Hey Jim, hey all,
Unfortunately, my initial budget for my current project was not sufficient for the automatic tool changer from the beginning, but I was able to buy everything else in good quality. Because I consider the ATC to be necessary for serious professional work, I will have to start up the system first and buy the ATC later.
When converting to ATC, there is the option of retrofitting an existing spindle with a Tool Change Adapter, but as can be seen here or here, this probably requires a second bracket for reasons of stability, and unlike many semiprofessional and industrial-grade CNC machines, the Onefinity does not have a large mounting plate for spindle holders, just a single 65 mm and a single 80 mm spindle holder. That was discussed here the other day: One possibility to support such a retrofit ATC Adapter would be to mount two 80 mm mounts on top of each other, but then you would lose a bit of Z Travel.
That’s why I think, instead of retrofitting an ATC Adapter, I will later buy the ATC-8022-30-HSK25 spindle with HSK (DIN 69893) Tool Changer instead of ISO 7388 Tool Changer. This 2.2 kW 80 mm 30000 RPM ATC spindle can also be seen here in this unboxing video. One reason to buy an ATC spindle straight away is that compared to a separate ATC adapter that is subsequently added, you only have to pay once for the bottom ball bearings. The most stressed ball bearings are always located at the bottom, where the axle exits, and they often are more expensive angular contact ball bearings in order to absorb both radial and axial forces, and of course a separate ATC Adapter has its own bearings, but you’ve already paid for a pair of them located in the bottom of your spindle, which would then slide upwards when you mount the ATC at the bottom, where they are of less necessity.
Also if you buy an ATC spindle straight away, then the ATC mechanism is not at the bottom but at the rear, and one single bracket like on the Onefinity would be enough to hold it, the whole thing is shorter than as the two as separate things, and you only pay once for the good ball bearings.
I did not see any spindles for manual tool change in their web shop. But I did not buy anything at CNC Depot in Tennesse, it was Bob who posted the link.
I try to buy things locally because of shipping costs:
What I meant by the price hike was about the spindle, cooling unit, the VFD and other things that I bought:
I bought the Mechatron HFS-8022-24-ER20 earlier this year for 899,00 € (approx. $1058.35¹) but now the price is 970,92 € (approx $1120.98¹),
the Mechatron Cooling Station KG5000 I bought earlier this year for 771,12 € (approx. $907.80¹) but now the price is 832,81 € (approx. $961.52¹)
the Omron 3G3MX2-AB022-E bought earlier this year for 357,00 € (approx. $420.28¹), but this one did not change its price, but it’s not available now at the moment in the shop where we bought it.
Also the Phoenix M17 Connector for the spindle changed from 29,04 € to 31,90 €.
Many things have become more expensive during the last two years and many are not available, I assume on the one hand because for the suppliers the costs for international transport have exploded (up to 1200%) and on the other hand because many goods are difficult to obtain, e.g. computer chips. So I’m lucky that I bought my stuff already.
1.) As of 2021-11-04, Euro exchange rate may be different today