I know what I am going to do for the mechanical parts BUT I am stuck for a spindle. I need 117vac and 1.5kw should be enough for any of these builds. I know about Chinese spindles from ebay (scares the living heck out of me considering how much business I did with China for my 3d printer I made) but which VFD to pair with it that is not a hunk of junk on arrival to a few hours or days? I really hate thinking that the spindle+vfd will be as much as my entire machine though. So, what mates with what, how much, and no mach for me I simply prefer an ethernet/usb option.
There has got to be something from the States on 110v that would suit you. A lot of guys use the Bosch plunge router as their spindle. Gray
I meant a real spindle not a router so something without brushes is what I am after. I will mostly be working with 6061 Aluminum.
I'm currently planning on going with a 2.2kW 220V VFD so I can use our unused dryer outlet and pull less current, from the US-based LightObject since I've heard good things about their customer service- all these grey box VFDs are the same anyway, it's more about who you buy it from, I think. Spindle is 1.5kW water-cooled Eteyo unit. Apparently has German bearings and miniscule runout, I dunno. But to sell on Amazon you have to have a returns policy, so like LightObject, insurance. I've heard (somewhere else on this forum?) Mitsubishi or someone make VFDs that you can acquire used, but I don't know how feasible that is. http://www.lightobject.com/22KW-220...ve-VFD-Power-Supply-for-CNC-Spindle-P375.aspx http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IU7T24K
I am stuck with 117vac on this house unless I wired up a 220v from the box myself then have a code inspector come out and spend 75-150 for the fees just to be complaint for insurance purposes. So, stuck at 1.5kw due to the 117vac else I would. Another thing that is throwing me is the ER11 on most of these and I see up to ER20 and supposedly, from what I have read, the larger the ER number the greater the accuracy with less runout but I have to doubt a .005mm run out on these Chinese spindles and if so how long will that run out last? edit: I have to ask but would this work on a 1.5kw spindle? http://www.lightobject.com/22KW-110...ve-VFD-Power-Supply-for-CNC-Spindle-P379.aspx I see it says 2.2kw 110 (117) volts but house hold wiring is only rated for 1850 watt continuous service so how does that even work?
If you can pull the current to get 1.5kW+ from a circuit or two, just get a 110V VFD instead- LightObject sell those too. Doesn't matter what your input voltage is, they all output 3-phase 220V anyway.
We cross posted it seems so I will ask again. Would this work on a 1.5kw spindle? http://www.lightobject.com/22KW-110...ve-VFD-Power-Supply-for-CNC-Spindle-P379.aspx I see it says 2.2kw 110 (117) volts but house hold wiring is only rated for 1850 watt continuous service so how does that even work?
Yeah, the availability of 110V also was supposed to be the other half of my original post but I forgot to put it in there. I can only assume you're going to have to play with your breaker switches to find two relatively nearby outlets which are on different circuits. I think most breakers trip at 15A per circuit (it should be labelled on the trip switches), so you'd probably practically be limited to a 2.2kW spindle plus steppers and computer even on two lines. Be aware of anything else running on the same circuit too, like air conditioners or power tools. Yay conservation of energy laws! RE: ER11, the listings I've seen for the Chinese ER11s all state Japanese electronics and German bearings and only Chinese assembly- I think that's why they're a little more expensive than the other typical spindles. I don't think they're being sold at very high profit margins either. Of course, it could all be complete lies, who knows? Maybe buy your own bearing block and extend the shaft so that you know for certain- but only, I suppose, if the motor doesn't perform effectively. Oh, and if it's water-cooled (I went for that under the assumption they'd be higher-performance due to higher currents) don't forget the tubing and pump and stuff!
Yep, I am not sure if a pc cooling setup would be enough so was thinking if not I could go to Autozone and buy a 35 dollar heater core block (comes to about 50 due to core charge and since I have no core to return I get socked) and the tubes and a 50/50 glycol based Anti-freeze/Coolant. Just need a reservoir, thermometer, and a pump. By the time I am done 100 bucks easily but more like 120.
Buying a used VFD is a bad idea. If the IGBTs go out the unit is worthless and most industrial units are spec'd to use them pretty hard.
