My latest project

Here it is mounted on the wall and running. It cuts smooth and accurate, I'm very happy with it.

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I'm going to build a door with clear plastic but haven't decided how high I want it yet. I cut a hole at the top right above the spindle motor which runs the hottest of them all and set the control box on top of it with the vents lined up to have the dust control inlet air cool them both. So I need to make the door tall enough to get good air flow up there.

Amazingly even with no door on it at all it leaks almost no dust out the front.
 
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BarenbruggeCues said:
Been running those colts for a few years now. My biggest complaint is the collet is crap. Used to be a place that made a nice replacement for them but they have since disappeared.
A little noisy full tilt but no need to run them wide open. Brushes are a whiz to replace in a matter of minutes. I've been thru 3 or 4 sets of bearing on a couple of mine. If you make it that far, drop me a line and I'll hook you up with better than spec replacements. They're easily replaced also. You can put new brushes and bearings in one for around 20$ and a little time IIRC.
You shouldn't have too much problem with flex if you keep the over hang to a minimum. The Y only has to move less than 1.5 inch for cues if you're only tapering.

Been looking at the Makitas for a replacement when the bearings go again (Bosch recommends only replacing the bearings twice I believe it was and I'm twice past that on a couple units with no complainants) but have to check out the Makita collet first.
Good Luck on the project John.
Thanks for sharing.
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How about a Kress or a Suhner?
 
Kim Bye said:
How about a Kress or a Suhner?
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I ran a couple of the old grey and blue Kress into the ground. They're nice spindle motors but my feeling is for tapering only the cheaper way works fine for me. When they both quit turning I switched over to the bosch colts basically because they were available at my local store and I needed something quick. A little modification with a grinder and I mounted the base bracket so I can switch the bosch motors out in about 2 minutes when one takes a crap. When the first one quit running I went and bought another and repaired the first with better than stock bearings. And so on and so forth. Have 3 now that I run that I have about the same cost that I did in 1 Kress and get the same job done.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Go cnc spindle and never look back.
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Yeah, a proper cnc spindle is event better if you run a cnc type setup.
I use a Kress FME1050 for the Tapershaper and i have a FME800 for live threading.
What`s your taper setup now Joey?
 
JC said:
I decided to build one of these from scratch. Mach will run the spindle and the router power so when the cut is done all movement will cease without intervention.

I plan to build a cabinet around it and wall mount it vertically at chest level with a dust collection port at the bottom to allow gravity to be my friend and keep the footprint small. It will protrude from the wall less than 12 inches.

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JC
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Have you considered those 4axis sets on ebay?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Router-Rotary-Axis-A-4th-axis-3-Jaw-80mm-tailstock-Steel-frame-20-1-/292107587597
I`m thinking those tailstocks might be more precise?
 
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JC said:
I'm using the spring loaded taig live center for quick load unload of parts and the cutting seems consistent within .001" which is plenty good for government cues.

Probably for inlay work I may want more precision but I'm not that advanced yet.

JC
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Yeah that seems allright.
Do you use Mach3 or Kellys cue cut program?
Your build was very inspiering, I think I`m gonna do something very similar.
If you have some advice, please share here or PM :)
 
Kim Bye said:
Yeah that seems allright.
Do you use Mach3 or Kellys cue cut program?
Your build was very inspiering, I think I`m gonna do something very similar.
If you have some advice, please share here or PM :)
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CueCut doesn't replace Mach3. CueCut is a GCode program generator. Mach3 (or some other controller software) is still used to run the GCode and control the machine.
 
Kim Bye said:
Yeah that seems allright.
Do you use Mach3 or Kellys cue cut program?
Your build was very inspiering, I think I`m gonna do something very similar.
If you have some advice, please share here or PM :)
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The only advice I have is to think about how you're going to control the dust and build your machine backwards from that. I took 50 shafts down .040 today while working at my day job, loaded them in one after the next without spilling a single speck of sawdust on the floor. And keep it as simple as possible. Very few moving parts or hardware in my setup.
 
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JC said:
The only advice I have is to think about how you're going to control the dust and build your machine backwards from that. I took 50 shafts down .040 today while working at my day job, loaded them in one after the next without spilling a single speck of sawdust on the floor. And keep it as simple as possible. Very few moving parts or hardware in my setup.

JC
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That's allready taken care of, I've built a box for my tapershaper with a hole for an industrial type dust collector and I have a plexiglass front, so I can see what's going on. :)
 
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