Spindle advise

Don't waste your money! Get a Rigid!

dunkelcustomcue said:

Right now I'm using a Precise Model 1158 for all of my tapering and inlay work.
The bearings are starting to make some noise and the last time it cost me over 1k to have it rebuilt by Precise. I'm looking for advise on what is working for others. If I have to spend some money to get something that is reliable and will last awhile then I will.

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I've had 2 Precise spindles, a Perske, a few Wolfgangs and many other spindles over the 17 years I've had my Techno-Isel CNC. I'm now using a Rigid laminate trimmer which I like much better than all the others combined. It cost under $100, is quieter, runs dead nuts true, has a variable speed from 19,000 to 30,000 rpms, soft start, a cute little led that shines down at your cutting bit, and best of all, it has a "LIFETIME WARRANTY"! I used it to cut a few mounts and jigs out of 1 1/2 " thick aluminum which was asking a lot of a laminate trimmer and after a week of very hard use the first one finally gave out. I went to Home Depot and purchased another Rigid and also sent the broken one in under warranty. In 2 weeks I received my old one back working as good as new. I've been gradually replacing all of the Porter Cable and other routers/laminate trimmers used for dedicated machines around my shop with the Rigid's. I now have 3 of them and absolutely love these gems. I wish I'd have found these baby's about 17 years ago, I'd have saved thousands of dollars on all the supposedly good spindles I purchased and junked. I can't recommend these enough!

How does the rigid mount? Does it have a 1/4-20 hole like the Porter cable or does it require a round mount around it to hold it?

Cue said:

How does the rigid mount? Does it have a 1/4-20 hole like the Porter cable or does it require a round mount around it to hold it?

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It requires a round mount, which makes it much more stable anyway. I've also cobbled together mounts with a half circle and a couple of large hose clamps that worked pretty well.

Sherm

Probotix sells a mount for the Ridgid for $65.00


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Rigid all the way. For the money you can't beat them. I believe you can get any collet size.

Guerra Cues said:

Probotix sells a mount for the Ridgid for $65.00


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Jeez maybe I should start making mounts and adapters...

Oh send me 30.00 for the adapter I made you for your Taper Shaper!!!!!

NOW!

pescadoman said:

Jeez maybe I should start making mounts and adapters...

Oh send me 30.00 for the adapter I made you for your Taper Shaper!!!!!

NOW!

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Hey Randy,
For real, with your 27 metal lathes and 14 mills you have in your garage, I would have done 78 cues by now. Seriously, you have good equipment and you did an excellent job with that sleeve. It's all about having the right tools. This is the Ridgid 2401 mount I was referring to:




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So the Wolfgang spindles are no all that they are cracked up to be?

I've been wanting to replace the dremel on My panto for a long time, because the repeatability is a pain to deal with sometimes. It works, but I have to fool with it for while to get some bits to run true. Sometimes they do the first try, and other times I have to re chuck many times to get It close enough. The other day after a long period of use I could start to hear some bearing noise, so know It's on the way out, I have another I could replace with, but I was thinking of trying the Wolfgang because I had read they have very little runout at the spindle, and they look small enough to work with My machine. I'd give the Rigid a try, but It won't fit between the linear rods, and I would have to redesign the whole machine to make It work.

I may try the rigid on my lathe, But I need to buy some more tooling for My mill to make a hole large enough to fabricate a mount for it. I don't have a rotary table for It either or I would try using that.

Model R2401?

dunkelcustomcue said:

What are the best collets for the Ridgid?

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I bought a set of precision collets from Think & Tinker that are the nuts, but frankly, the original 1/4" collet ran dead nuts true. No measurable run out. But I also needed an accurate 1/8" collet so I bought a set from Think & Tinker.

Sherm

I know one cuemaker who bought one of these trimmers to try out. It was bad, huge runout. I think he checked all of them in the store and they were all the same.

I hope it is obvious that I am not questioning Sherm, it just might be good if someone who has had equal success with these, someone who has actually tested the runout, could also post. It would be good to know which is the norm for these, dead nuts or huge runout.

Kelly

Hopefully you will post the runout with the original collet and Think & Tinkers.

Gary

Guerra Cues said:

Hey Randy,
For real, with your 27 metal lathes and 14 mills you have in your garage, I would have done 78 cues by now. Seriously, you have good equipment and you did an excellent job with that sleeve. It's all about having the right tools. This is the Ridgid 2401 mount I was referring to:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Thanks for the complement on the sleeve I sent you. It was pretty rough IMO and simple to make. The one I made for myself is alot more "polished".

As soon as I put my mill back together, I'll have a go at making some QCTP mounts for different routers. I already have the routers lol. A Dewalt, Rigid 2400 and 2401, and Bosch Colt. My 2400 is starting to get noisy, but it is a few years old. I bought the 2401 today and will make a sleeve.

pescadoman said:

Thanks for the complement on the sleeve I sent you. It was pretty rough IMO and simple to make. The one I made for myself is alot more "polished".

As soon as I put my mill back together, I'll have a go at making some QCTP mounts for different routers. I already have the routers lol. A Dewalt, Rigid 2400 and 2401, and Bosch Colt. My 2400 is starting to get noisy, but it is a few years old. I bought the 2401 today and will make a sleeve.

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Don't forget to go through the registration process for your "Lifetime Warranty". I've used it once but only after using it almost around the clock for a week cutting 1 1/2" thick aluminum making router mounts, a backing plate for my 4th axis chuck, and a few other jigs & fixtures for my 2 Techno-Isel CNC's. BTW, I put a dial indicator on all 3 of my Rigid 2401's and found no measurable run-out using the original Rigid 1/4" collets and the same with the Think & Tinker precise 1/4" and 1/8" collets. Maybe I was just lucky, but 3 out of 3 tells me that they have pretty tight quality control! I have no interest in Rigid or Home Depot and have only recommended them because I was so happy with the tools that I wanted to share it with the cuemakers here. I've probably spent more on spindles over the years than most have invested in their CNC's. To find one that works so well at such a reasonable price point just blew me away! Oh, and to answer the question about the Wolfgang spindles. I've had 3 of them and and my only complaint was the lack of torque and being limited to 1/8" end mills. Wolfgang gave me excellent service and if I were only using it for inlay work, it does a fine job, but with the Rigid I can use 1/4" shanked router bits and do things like cut my "V" grooves on the CNC for short spliced cues and do the occasional jig making, and motorcycle parts cutting aluminum which would be out of the question with the Wolfgang.

Sherm

cuesmith said:

Don't forget to go through the registration process for your "Lifetime Warranty". I've used it once but only after using it almost around the clock for a week cutting 1 1/2" thick aluminum making router mounts, a backing plate for my 4th axis chuck, and a few other jigs & fixtures for my 2 Techno-Isel CNC's. BTW, I put a dial indicator on all 3 of my Rigid 2401's and found no measurable run-out using the original Rigid 1/4" collets and the same with the Think & Tinker precise 1/4" and 1/8" collets. Maybe I was just lucky, but 3 out of 3 tells me that they have pretty tight quality control! I have no interest in Rigid or Home Depot and have only recommended them because I was so happy with the tools that I wanted to share it with the cuemakers here. I've probably spent more on spindles over the years than most have invested in their CNC's. To find one that works so well at such a reasonable price point just blew me away! Oh, and to answer the question about the Wolfgang spindles. I've had 3 of them and and my only complaint was the lack of torque and being limited to 1/8" end mills. Wolfgang gave me excellent service and if I were only using it for inlay work, it does a fine job, but with the Rigid I can use 1/4" shanked router bits and do things like cut my "V" grooves on the CNC for short spliced cues and do the occasional jig making, and motorcycle parts cutting aluminum which would be out of the question with the Wolfgang.

Sherm

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Thanks for the info Sherm, inlay would basically be My purpose for It, although I would occasionally be cutting into brass to make permanent patterns, so Not sure if the torque would be a problem for that.

The collet issue turned me off, because I sometimes use a smaller shank then 1/8. I read something on the site to the effect that the collets are hand made to the spindle, and that making 2 different size collets would be hard to do while keeping the runout at a minimum. It said something about him wanting to upgrade his collet making equipment in the future, and possibly offering 2 per spindle at that time. who knows how long that will be though.

For all I know I may finally be breaking into cnc by then and could use a larger spindle anyhow. The collet issue has had me on the ropes trying to decide what to do. I just can't find any comparable pricing on some of the 1/8 shank in those sizes, and of equal quality. I can make a Dremel work, My issue Is It's always like a 50 point inspection when changing bits, and rarely passes the first time chucking them up. The smallest bit of run out can be the difference in a tight inlay and a sloppy one, so I often spend a lot of time trying to rechuck the mills up the best that I can. That issue can also make the initial sizing of patterns a confusing situation.

The other day i was making patterns in brass. The dremel cut the brass like butter on the female pocket, but My V-bit for the male pattern was having a really hard time, and was over torquing the plastic bearing housing. I'm gonna try to find a better quality bit and see if that helps. It's cut corian with a reasonable amount of depth per pass, but is real slow going into brass. Like I mentioned the straight cutter that I used for the female cuts as smooth as can be even with deeper cuts, and is quick and easy, so maybe I just need a better quality cutter for the male.

Anyhow thanks for the feedback,

Greg