5 ms·

Or, go totally overkill and use what is essentially the Z axis from a CNC router, upside down, with the ballscrew replaced with a tight acme screw. And then use

Or, go totally overkill and use what is essentially the Z axis from a CNC router, upside down, with the ballscrew replaced with a tight acme screw. And then use a cheap 1.5KW chinese spindle with an ER20 collet system. All the parts are designed to go together, and the VFD gives you speed control. It is quieter, more powerful, and the whole apparatus is much nicer to use. Once you've used spindles, you'll really only use routers for handheld tasks.

abakker 6y ago
Self reply - I have contemplated swapping the cheap spindle for one that has an ISO20 tool change compatible spindle so you could swap bits from the top (and share tools with my CNC router). It seems very nice, but at this point is too much of a luxury.
- aaronblohowiak 6y ago
  Do you know of a source for a spindle that accepts iso20 for less than 4K?
  - abakker 6y ago
    I have 2 spindles from jianken bought through aliexpress. Both were around 1700 for the bare tool. One does 24000rpm, the other 30000. Note, if I were starting from scratch with nothing, I’d buy iso 30 stuff.
mauvehaus 6y ago
Dumb question: Why do you have to replace the ball screw with Acme?
- abakker 6y ago
  Without a stepper to hold the torque all the time, ballscrews will creep. The friction is too low. You could leave the ballscrew and just add a shaft locking clamp, or be fancy and drive it with an actual stepper motor.
  - mauvehaus 6y ago
    Makes sense. Thank you.
reportingsjr 6y ago
Just go all of the way and get a shaper! (definitely a dream tool for me) https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/ https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/
- linsomniac 6y ago
  I thought you meant a shaper as in "The only thing you can't make with a shaper is a profit."
- abakker 6y ago
  I have used these a few times and do not love it. Once you have used a gantry type CNC, the router is too limiting. One problem is needing to recalibrate the reference surfaces with their tape, but the big one is clamping and fixturing. With the shaper, you need to have it touch the work, or at least rest on a reference plane. With a gantry machine you can hold small pieces and cut all the way around them. Basically, the shaper is only good for internal features, while a cnc router is good for internal and external features and can also do 3D contour work.
linsomniac 6y ago
Oh man, now we're talking! Imma bookmark this and get back to you with my build video.

abakker 6y ago

Self reply - I have contemplated swapping the cheap spindle for one that has an ISO20 tool change compatible spindle so you could swap bits from the top (and share tools with my CNC router). It seems very nice, but at this point is too much of a luxury.

aaronblohowiak 6y ago
Do you know of a source for a spindle that accepts iso20 for less than 4K?
- abakker 6y ago
  I have 2 spindles from jianken bought through aliexpress. Both were around 1700 for the bare tool. One does 24000rpm, the other 30000. Note, if I were starting from scratch with nothing, I’d buy iso 30 stuff.

mauvehaus 6y ago

Dumb question: Why do you have to replace the ball screw with Acme?

abakker 6y ago
Without a stepper to hold the torque all the time, ballscrews will creep. The friction is too low. You could leave the ballscrew and just add a shaft locking clamp, or be fancy and drive it with an actual stepper motor.
- mauvehaus 6y ago
  Makes sense. Thank you.

reportingsjr 6y ago

Just go all of the way and get a shaper! (definitely a dream tool for me) https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/ https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/

linsomniac 6y ago
I thought you meant a shaper as in "The only thing you can't make with a shaper is a profit."
abakker 6y ago
I have used these a few times and do not love it. Once you have used a gantry type CNC, the router is too limiting. One problem is needing to recalibrate the reference surfaces with their tape, but the big one is clamping and fixturing. With the shaper, you need to have it touch the work, or at least rest on a reference plane. With a gantry machine you can hold small pieces and cut all the way around them. Basically, the shaper is only good for internal features, while a cnc router is good for internal and external features and can also do 3D contour work.

linsomniac 6y ago

Oh man, now we're talking! Imma bookmark this and get back to you with my build video.