Opinions - suggestions about 1.5kw air cooled spindle

I used a 611 with my small machine for a bit, then changed to a .8 kw air cooled spindle. Here's my thoughts on the two.

The dewalt is a good little router but the bearings don't last for sh@t, I replaced mine in the first 10-15 hours of running. I cut usually at around 16,000 rpm, so unless you love the sound of a 100,000 angry bees at seems like 100 decibels i'd go another way, the loud piercing screaming drove me crazy. (I run my machines for hours at a time on long nested jobs) I looked into using the super PID on my other machine (3 1/4 hp Porter Cable router 7518) and found I would have to bypass the soft start and variable speed to make it work, plus there seemed to be quite a few complaints about loosing a lot of torque at low speeds. When that router quits it'll be replaced with a 3-4kw air cooled spindle.

A decent chinese spindle and vfd would probably cost you the same or less off Ebay then the 611 and super PID.

I run a .8kw chinese air cooled spindle with a lenze VFD on my small machine, works perfectly, quiet as a mouse, and runs cools. I can stand next to the machine and carry on a conversation without raising my voice. The bit cutting material is louder than the spindle itself. They seem pretty durable and last for quite a long time. Plus they have a lot more torque at lower speeds than their comparable router counterparts...

I run my machines in mainly a commercial application (6 days a week all day long) so this is my opinion based off of my experience with both.

Hope this helps..

Gerald

 

I'm not too sure about weight wise, off hand the spindle seems a little lighter than the 611, but don't hold me to it. Power wise it's on par with the 611, with big one advantage, the spindle has more toque at lower speeds so when you need to dial down the rpm's to cut say 6061 you won't loose a lot of power like you would with the 611's variable speed control or the super PID.

Also keep in mind the 611 is a "trim router" it's meant for rather light duty work like trimming countertop laminate and for short periods of time, where as a spindle is designed to run for a long duty cycle (say hours at a time) and has double bearings on the collet end to make it much more durable.

And don't forget the noise difference, you might not think it matters much but try to imagine running your machine like 6-8 hours straight carving a nice large 3D project. Try to find a couple good video's of the 611 running at high speeds like 16k, I couldn't imagine the 27k it tops out at. That high pitched whine is annoying as all get out, with the spindle I have to turn around from time to time to make sure it's still running, that to me is the biggest reason besides durability to go with a spindle.

I know I sound like a spindle fanboy but I guess I am, they are built specifically for this application. If your just going to use your machine in as hobbyist like every now and again then i'd just go with a 611, no PID (use o-flute bits for 6061) and save some cash, but if you plan on using it a lot and/ or for a business, the spindle is my recommendation all day long.

I can't really say about the X axis length and whether or not doubling up 8020 is a good idea. I tried it and didn't like it, too much deflection for my taste and I didn't like the idea I needed to "bond" them together somehow (bolt/epoxy) to increase their rigidity, but i'm sure some of the others here might offer their opinions on their experience. I can't remember what I ended up using but it was a extrusion larger, much heavier, and way stiff from Misumi.

F-117 CNC

Anyway sorry for the long response, hope this helps you out...

Gerald

 

+1 for the 800w water cooled spindles as in my opinion I think that is the right balance of power, weight and performance when building with standard Open build parts. Going for more power that the machine frame, wheels etc cant hold stable means your paying to push around dead spindle weight.