Hi I have a question opinion only if you don’t mind helping a lady out lol . My husband is looking to get a Onefiniti cnc. He says he won’t buy one until I’ll my epoxy room is done (I do tumblers). Well I have a setup that works for now and so I think think lol I might just order it. I’m looking at the elite foreman 48 x 48 since it has the largest cutting area and it’s asking me router vs spindle. I know he’d rather spindle than router (we have been doing our research for a few years and at one time almost bought a ShopSabre). We have decided to go with a smaller financial investment for now. Which spindle would be better? I’m thinking the 80mm? I know we will need to purchase a VFD separately, does anyone have suggestions? I might leave that part for him after the cnc arrives (and I’m out of trouble lol). I planned to get him a touch probe & dust collection when I order it. I think at some point he will get a laser as well, I didn’t know if that would help with suggestions/guidance. I emailed onefinitni and they referred me to the faq page for this and I’ve already been there. I know they can’t help for liability reasons and I hoped someone here would be able to give me some ideas or direction. This is a big purchase and not one I typically would do solo, a bit nervous.
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I’ll offer an alternate opinion. Door number 3. Both spindle and router. Compared to the cost of the Elite Foreman, the router is not a lot (just over $100 USD). It would allow you to be up and running and having fun almost immediately. You could then have time to research and plan the spindle/VFD as a phase 2 project - and it is a project. It can turn into a deep dark rabbit hole if you are not already familiar with such things.
As a bonus, after you upgrade to the spindle, the router is a useful tool in its own right. Or sell it at a garage sale and buy yourself a nice bit or two.
To be clear, you need to purchase the VFD AND spindle separately (along with proper cabling, etc.)
The option that Onefinity provides is just for the 65mm or 80mm mount. 65mm can be used with a Makita router or a 65mm spindle. The 80mm mount is meant only for 80mm spindles although you can get a shim for it to put in a 65mm device.
The only ready-made kit that I know of for a spindle is from PWNCNC. As a kit it would be easy to get going but you do pay for that convenience. Lots of people also assemble their own for less $ but that gets quite involved. Also be aware of the electrical requirements for a spindle. With a router setup or lower powered spindle you can get by with a couple 120V 15A circuits (assuming you are in NA), but if you go with a powerful spindle you’ll be needing a 240V circuit with sufficient amperage to match your VFD/Spindle combo (+the 120V circuit for the CNC).
Lots of people do good work with the router but there are certainly advantages to a spindle. There can also be advantages to more powerful spindles over lower powered ones. A lower powered one can be a 65mm body and run off 120V, but if you get in to the 2.2kW ones they will need the 80mm mount and 240V. What advantage you get from it would partially depend on what the CNC will be used for. I.e. You may not need extra power and can avoid the expense and complexity of the more powerful ones.
You also need to look into the cooling method. Routers are just air cooled, spindles can be air cooled or water cooled. Air is easy, more noisy and you have to watch how long you use low speeds (airflow is determined by the RPM the router/spindle is running at). Water is quieter, more complicated to setup (and you need the cooling system), always work the same no matter what speed you run the spindle at and don’t blow chips around on your work area.
That’s some high-level stuff really meant to give you something to start with as you do further research in to what meets your husband’s needs. Understanding what he wants to use it for, how much he wants to use it (hobby, commercially?), whether you have other constraints (e.g can’t provide 240V power), etc. will help set the requirements and narrow down your options.
I think it is good to be aware that mounting, wiring and setting up a VFD/spindle is not a task that usually can be expected to be done by a consumer, it requires electricians skills. I agree that it would be good to have a simple, plug-and-play milling motor to be able to get familiar with a CNC machine. Tammy, you just should know that while Onefinity designed the Onefinity CNC machine having the Makita hand trim router in mind,
…as soon as you give it a heavier task to do, which is easy if you put it into a CNC machine.
do both. get the onefinity with the 80mm mount and purchase a sleeve to fit the 65mm makita router.
i believe i purchased this one and the quality of the 3d print is very good.
then your hubby can run the router until he decides which spindle to get.
it would also serve as a backup solution if the spindle went down, you can just plop the sleeve/router in and your back in business.
this is an exellent VFD, however this is the “LF” version, for running this variant, you forcibly need a 200 V class three-phase power supply circuit (208 V three-phase in the U.S.).
Here you see my VFD’s nameplate, and below, Michael’s @MikeH nameplate:
Here you can also see that the Omron offers 580 Hz while the Hitachi only 400 Hz, but this only matters if you want to run spindles with more than 24,000 rpm (e.g. these ones). With 400 Hz, you can run the usual 24,000 rpm spindles.
I would look for the matching EMI filter and the brake resistor too.
as braking resistor, for 3% braking duty, Part No. AX-REM00K2070-IE (70 Ω), and for 10% braking duty Part No. AX-REM00K4035-IE (35 Ω) (180 % braking torque),
for the EMI filter, for the 200 V class single-phase input 2.2 kW model, it is on page D-2, Part No. FS24828-27-07 for the Schaffner brand, and
as for the braking resistor, on page 5-2, the Part Nos. are SRB-xxx-x, JSB-xxx-x, HRB-x, NSRBx00-x, NJRB-xxx (see page 5-5, but page seems missing )
These EMI filters match the Omron/Hitachi VFDs as they are “footprint” filters which means you can mount them on the back of the matching VFD model, between VFD and the mounting plate of your control cabinet. The VFD and the EMI filter are properly grounded this way. Of course you can also mount the EMI filter separately:
So if I do the router now he can upgrade to the spindle later? I didn’t realize they were interchangeable / upgradable, I thought he would have to buy another with the spindle option. If so that’s perfect! Thank you.
When you buy the Foreman you have the choice of buying with a 65mm mount meant for the router, or the 80mm mount meant for the spindle.
You have a couple options (as I see it) if you intend to start with router and upgrade to spindle:
Buy it with the 80mm mount and then buy or make and adapter shim such as @RockingMallet mentioned in order to run the smaller 65mm router.
Buy it with the 65mm mount then buy the 80mm mount separately (~$88) at a later date if/when you decide to upgrade.
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Aiph5u
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When you buy a Onefinity Standard Series, you get a 65 mm mount for the Makita trim router. As an optional accessory, you can buy the:
… just to show how such a mount looks like.
Note that these mounts are not interchangeable with those for the Z-20 Z assembly, which are a bit bigger. As Scott already said, with the Elite Series, you can choose with which mount you order it, 65 mm or 80 mm.
Can’t say what is right for you but I will tell you what I did. I got my Jourmeyman in November and started with the Makita Router. Worked nicely but the router is quite loud, especially when the shop vac is running for dust collection. Since then I have exchanged a 4 HP for a 6.5 HP shop vac (no room for a bigger/better dust collection system) which works way better and is a little less loud. I also exchanged the router for a PwnCNC 80mm air-cooled spindle. Just got the spindle hooked up and today was my first day using it. So much quieter and much more power. I’m carving some ipe this weekend and I suspect it will have no trouble. I’m still glad I started with the router, I needed a hand held trim router anyway!
. My husband is looking to get a Onefiniti cnc. He says he won’t buy one until I’ll my epoxy room is done (I do tumblers). Well I have a setup that works for now and so I think 
think lol I might just order it. I’m looking at the elite foreman 48 x 48 since it has the largest cutting area and it’s asking me router vs spindle. I know he’d rather spindle than router (we have been doing our research for a few years and at one time almost bought a ShopSabre). We have decided to go with a smaller financial investment for now. Which spindle would be better? I’m thinking the 80mm? I know we will need to purchase a VFD separately, does anyone have suggestions? I might leave that part for him after the cnc arrives (and I’m out of trouble lol). I planned to get him a touch probe & dust collection when I order it. I think at some point he will get a laser as well, I didn’t know if that would help with suggestions/guidance. I emailed onefinitni and they referred me to the faq page for this and I’ve already been there. I know they can’t help for liability reasons and I hoped someone here would be able to give me some ideas or direction. This is a big purchase and not one I typically would do solo, a bit nervous.
)