Spindle for inlay work

Scratchy

Scratchy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm in the 'design' phase (OK, day-dreaming mode ...) on building a CNC inlay set up. I've reviewed some of the designs shown in recent threads and have a fair idea of what I need for the basic mechanics of the system. (and thank you to those who contributed expertise)

I'm not sure about the power I'd need for a spindle, though. I know it needs to be very low TIR, high precision and high RPM. I've reviewed the thread on the Chinese water/air cooled spindles that discussed 1.5 - 2.2 KW, with an inverter to run 3 phase 220V and they look to be OK on the precision end of things, but the question is, if I only use this machine for inlay work, could I use a 500 W to 1 KW unit to keep the input power reasonable amperage on 110V?

Thanks for any insight and help,

mac
 
Joey, I thought you were happy with yours? Maybe I missed a thread, did they not work out for you? I was looking at buying some of the same ones.
 
Depends on what type of inlays you intend to do. If it Bloodworth style with big radius at the end of inlays these will work fine. On the other hand if you are going to be using .020 bits and smaller for sharper inlays then you will need to find a better spindle with less run out. It also does not require much power to turn the small bits as I believe mine is about .4 hp. and I have never noticed it drawing anything but minimum power from the inverter.
 
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Brickcues said:
Depends on what type of inlays you intend to do. If it Bloodworth style with big radius at the end of inlays these will work fine. On the other hand if you are going to be using .020 bits and smaller for sharper inlays then you will need to find a better spindle with less run out. It also does not require much power to turn the small bits as I believe mine is about .4 hp. and I have never noticed it drawing anything but minimum power from the inverter.
Click to expand...

Who's this Bloodworth guy.

Try this http://www.custompartnet.com/calculator/milling-horsepower
aluminum unit hp is .25 Wood is less
 
Bill the Cat said:
I use one of his earlier versions for inlay work in my Taig CNC and am extremely happy with it. I have every reason to believe that his newer version is even better.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-TB-650-...149?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e1375415
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For an inlay specific machine where heavy milling is not required, and a huge budget is not available....this is the only choice.

The fact that it has the drawbar and doesnt require wrenches puts it in a class of its own. The next best upgrade comperable to this would be nsk with lever collet closer and your looking at a minimum of 4k with controller for that without much improvement in performance.
 
Thanks, everyone. You guys are great, and the information was very helpful. I ordered one of the Wolfgang spindles and expect it will do fine for my needs.

mac
 
I wonder how that would work on a unique inlay machine.
Looks like a nice spindle especially for the price
 
Im curious about the Wolfgang spindles. The spindle I have from Bludworth is way overkill running off a 2 HP Baldor motor. Im just wondering how these Wolfgang spindles hold up. Sure would be less noisy and probably use alot less electircity. Can you run them at a cutting rate that is fast enough. Also wondering how strong the bracket is.
 
cuejo said:
I wonder how that would work on a unique inlay machine.
Looks like a nice spindle especially for the price
Click to expand...

I wonder how the mounting would go... I have a CueMonster with a quiet router and I hate using 2 wrenches to change tools. This spindle changes tools by just loosening the collet draw bar by hand....

Kim
 
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