one I'll be taking and for what I need it will be fine just the how it is.



Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan View Post
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?
But I have lathe and know how to use it so again no great deal, but again won't happen has it won't be needed for my needs.

Quote Originally Posted by Ali Kat View Post
Is it not a case of just ordering the CNC3040 with a larger spindle to cover a larger range of sizes?
Ah ah best laugh I've had all morning.! . . . My experience with these small crap machines is they struggle to even lift the Z axis with 2.2KW weight never mind be usable.!!


Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan View Post
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.
Not strictly correct.!
Yes using standard milling cutters and techniques then yes they are way too fast but with correct high speed tooling designed to run dry and high speed milling techniques then they work fine in steel. The down side being the cutters are expensive and it can take longer because you can't hog big lumps out but it still does a good job without stressing the machine or spindle.