Hello Matt & John here. Excited CNC Newbies

[m.marino]

I agree with Irving on this one. The large spindle with increased ability does NOT have enough weight to require re-tuning the motors but does have enough power to do pretty much anything you will need for a good bit of time to come. Fair warning you might find the 3040 type machine to be a very temporary item in your shop or at most the one for the small jobs in the very near future if you start getting into any larger signs or panel work. Also be aware that the Break out board/ drivers have a known history of not lasting long.

Best wishes and best of luck with your work. Welcome to the forum and hope things go well from here.

Michael

[Jonathan]

It would still be wise to check the tuning of the motors when you have installed the new spindle, since although the increase in mass of the gantry is not that great, if the machine is already set close to the limit you could have problems (or vice versa).

Annoyingly the price of these spindles doesn't drop much for the lower power (0.8kW, 1.5kW) spindles, so it's far better value to get a 2.2kW spindle however that might be a bit too heavy for the gantry? You would never actually draw 2.2kW from the spindle, but may still approach it's limit since the power rating is significantly reduced at low speeds. This makes drilling aluminium more difficult for instance if you get a lower power spindle.