Hey guys, a while back I seen a guy put an ATC Spindle in his Shapeoko 3. He was using the stock Z axis, which to my amazement it held the weight of the 2.2kw spindle. Has anyone recently done this with the HDZ? Or just put the automatic tool change spindle on at all? Know where to find them? I know if I want this feature, I should probably buy a tormach or a haas but figured I’d ask anyway since I already have my shapeoko and have had it for over 2 years now. Thanks.
I believe the post you are thinking of is:
it and others are listed at: https://wiki.shapeoko.com/index.php/Upgrade_Overview#Automatic_Tool_Changer
FWIW, I decided against this since I’m not willing to give up working area, instead am going w/ a
https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafell-fm-1000-ws-milling-motor
along w/ a step-up/down transformer — I’ll need to make a mounting plate, but that will wait until it arrives, plus work up dust collection, we’ll see, it should ship from Germany in a couple of days.
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Thank you! Pretty informative. Can’t wait to look at it deeper
I have a Jianken JGL-80 purchased through alibaba.com that I have recently installed.
@ScottLaird installed an AMB 1050 FME ATC a while back, however think he has moved it over to a discontinued Beaver CNC platform. One of the limitations he had to deal with was the GRBL/CarbideMotion board lack of IO, and had to jerry-rig it to work through the spindle/coolant IO pins.
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How happy are you with your new spindle? Does it work with carbide motion? Or what are you running your code thru?
I have only run it for probably 8+ hours now, but I’ve been enjoying it. This type of spindle requires several IO pins to control (at least if you want to automate it) so no, I did away with the CarbideMotion board and software. I have moved to UCCNC and UC300ETH control board.
You need two output pins to control the tool release/clamp (3-port 2-way Solenoid Valve) and air de-dust pneumatics. There is also a constant air seal when the spindle is running. To provide as much safety there is also a temperature sensor and two tool position sensors which would require input pins depending on how you wire it into with controller and safety/e-stop circuit. This is not for the faint of heart nor cheap. 
There is the simpler ATC spindle adapters like from CNC CAT or Mechatron, or as linked above, AMP spindle that only require a single pneumatic control valve and 1 or 2 addition IO pins the CarbideMotion board doesn’t have/can’t spare if you are also wanting spindle control etc.
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Note, I linked to the wrong AMB spindle, it’s this one: https://mctinfo.net/amb-spindle/1050-fme-w-di
The million dollar question 
I purchased the spindle around this time last year for $1400USD (no VFD), however this didn’t include the lovely import tariffs, which I think was ~25% at that time, not sure what it would be as of today. This was for 2.2kW 30K RPM ISO20 /w one included ISO20-ER16 toolholder valued around $100.
As for the electronics and pneumatics, no idea I’m sure I’m upwards of around $1.5k. Some of that is from learning and figuring out things as I went - mistakes made, purchasing some of the wrong components. Also went with more industrial components as I felt this would be a long-term invest (and could carry over when I replace the SO3 platform base).
So you got to out weigh upfront cost vs return, how much time is saved with automated tool change vs just buying another SO3, and plenty of other variables to consider. This not being a [full-time] business but more of hobby for me that justification is even harder but basically the money I do make from my SO3 I just turn round and throw back into the machine(s) and has covered a decent portion of it.
I should also have a disclaimer that my SO3 is highly modded (one could argue it isn’t a SO3 anymore and I would agree 
). I have stronger closed loop steppers and linear rails (instead of v-wheels) to support the additional weight as a 2.2kW ATC is heavier than the already heavy typical 2.2kW spindle.
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I also have an iso20 spindle, its the best upgrade I have done to the shapeoko. I have linear rails and the bigger 2amp steppers from stepper online.
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