Hey Dave,
I've had really good luck with the Huanyung 1.5kw spindle (water cooled) and matching Huanyung VFD. I only have 110v available so that limited my options. I'm running it with a $9 RS485 USB stick and it works great. I'm running UCCNC but I've seen others running the same RS485 stick with MACH3 and they have no problems. My only advice would be to go for the water cooled over the air cooled as they cool better, seem to last longer, and most important to me, they are QUIET! I can't hear mine over the fans on my controller and VFD... to the point I have to look at the bit to make sure it's spinning. 10 times quieter than my dust collector and it's not extreemly loud.
I don't know what your budget is but the whole set up with a quality spindle cable and shielded cable for the RS485 would put you back ~350.00. There are cheaper ones out there but be careful, a lot of times they have no documentation and zero quality control. People have had issues with Huanyung QC as well but from what I've read, they are quick to respond and make things right. I've never had the need for support although I did have a after purchase question and they got right back to me.
This might be out of your price range but on the other hand you'd end up with something that will serve you well for some time. I've read postings by guys that have been running them 8 hours a day in production for 2-3 years without trouble.
One thing to keep in mind, although they say they are rated at 2HP, they are not. 1.5kw @ 110v is 13.6 amps = ~2HP. The VFD limits the amps to (IIRC) 7.5A and the spindle itself was stamped with 110v-5A. This is what I had a question about. They assured the spindle was rated for 13A but it was moot since the VFD only allows 7.5A. So long story short, the set I purchased is limited to ~1HP. However it hasn't ever been a limiting factor for me in anything I've cut. In order to put a real 2HP to any work you'd need some big iron rigitity and maybe larger tooling anyway.
That brings me to tooling. The 110v spindles are limited to ER11 collets so nothing more than 7mm (or 1/4") tool shanks. Whereas the 2.2kw spindles will mostly come with ER20 allowing up to 13mm (or1/2") tools. Problem is, it's a fools errand to run a 2.2kw spindle on 110v.
So as with anything else, it's always a trade off. I'd love to run 3/8" and, on occasion, 1/2" tools but without 220v in my shop there's just no way. And there's always that rigitity thing anyway.
If you decide to go that route and have any questions let me know. I did a ton of research when I put mine together and would be glad to share.
I was surprised at how easy it was to set up the RS485. Ran a couple (shielded) wires from the USB to the VFD and loaded a driver and it "just worked".
One other important thing to watch for.... regardless if you go with air or water cooled make sure the ground wire is connected in the spindle and be sure to ground it on the VFD end. The one that came with my machine was not even connected inside the spindle and they had used a three conductor cable between the spindle and VFD. The replacement Huanyung was grounded properly.
Hope this helps,
Stay safe,
Ken
