Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

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Liendeni
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Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by Liendeni »

New to forum...new to CNC. Tried to do a search first and see if I could find my own answer first with no luck. Anybody here ever do a swamp from the PC router to a Spindle on a ShopSabre? I have the ShopSabre23 and WOW...is this Router LOUD! I have Festool, Dewalt, and Big Orange routers but this PC takes the cake. When I put in my order for the machine I thought, "Ahh...how loud can it be?" 10x louder than you would think...that's how loud. So looking to upgrade to a spindle. Already talked to ShopSabre but on the fence if I want to buy a Spindle from then and still have to do the install myself.

"Get to your point!"

Okay...okay...anybody ever do a swap or have any advice on this? When I bought the machine I figured it would be an unplug this one...and plug this new one in kind of thing. Appears to be much more complicated than this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

GD

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martin54
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by martin54 »

difficult question to answer because it comes down to personal background, equipment you own, cost & time :lol: :lol:
Don't know about shopsabre or how easy the job would be but I have an old gerber system 48 so machine isn't manufactured anymore & absolutely no support from Gerber. My PC router was beyond repair & PC are not so easy to purchase or deal with in UK so I purchesed a spindle & mount to fit to my machine.
The z axis set up using the PC router had to be modified a bit to enable me to fit the new spindle mount, this involved making a new Aluminium plate which was drilled for the new mound & then drilling to fit the old mounting point on the z axis. I needed to be able to measure & drill accurately to be able to do that but having an engineering background & access to suitable equipment it wasn't a problem.

So it comes down to the start of my post, do you have the ability to do something like that if required, if you already have a cnc up & running then you already have most of the equipment side covered :lol: :lol: If you do & you have the time then you will probably save money :lol:

If you don't then I would guess shopsabre can sell you everything you need & it would be more of a nuts & bolts job which would be much quicker but at a higher price but with the added advantage of having a company you can call for help if you have problems. :lol: :lol:

Do shopsabre have their own forum you could ask this question on ??

Liendeni
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Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2019 1:31 am
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by Liendeni »

I appreciate the reply Martin54. I have contacted them and they said some wiring would need to be done inside the electronics box and then a download of their WinCNC so the speed could be controlled. The downside of buying directly from them is the price. I do believe their cheapest spindle is $3750 and that is for the 1.7KW, and then I still have to install it myself since I already have the machine already. Just wondering if anybody else had did a PC router to spindle upgrade and how difficult was it. I appreciate you taking the time to reply....it has gave me some insight which is what I was looking for. Thank you.

ger21
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by ger21 »

If you don't need to control the spindle from WinCNC, it would be pretty easy to install a chinese VFD and spindle separate from your control box. You can get a 2.2Kw spindle and VFD for about $300-$350.

If you know what you are doing, or ask the right people, it shouldn't be all that hard to integrate it into the current system. Depends on your abilities, though.
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com

Liendeni
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Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2019 1:31 am
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by Liendeni »

Ahh....so what you are saying is I can just hook it up to the CNC gantry and plug it in...and simply turn it off and on and speed control from the spindle itself without having to hook it back up through the electronics box? Any recommendations for Spindle. Anything around a grand...give or take would great. If I could get a good spindle for $350 even better but wasn't sure about these Chinese spindles. I have seen some pretty terrible reviews online...and some a very loud. Again, any recommendation? Either way, I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Much appreciated.

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IslaWW
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by IslaWW »

As Gerry says, there are many options out there. Most well within your budget. That said, depending on your abilities, tech support can be equal or up 2-3 times the price of the parts.
Gary Campbell
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ATC & Servo Controller Controller Upgrades
GCnC411 (at) gmail.com

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martin54
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Re: Spindle upgrade on ShopSabre

Post by martin54 »

As both Gerry & Gary have said lots of different options & also relies on your abilities. When I replaced the porter cable router on my gerber machine I had some mechanical work to do in order to fit the spindle, the spindle was originally controlled independantly from the machine control software but it becomes a bit of a pain after a while so I switched it over to run from the control software, that did involve some wiring but I didn't find it complicated ( you may feel diferently).
As for noise well from the research I did a few years ago t would seem that the air cooled spindles are noisier than the water cooled spindles so I opted for a water cooled 2.2Kw spindle, the cooling side is simply a big bucket with a pond pump in it & some tubing :lol: :lol: You don't need a large flow rate, well not where I live anyway, just ensure the pump has enough lift capacity as the water tank (bucket) will probably be below your gantry height.

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