New and trying to decide

The Official Spindle of Onefinity CNC by @Redlinecnc

I’m brand new to cnc. I like to buy the best usually. Onefinity offers two 80mm spindles. One 1.5 kw and the other is 2.2 kw. What limitations would the 1.5 have vs the 2.2

1.5 is 110 and about 2hp.
2.2 is 220 and about 3hp.

From a cost to power %, 220 is a no brainer if you have the power outlet in your shop!

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Oh the the phrase “I like to buy the best” is VERY dangerous. Higher quality almost always comes at a higher cost.

My machine was a very early prototype of putting an ATC onto a Onefinity. I wanted something approaching a commercial/production environment machine. The machine is in my opinion very good for this class of machine, approaching to low end of SYIL, Shop Sabre.

I like my machine very much, it just proved to be to expensive for this market. Nick at https://www.solafidedesignskc.com/ put my machine together. I am a Mech Eng and my wife is an Electrical … both agreed Nick did good work.

I went with the CNCDepot spindle. It is aircooled but more importantly has an ISO-30 tool holder which means it will be more rigid then the redline offerings. ISO-30 is certainly not the most rigid tool holder, a better choice there is a CAT-40 tool holder … like you find on 100k+ machines.

In my opinion, rating tool holders I would go from least desirable to most desirable the following order:

  1. Router type collets (Makita etc)

  2. Screw on (RapidChange etc)

  3. ISO-20 (Supports ER20 collets)

  4. ISO-30 (Support ER32 collets, Syil {ok they use BT-30s, but kissing cousins)

  5. Cat-40 (These are the bigger boys, Haas etc)

Now we get to talk about speeds. If you are cutting woods etc you want a fairly high speed. Mine maxs out at 18000 RPM, as I do 80% wood and 20% metals. If metals are your jam than a spindle that maxs out at 12000 RPM is a better choice. Now sure a salesman will tell you my 18000 spindle will run at 6000 RPM and you will be fine … well I call BS. All of these spindles have a power curve… that 3 HP is at a specific RPM. Speed it up or slow it down and the power can drop off to less than 1 HP.

This is a VERY price driven market, which means you can end up with products like the gas string trimmers at the big box stores… trimmers that have a life span of 50-75 hrs or 3-4 years of a suburban home.

I hope you don’t think I am bashing any brand or model. I reference brands and models only to highlight their approach to the problem. Each approach comes with it’s own costs.

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I have the 1.5 and find it lacking the oompf I need, will upgrade to a 2.2 in the future.

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Me, on the other hand… I have 1.5kW air cooled spindle and don’t see a reason why I should upgrade it to 2.2kW, even though I have 220V outlet literally 2’ from the box :slight_smile:

I would say, it really depends what you’re going to use it for. I mostly carve wood, sometimes phenolic, rarely brass. If you’re thinking about milling alu or even steel… that’s a different story…

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Thanks much for the feedback.

You will never regret having more power…EVER! If you have the 220 use it. I mill aluminum all the time. Almost every day, dry! works great.

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I am going to add a sub panel to and locate it near the place i have selected in my shop for the cnc. So, in doing so, it’s not much more trouble to wire a 220 than a 1110. I’ll add 3 dedicated circuits from the controller and dust collection and have the 220 for the spindle. I’ll be going that. Thanks again for the feedback. I figure better to have the power and not need than to need it and not have it. Plus, it’s only about $100 extra for the 220. One more question, what dust boot are you finding the best option for the 80mm and are you using the RR boom?

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I’m using the OF Suckit SM dust boot that came with the special. I also am using the RR boom but did have to get a new plate for the spindle/z-axis attachment. I had the RR boom setup for the JMan before. I also am running a Rockler antistatic hose because I got a lot of static build up when I surfaced my MDF waste board - the machine froze and I had to power down & restart. I ended up needing to surface without dust collection before I got the new hose and made the antistatic modifications OF recommends.

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I am running my 1F and 65mm spindle off battery system. It has a display for how much power is being drawn. The highest power draw I’ve seen is 1.1kW, and that was when I mistakenly had the spindle set to 12000RPM instead of 18000. I manually adjusted it up to 18000 and it went down to around 400-500W: that is not just the spindle power draw. Like I said, that is the total for both the 1F w Redline controller, as well as the 1.5kW 65mm Redline spindle.

Typically I see it 300-600W. I am mostly cutting Baltic Birch and MDF, with 1/4” down cut or compression bit. I do not have any 3/8” bits, yet.

BTW, with this power draw, technically the Makita router would be fine. My understanding is that the Makita RT0701C is 750W. But that doesn’t leave much headroom. Also, there is the convenience of automatic spindle start, manual spindle speed adjust during a carve, precise spindle speed, quieter, ATC capable, etc. So the upgrade from Makita to Redline spindle is an obvious choice for me - but the upgrade to 2.2kW spindle is more nuanced.

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I too am using the suck it SM (spindle mount) with a very ordinary 16-gallon 6 horse Craftsman shop vac and one of those cyclone separators. Just be careful to put the dust boot on straight (there is very little clearance) and adjust it to the thickness of your material. I usually make sure the bottoms of the bristles are at the same level as my bit stick out. If you are using an auto tool changer then it is more difficult unless all your stick outs are about the same but that is not always possible. I would love to get one of those auto dust boots but the price is prohibitive at this time. even when doing dry cutting on aluminum the suck it dust boot gets 99% of the chips oh and I use a 2.5inch hose as well.

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For those who are running a liquid cooled spindle, which one are you using and does it interface with the masso? Does onefinity offer a 80mm 2.2kw liquid cooled spindle?

No. They just offer the Redline air cooled in 110 & 220V (1.5 & 2.2kw).

You can use just about any VFD spindle with the Masso control

Pat

We do not for a few reasons, Simplicity of install and use, No potential to spill water out of coolant lines, and the sound db levels are practically non-existent between the two.

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