Spindle weight, is there a real world limit?

Now that I’m officially in line waiting for my Woodworker I have time to think about what I want to buy for it. The first, of course is a router or spindle. I’m leaning towards a spindle mainly to keep the noise down in my shop. Since there’s been talk about an 80mm mount possibly down the road I can hold out hope that 1F may have it as an option before my 1F is made.

So that leads me to how much weight is realistic for the Z axis? A 2.2kw water cooled spindle could be pushing 12 pounds. I’m only going to be using my 1F on wood so a 1.5kw could be more than enough. That said I would expect the 2.2kw to not work as hard. Plus I would like the option of using 1/2" router bits (since that’s mainly what I use in my router. I’ve read through a number of threads about a spindle but the closest I found is “the 1F should be fine with the extra weight”.

If a 1.5kw is all I’ll ever need then is there any advantage to a 80mm one vs a 65mm? In the age of covid if you find the idea item for your needs you often then have to deal with finding someone who has it in stock. If a 65mm 1.5kw will work then I may just not wait too long and get it. Could you imagine waiting 3 months for a 1F and not having a spindle/ router for it?

My 02c. I am thinking the only potential limitation would be the Z motor, the stiffy rail of the Onefinity, you can stand it, with no problem. I don’t know if Onefinity’s plan with the 80mm upgrade will take that into account the z motor, or it may not even be an issue.

They went with a 4mm pitch for the z ball screw, vs the 10mm for the other axes, so that should help the current z stepper motor do its job. At least a motor upgrade would not be too expensive, if it is in fact needed for heavier spindles.

Personally, my dust collector is louder than the Makita router. I will go with a spindle at some point but before I do, I’ll focus on creating the right sound barriers/dampener for the dust collector.

The last thing I need is another router, lol. If the only option is the 65mm mount then I’ll go with the Makita and upgrade down the road. But if there’s an option for a 80mm mount sooner or later I’ll upgrade so I might as well not wait. I could look for a bushing so the Makita would work with the 80mm mount but then I’m back to 1/4" bits and more money spent on a router that would get put in a drawer and rarely used.