Hi. I’ve read a few previous so if I missed any I apologize. I have 1f (journeyman rail on the way) My goal is to get something quieter than the makita. My plan is for mainly wood but may get into minor soft metals.
I only see 80mm spindle mount available. What would everyone’s suggestion be?
They do make 65mm spindles, they just will not accept a 1/2" bit. My suggestion for most people is to go with a 65mm 1.5kW air cooled spindle. If you plan on building an enclosure for your table I think I would go with a water cooled spindle and then I would step up to 80mm because it’s been reported that the walls on the 65mm spindles can be very thin and are prone to water leaks.
I went 80mm to accommodate a 2.2KW so I can use 1/2 inch shank bits, and it is so nice and quiet and carves as deep as you can imagine and really fast speeds. I too am waiting on the X50 journeyman rails which I just got the shipping labels for.
I’d do it again in a heatbeat.
Which spindle did you go with?
I’m still breaking in the machine, but so far I’m very happy with my cheap generic air-cooled 65mm spindle:
I’m driving it with a Teco L510 that I had sitting around from a previous project.
I can’t find a 65mm mount though. Is the second item an inverter?
The 1F CNCs ship standard with 65mm mounts - the 80mm is an upgrade extra only.
The mount that comes with the machine and fits the default recommended Makita router is 65mm. If you go w/ a 65mm spindle, you don’t have to worry about swapping out the mount – just drop the spindle in.
The second item is a Variable Frequency Drive, which is required for most spindles. Besides being quieter and being designed for longer running, most spindles also allow for precision speed control through the use of 3-phase AC. The VFD manages all of the voltage and frequency manipulation heavy lifting to make your spindle work the way you want it to.
Ok…gotcha. I will definitely go this way as the makita is headache loud. Of course the spindle you linked is “currently unavailable” lol. Ill keep looking…