Hi SCYBUCK!
I actually just made my first cut a couple days ago. I can tell this spindle will be more than adequate. I'm still learning about the speeds / feeds to be honest. I'm just reading forum threads and trying to absorb as much info as possible. My first cut was in some sort of cast aluminum. It was a random piece of scrap from work. I was using an El Cheapo 1/8" 2 flute endmill from Amazon. I got a 10 pack for $15 and the reviews gave them 4 stars so I figured it would be a good place to start. I have some more expensive end mills I bought from and Ebay seller "Drillman1". This seller was recommended also. I will post a picture of the job. I was so excited to be finally milling something that I just let it cut away and the chips built up and broke a bit. I was able to stop the operation, change the bit out and re-zero the Z axis from the start position. The final result is not perfect but to me it's awesome! It felt like that first time I 3D printed something and although it looked like crap, I was just so happy to have made something. I'm using Fusion 360 for the CAD / CAM and BCNC for the Gcode sender. There's a GRBL post processor already built into Fusion. Oh I forgot to say, after I swapped out the broken bit, I proceeded to use my shop vac to clear the chips and it worked very well. I have plans to add some sort of air blast system to blow chips away from the cutter because I'm not sure how well a vacuum and dust shoe would work for milling aluminum. The end mills I used are literally like $1.50 each so I bought 20 of them.

 

Hey thanks for the help! The spindle cable I used was a 16/4 braided + foil shield I purchased from McMaster Carr. It's very strange, If I place my hand on the spindle body while it's running, I can see the RPMs drop a a little bit. I have taken the spindle apart multiple times to verify that the cooling jacket isn't leaking internally and everything is fine. I really think all this has something to do with my grounds.

Ok so if you look at the picture, my 110v mains is on the left, and spindle wiring to the right. The shield from the spindle cable is grounded only at the VFD. The plug on the spindle has 4 conductors so I grounded the body of the spindle and that is the 4th wire in the 16/4 that runs to the VFD. Does this look right to you? The spindle runs ok although It only seems to max out at 23,500 rpm vs the 24,000 rated rpm but this may just be one of the settings. Honestly, I'm more worried about proper grounding. There's another guy here on OB named Beardy Blair that has a Chinese spindle and hes talking about just grounding the spindle body to the X axis of the machine itself.

 

I also wanted to mention that I have the OpenBuilds Z axis gantry plate, spindle mount and a ton of really nice 8mm OD 5mm ID water line I got a crazy good deal on via Amazon. I know somethimes finding the right water line for these setups can be a pain.

 

Hey if you ever use a water cooled spindle from China I have some really nice 8mm OD 5mm ID water line. I ended up scoring about 100 feet for really cheap on Amazon. I looked after I bought it and saw the price went up to $60! Lol, I paid about 25% of that for some reason. I'm probably going to use some more of the hose for and air blast system but I doubt i'll use it all. All this is extra from my build:

 

Oh I also wanted to mention that the MDF is very, very temporary. I'm not a huge fan of it because it soaks up my WD40 like a sponge. I found a seller on Ebay "ShappiroMetals" or something that sells pieces of MIC 6 Cast aluminum sheet for pretty decent prices. This build has gone way over my original budget and I really don't want to spend hundreds more but I think if you really want to mill aluminum, you need to have a solid sub-plate. I plan to use a 1/2" thick sheet across the bottom that I can drill a ton of holes in. I will then add a 1/2" thick piece of HDPE on top of that to use a sacrificial layer although that stuff isn't cheap either. Lol, I can't wait until I'm only just buying cutters and stock.

 

Oh I wanted to show you something. So I have all my electronics housed in a large PC case that I got for free. I actually got a whole Dell PC with an older i7 for free to that I threw in the case also. I know people are using only Raspbery Pi with their Phoenix Controllers but I wanted this CNC to be for the most part un-tethered to my main PC. I wanted to be able to run CAD programs without problems or sluggishness and that's what I did but check out the DB9 connectors I used. These totally created a way cleaner interface with the PC tower.

 

More pics of the Phoenix CNC Controller with a 3D printed mount and also the DB9 + breakout boards to interface with the stepper drivers

 

I found this AIO water pump and res. combo that is very compact but it has some serious power. It has no problem blasting the water through the hose and I keep it down below the machine!

 

Yeah I haven't seen very many of them around but this is 110v VFD and the spindle ais actually labeled 110v also. I'll snap some more pics after work.

 

It was actually hard to find specific information on configuration of the VFD itself because not many people have them. It's a Huanyang 110v 1.5kw VFD + 110v 800w spindle

 

That sounds about right, lol. I planned to spend about $1500 and I'm around $3000 with a few more items on the list. I don't know the dimensions of your machine but the main reason I kept my x axis at 500mm is for the rigidity. I see people building really wide machines with heavy spindles and they run into issues. Also, I went with the blue ox x axis plates because they utilize 4 sets of wheels instead of 3. More wheels = more rigid in the openbuilds realm.

 

Im no professional but the 4' wide gantry machines that use only a single cbeam are not ideal for milling aluminum.

Edit:
Actually I think any CNC router can mill aluminum if you tune your feeds & speeds.

 

I think the base design of the Sphinx is a good start but once I'm really up and running I will without a doubt be making improvements as I don't really plan on milling anything other than aluminum and plastic. Maybe a little wood but not much interest in that area ATM. I have already made some major changes to the SketchUp model. I'll be sure to share them.

 

It's awesome that kyo shared this design and after doing a ton of research, I think for the price and customizability, it's one of the best options.

 

To be absolutely honest, I don't have a specific reason why I built this router but most of my projects are something I need in order to complete a different project. It's like a this crazy cycle that keeps going!

 

Oh that sounds perfect actually. If all goes to plan, I would like to have locating / threaded holes in the cast plate with sacrificial material on top that has matching holes allowing my to send a bolt through to the cast plate. I am a little worried about how threaded holes will hold up in the MIC 6 plate. Maybe there's some sort of insert I can use?

 

In my mind, having the cast plate and all the holes designed as a 3D model that I can always import to the cad / cam software would be the way to go. That way I would know everything always lined up. Is this even a thing?

 

Hey guys check out this tiny compressor that arrived today. No joke, this is the quietest compressor I have ever run and it fills very vast. I also picked up this 1/8" braided air brush hose with it also. I had to get some adapters to hook it up to the 1/4" fittings on the compressor but I think these set me back a little over $100 from Amazon. I was considering using one of those pond pumps but I think this is a better option for the air blast system. I should be flinging chips all over my apartment in no time! Oh and I wanted to mention that the reason that aluminum part I cut looked pretty bad was the spindle was running in the wrong direction. LOL. I was wondering why it looked like it was basically peeling out the material. Swapped two of the three leads around on the VFD and all is good now. Rookie Mistake.

 

So update on the tiny compressor:

the tank is small so it empties fairly fast if you use it wide open but it will run and maintain a decent pressure. The motor itself on the compressor is just a little bit louder than a refrigerator compressor. The air nozzle I am using is a cheap one from Amazon that included the blue LocLine for about $10.

 

LOL my drag chain reminds me of a utility trench running to a house. I have Air, Water, Data and Power in that sucker!

 

1/2" Cast sub-plate. Feeling more like a CNC.

 

So the 1/2" cast plate arrived about an 1/8" inch too big in the X and Y direction but I want to share that it cut very easily with a regular carbide tipped blade in my worm drive. I just set up a temporary fence to guide the saw.