Spindle choices
-
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:41 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: home built shopbot clone. CNC lathe
- Location: Port Orange Fl.
Re: Spindle choices
I have 2 HSD spindles both 3HP and I have 2 China spindles. The china spindle work as good as the HSD and at a much lower cost. The only draw back is the 3hp HSD has a 25 collate and the China has a 20 but both will take a 1/2" bit. The one thing against the china spindle is the fan is shaft driven so if you run them slow you will not get the cooling you need. I have also used the super-PID which works well but you still have a very inefficient motor.
Don
Don
- Wemme
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:31 am
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Re: Spindle choices
I am using a porter cable router spindle i got from shopbot.
Appart from being fixed speed and noisy as hell it has served me well with only needing brush and bearing changes every 4 years or so.
Regards
Bart
Appart from being fixed speed and noisy as hell it has served me well with only needing brush and bearing changes every 4 years or so.
Regards
Bart
-
- Vectric Apprentice
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:38 am
- Model of CNC Machine: MechMate
Re: Spindle choices
As said in above the Chinese spindles are great and cheep but stay away from the VFD. I had a lot of noise on the one that came with the spindle, and it caused problems with my limit switches. I change to a Hitachi X200 and all my problems went away. I use Mach as the control software the speed control and and everything works great.
Re: Spindle choices
Which is quieter air or water cooled? Like to know before I buy
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 14544
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:19 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot PRS Alpha 96x48
- Location: Surrey, UK
Re: Spindle choices
Presuming you have a reasonably quiet water pump then the water cooled will be quieter than the air cooled but compared to a router they are both incredibly quiet. You can have a normal conversation standing right next to a spindle running at full speed (not cutting) which is more than I can say for any router I've ever used.
-
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 1592
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:59 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Custom DIY
- Location: Lake St Clair, MI, USA
- Contact:
Re: Spindle choices
Water cooled is quieter.
There are two types of air cooled spindles.
1) With a shaft driven fan
2) With an electric fan
At higher rpm's, a shaft driven fan is louder than an electric fan.
There are two types of air cooled spindles.
1) With a shaft driven fan
2) With an electric fan
At higher rpm's, a shaft driven fan is louder than an electric fan.
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com
Re: Spindle choices
Any recs on spindle and vfd
- martin54
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 7339
- Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:12 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
- Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Re: Spindle choices
I have never owned an air cooled spindle so this is only from research I did when I was looking, apart from the water cooled spindles being quieter I also read reports where people had problems with air cooled spindles getting to hot when running extremely long jobs. That helped sway me towards water cooled. If you read through some of the other posts people have said that the chinese spindles are OK but stay away from the VFD's. Personally I run a Chinese spindle on a Chinese VFD, don't want to tempt fate but it has been ok for me so maybe I was one of the lucky ones
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 14544
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:19 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot PRS Alpha 96x48
- Location: Surrey, UK
Re: Spindle choices
I definitely wouldn't go for an air-cooled one that has a fan on the shaft as the slower they run the slower the fan runs but it doesn't follow that the spindle is generating less heat just because it is running slower. It depends on how loaded it is.
The higher quality spindles such as HSD have separate cooling fans that run independently of the spindle itself.
The higher quality spindles such as HSD have separate cooling fans that run independently of the spindle itself.
Re: Spindle choices
What is HSD
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 14544
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:19 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot PRS Alpha 96x48
- Location: Surrey, UK
Re: Spindle choices
HSD is a manufacturer of spindles. They are used on ShopBots and many others.
-
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 1592
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:59 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Custom DIY
- Location: Lake St Clair, MI, USA
- Contact:
Re: Spindle choices
HSD and other high end spindle manufacturers makes spindles with shaft driven fans.Adrian wrote: The higher quality spindles such as HSD have separate cooling fans that run independently of the spindle itself.
http://www.hsdusa.com/viewdoc.asp?co_id=1293
But I agree that if you need to run for long periods of time, at slower speeds, an electric fan is a better choice. But, they tend to be much more expensive.
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 14544
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:19 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot PRS Alpha 96x48
- Location: Surrey, UK
Re: Spindle choices
Are you sure that fan is driven by the spindle? It looks identical to the setup of mine and the black section at the top is the fan. The spindle is enclosed in a rectangular housing with air channels down the the side of the spindle. The separately driven fan (which runs constantly whether the spindle is turning or not) is mounted on top of the housing blowing downwards and the air comes out of channels at the end near the collet.ger21 wrote: HSD and other high end spindle manufacturers makes spindles with shaft driven fans.
http://www.hsdusa.com/viewdoc.asp?co_id=1293
But I agree that if you need to run for long periods of time, at slower speeds, an electric fan is a better choice. But, they tend to be much more expensive.
-
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 1592
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:59 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Custom DIY
- Location: Lake St Clair, MI, USA
- Contact:
Re: Spindle choices
I'm pretty sure. While the specs are in italian, that one says forced air, but the others specifically state electric fan.
I believe that the ones where the fan shroud is rounded on top are shaft driven, while the ones that are flat on top use electric fans.
This one has an electric fan. http://www.hsdusa.com/viewdoc.asp?co_id=725
I believe that the ones where the fan shroud is rounded on top are shaft driven, while the ones that are flat on top use electric fans.
This one has an electric fan. http://www.hsdusa.com/viewdoc.asp?co_id=725
Gerry - http://www.thecncwoodworker.com
-
- Vectric Apprentice
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:36 am
- Model of CNC Machine: 4x4 DIY Router
- Location: Starkville, MS
Re: Spindle choices
My hsd spindle has a 24 volt electric fan that runs on a separate 24 volt supply. I have it wired so that it runs even when the spindle is not running. It is in the top of the spindle in a black housing.