I have order my OF. My question is the 80mm did spindle mount upgrade. Is this needed to be able to mount a larger water cooled spindle instead of using a Makita trim router?
my understanding is 3 things you want in a true production capable CNC are ball screws, stepper motors, and a water cooled spindle. These 3 things give you rigidity, accuracy, and speed.
The new mount will mount spindles with 80 mm housing diameters. The Mikita, and smaller spindles, require the 65 mm mount.
All cnc routers use either stepper motors or servos. Servos are better because they provide feedback but are much more expensive. For a production machine I would want servos. A production machine will use spindles because you can get them in much higher HP than a router. Also spindles allow for automated tool changes (so you can use more than one bit without stopping and manually changing it). Liquid cooled isn’t that important. Ball screws are important as they are one of the best ways to make precise movements. There are other ways that are also accurate.
Like everything in life the 1F is a compromise. To keep the price low enough to compete with other machines like the ShapeOKO it’s not build like a true production CNC. That being said it’s arguably the best hobbyist CNC on the market.
Most likely an 80mm spindle is not going to be needed for what you are going to do. Unless you feel comfortable installing, troubleshooting, and operating one I would stick with a router. I’m going with the 80mm option simply because I work with steppers, servos, and vfd controllers at work. With that said I plan on not connecting the spindle to the controller until I feel comfortable with the software. I’ll just use the vfd to control the speed and start/ stop the spindle. For less than $100 you can upgrade it later if you think there’s an advantage for you.
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Ok Thanks for a lot of info. I actually want to do some small scale production work so a more powerful spindle means I can cut faster. And I feel that a water cooled spindle will help with that without damaging the spindle bearings by overheating. I have been in the engineering field for 40 years so I am comfortable VFDS and am going to go with an 80mm 3HP spindle. Plus it’s much quieter then a trim router.
And your right the IF is not a true production machine like you would see in a sign or cabinet shop. But it’s much better then a shapeoko or v carve machine for the money.
For those of us who are comfortable with the extra work a spindle requires I see it as a much better option than a trim router. For small scale production work I think the 1F with a spindle should be a great combination. It shouldn’t require many upgrades to get good results.
Some additional benefits of a spindle
ER-20 collet can hold 1/2” shank bits ( and a variety of other sizes, like 3/16” etc)
It is an AC 3 phase motor, no brushes, precise computer controlled rpm’s quieter
More rigid, less chatter, better surface quality
Much less run out, extend life of your end mills (especially the smaller ones) and better surface quality
More power/ torque for heavier cuts (mainly applies to form tools and 1/2” tools)
Depending on the spindle, slower rpm (3-4k) for larger tools or when cutting aluminum
It is fit for purpose, a spindle is designed for continuous cutting, trim routers, not so much…they work, but that is not there design objective
As mentioned above, if you want to spend $2-4k, you can get an automatic tool changer, with the right controller, no need to probe after your first operation as the tool table stores the tool length offset, so z-zero reference plane is defined for all your tools
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Thanks Alex great info!