Here is some info for those of you interested in putting using spindle: 1) a 80mm mount will come, but it’s not high on our priority list. 2) We will more than likely never do a spindle package, there’s a lot of headaches that come with it (people wiring up their own 110-220v is quite a liability.) We won’t ‘officially’ support spindles. They will be a , yes, it will work and the controller will have settings and options for it, but use at your own risk. We will only officially support the Makita trim router for now (Makita Amazon Listing). Our focus is 100% getting the machine into the preorder hands and making the base models perform 100%. Is that to say you put it in and have a problem we won’t try to solve it for you? No, we will do our best. We have some other accessories in the pipeline that we think are worth investing the time and r/d into.
We’ll be relying a lot on the community to help each other with spindle questions.
Thanks for the continued communications on this subject as I know just getting into this hobby myself is expensive and new. I’m very excited to eventually try a spindle if I get that far with the 80mm form factor. Thanks again and I can hardly wait for November!
Thanks for yet another timely update! 
I’m glad I went with the 65mm Spindle for initial use.
As a Forum FYI: I did confirm directly with Huanyang and they do offer (they are on the boat from China, ETA 3-weeks out) that they sell a 80mm 1.5Kv 110v Water cooled Spindle that will work with my 1.5Kw VFD, so once Onefinity has a bracket available it should be a easy switch if extra HP is needed.
Cheers! 
@MindOfMcClure - has anyone tested the ‘impact’ of 800v vs 1.5kv? I’m just curious if 1.5KV provides any real benefit given the overall “flexibility” of the machine? Like, can you cut 50% faster or 25% deeper by going 1.5 vs 800?
Reiterating - I’d really like to see some real-world performance tests (with quantitative results) using the Makita vs a spindle of any size. Plus other things like precision, accuracy, backlash specifications as well. Projected resolution of +/- 0.005 is great, but does the real world bare that out? And climb vs conventional? My experience is the X-Carve real world results change dramatically with size of the machine (500 vs 1000) and climb vs conventional.
-Tom
Hey Tom,
I do not have any stats on that (hopefully someone else does) The big issue with the 1.5 is the size, it gets much taller and wider. Sure at some point Onefinity said they may offer a mount but for now 1.5 only come in 80mm so it was sort of a non-option for me at least.
Also for what I carve (mostly detail work) you can only push a 1/8" bit so fast no matter how much HP you have. So again the 800 “should” be more than enough. Still hoping as @MyersWoodshop uses his more and more that he can give the Forum some real world feedback on the overall usability of the 800w spindle.
Alex
My thoughts on the 800w spindle so far, not worth the money for 99% of the users who will use a cnc. If it wasn’t for me testing and YouTube, I wouldn’t have one. Remember, I had a router in my Shapeoko/Xcarve for 3 years and never found the need to upgrade. The Makita would be fine for everything I do. (Although, I do metal 1% of the time)
I want to reiterate my suggestion, as MY use will not be the same as YOUR use (and by your, i mean everyone reading this): A Makita router ($99) on the Onefinity will probably be good enough for your needs. I suggest buying the Makita, and when you get the Onefinity do your cuts. If it works fine, boom, you saved yourself $400. If it’s not enough ‘oomph’ for you, swap it out for the spindle. The Makita is a great palm router, which is a tool you’d most likely need in your shop anyways, so your not out any money.
Thank you, that is great feedback. It’s a great point, why shell out $$ if its not warranted. Plus you have extra tubes to deal with dangling down all the time. Which totally jacks with my OCD (total personal problem… I know). 
Now you have me thinking I might hit the “refund” button on Amazon and save the $$ and headache. Worse case do it later and have a 4th hand router in the drawer. When the Zombies come I can always do some wicked double fist’ed routing. 
Thanks Alex - completely agree.
Thanks Ben - figured as much, but controllable RPM and quieter seem like good side effective even if you don’t need the extra power. Though I’m not sure they are worth $450.
-Tom
There is a 1.5kW option in a 65mm diameter package. I have seen it go in and out of stock periodically on Amazon.
Personally I went with an 800w, knowing I can upgrade later if needed, but I expect this will be okay most of the time.
For me a water cooled spindle was worth the extra expense (about $200 more than the Makita) for helping make a quieter setup.
I am based in the UK and the Makita router has not been available for the last 3 months so could anyone recommend an alternative. Thanks Jason
I use my cnc 7 days a week in my shop. It doesn’t run all day long but a significant portion of it. After burning through 3 Dewalt 6111 palm routers in as many years, I went with a 2.2KW water cooled spindle. It’s been running strong for over two years now and not showing any signs of wear. One big benefit is that they run so so quiet. I mill mostly aluminum with it and I can sit 3 feet away from it and speak on the phone while it is running. Another benny, is that it will take up to a 5/8 shank diameter all the way down to less than 1/8 inch bits. That opens up a entire new world of carving options.
So while I certainly respect the opinions of each individual, and totally agree that they are pricey, for me, and perhaps for some other power users, they are worth the money.
I absolutely hate that I can’t change the tool path in Carbide Create.
Climb vs. Conventional is a big deal. Especially when dealing with material that is prone to chip out…
@cody - agreed. Same with Easel. But frankly, the target demographic for those products don’t really know the difference anyway, so it makes sense in some way.
-Tom
A couple months ago, I reached out to CC and requested a software update. Specifically more tool path options. I also asked them to look into ramping tool paths for pocketing. I had a follow-up phone conversation with them about a week later, and they said they were looking into the request.
Who knows when or if they’ll actually roll out with an update. We’ll see…
We should all ban together and demand for an update.
That would be awesome!
Who’s with me!? Lol
support@carbide3d.com
Ha! I’m far more optimistic that CC would make the change than Inventables - I’ve grown a bit disenfranchised with them given their stagnant product development cycle. It was fine while they had little to no competition, but I suspect Onefinity has changed the game a little! I’ve already seen CC respond with new Shapeoko options and new products - competition is a good thing 
-Tom
If you dont mind. What was this 2.2KW water cooled spindle? My end game is to work with aluminum So im very interested in this answer. thank you in advance
The 2.2KW spindle is a true cnc spindle. Many cnc machines use a router as a cnc spindle which works fine for almost all users plus it save a significant amount of money. The downside to routers is that they aren’t, generally speaking, intended for extended run times. By extended run times, I mean several hours of continuous operation. This doesn’t mean that they won’t run for hours on end though. Most of them have brushes that need to be replaced periodically. Here are some other advantages of a 2.2KW spindle.
PRO’s
- Available in both 110v and 220v versions
- Can use ER20 Collet set which allows for bits up to 1/2 hank diameter
- Much quieter operation
- Much greater RPM range settings (0-24000)
- RPM can be controlled by G Code commands
- Automatic On and Off via G Code commands
- Spindle runout of .00002 or less
- Available in Water Cooled and Air Cooled versions
CON’s
- 4 times the price of a Dewalt DWP 611
- Heavier than a typical router (shouldn’t be a problem for the Onefinity)
- Setup can be confusing for first time installations especially for a novice user.
With all that said, a router will do fine for most end users. If you are a power user then you might consider a true spindle to reduce the noise level and benefit from the extended life of a spindle. Mine is 2+ years old and still running like new. Just be careful when you purchase. Some of the VFD’s (Variable Feed Drive) needed to drive the spindles are copy cats. I have a genuine Hunyang VFD and it has been very good to me.
I’ve been using a 65mm 800 watt on my shapeoko for about 10-12 months now. I do like it. I had one issue where my shapeoko went crazy during a windows forced update. It ran away and drove as deep as it could and stalled the spindle. i know, crazy but it had a pretty large tool in there. it also broke the board and and belt. I rebuilt it in about 2 hours. Since the rebuild with better vwheels and steel belts, it has been running in the 135 ipm range pretty standard. cuts are better and the speed is good. i’ve went back to manual speed control to get the speeds and feeds right. i’ll adjust mid cut and see where it goes.
typical plunge with ramps, 75, typical cuts, 100-135. accel is tuned pretty high on x/y and medium on z axis. I run the z pretty low during cuts.
I’ve not got about 200-300 hours cutting on this. I use blue windshield washer fluid and change it about every 30-45 days. takes a gallon and is quick to change. I do watch the label to see what is in it, but have had no issues. my shop is constant temp, so that prob helps as well.
i’m working on a pump / tank combo that i’ll post as soon as i’ve tested and got a few hours on it.
small 1 gal tank from china, and floor heating circulation pump. it is so quiet, i forget it is on. I’m kind of like ben myers on this, didn’t feel very good about a chinese pond pump to cool the spindle.
feel free to ask any questions. i do really like this, i know ben didn’t feel like it was worth the money and trouble, but here are the things i like
- turns itself on and off
- sets speed automatically from gcode
- no vents to get covered in sawdust and worry about
- much better collet than router. i’ve had slip before (i used dewalt).
- feel better about it running for long hours than brushed motor
- i had to sets of brushes wear out and both cost the the project i was working on.
- like the torque of and speed control better on spindle
- much quieter
- less runout
things i don’t like
- solder connector
- cheap hose that comes with spindle
- finding wire that you need, and thats not usually local
- settings on vfd. we used vfd’s at my work and they are higher end, but you can load parameters from usb drive.
- running more wires / hoses from spindle to wall.
- more space to mount one more thing.
- expense.
thanks,
Layne Mims
This is really helpful. I am new to spindles and was looking at the air cooled spindles as well. What is your opinion on those?