Spindle to replace router

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Advice
#1

I’m looking at spindles right now to replace my DW660 router drill, mostly because its VERY loud and I’d like to be able to use the thing later in the day without feeling like my neighbors want to kill me haha.

I’m wondering if this spindle would be a good replacement, I’m looking for something that is going to cut just as good and hopefully make less noise, I’m aware it will still make a lot of noise, but compared to the DW660 I’d like something a little less.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Spindle-Cooled-Milling-Converter-Engraving/dp/B01LNBOCDA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509672728&sr=8-3&keywords=cnc+spindle+motor&dpID=51U0s8rR0yL&preST=SY300_QL70&dpSrc=srch

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#2

I run one, and it works well for me…the biggest negative is the max spindle speed…it’s not been a problem at all with milling style bits, it might be if you want to use regular router bits…i have never really bogged It down, they have plenty of torque. Biggest plus is they are really quiet. I haven’t ran anything else on my machine so I can’t really compare it, but I have no complaints.

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#3

 

Yea thats what I figured, it would be mostly for a small 1/8 inch bit for more detailed cutting. Have you tried cutting metal with it? I’m glad to hear it is a lot less loud because that was the main reason I was looking at them!

#4

I have not tried to cut any aluminum, but plan to give it a try sometime. The lower speed is a good thing for the aluminum so theoretically it should work as well as anything else if the feeds and spindle speed is in the sweet spot. I have a manual bridgeport style manual mill, so i would only ever do something intricate or just simply for the fun of it.

#5

Do you drive your spindle directly with the raprap board, or with a power supply?

#6

I also had one of these and was very happy with it… until it died after about a year. When I opened it it was completely packed with dust that had broken some of the copper wire inside.

The spindle has six holes at the bottom. In the product picture you can see five of them. Two of those have screws in them from inside that hold the spindle together. The other four are open and let all the dust in. So I would recommend putting small screws in them to stop the dust from creeping in or close them some other way. (Although I have to say that I have never tested it. The holes might provide ventilation to cool the spindle in the inside but I kind of doubt it. But I won’t pay for it if this breaks your spindle. So test this at your own risk. :-))

And a word of caution: The metal housing of the power supply is not grounded. Do yourself a favor and connect a ground wire to it. And before connecting the power supply to your Arduino to switch it on automatically or control the speed measure the voltage difference between spindle negative and Arduino ground. Mine was 80V which would have fried my electronics.

This might read a little bad, but I was happy with the spindle. It was even precise enough to mill PCBs with 0,2mm traces.

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#7

Oh good to know about the holes, Instead of plugging them I think I’ll design a 3d printed part that will put a curved platform there to allow air to flow from above instead of below because I believe those to be for air, but I’ll probably take it apart when I get it to figure it out.

 

Also good to know about the voltage and the ungrounded shell, definitely handled that.

#8

I pulled the trigger on the spindle and it arrived today definitely a good investment already using it to cut stuff its a little slower but the sound difference is very much worth it!

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#9

Will this spindle work with the DW660 mount or will I have to make one?

#10

You should be able to use this brackets => https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1767503 with the default tool mount.