I wanted to finally beat @Luke to a product announcement, so here’s a new one, our VFD Spindle Kit:
We expect to have some in stock on Monday to begin shipping almost immediately.
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Awesome - I clicked the link after your announcement had been active for 7mins and it was already sold out…hoping Monday it will be in stock
Also - on the announcement, did you mean to say that “ Our spindle kit costs more than buying the parts a-la-carte and putting together your own solution” or that your spindle kit costs less???
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Another question- do I have the Shapeoko Pro, Do I need to buy the HdZ?
While it would be nice to have the HDZ — the Z-Plus is up to the added weight of the spindle, so if you don’t need the HDZ for other reasons, you should be good to go.
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What would be the other reasons?
The HDZ is a bit stronger than the Z-Plus, and has a finer pitch, since it uses a ballscrew rather than a leadscrew and can be pushed a little harder and driven a bit faster.
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Very cool! Do you have any video comparing it to the standard Shapeoko Pro trim router? I’d be interested in seeing the performance and sound difference - the volume is the big motivator for me.
I also assume the VFD control will work with speeds set by Fusion 360 right? I figure Winston wouldn’t let it go out without that 
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@robgrz Just noticed that this isn’t the same spindle as the HDM. Are you planning on selling the Water Cooled ER20 spindle for the Shapeoko Pro in the future?
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Other than spindle speed control I wonder what the comparison to C3D/Makita routers are for real day to day operation?
Is there a change in the power curve at lower RPM’s? Will this be better for EMI?
This was pretty thoroughly examined at:
The big thing is the spindle has a low-end speed of 8,000 RPM which can help a lot w/ plastics and metals.
We meant that it’s more, but we’re handling a lot of testing and integration that makes it a plug and play system.
Absolutely
We’re more into the 65mm spindles for the Shapeoko 3/4/Pro models. I don’t think we’ll do the 80mm, at least for now.
I’m not sure a video would fully capture the sound difference, since the automatic gain control on most cameras will boost quieter sounds but, in real life, it’s a lot quieter.
It should be more durable than a trim router since it’s brushless. We also add a lot of AC filtering within the enclosure to reduce EMI.
It will run at a lower RPM than a trim router but it’s going to make more power at higher RPM.
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Forgot to add that we didn’t put any in stock yet. We put the page up for everyone to get an opportunity to put their email in to be notified. We expect the first batch to be in stock on Monday.
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Thanks a lot for the info, Rob!
Could you also tell me what the new vertical height is (or the delta) with and without the HDZ (haven’t decided if I’d go the HDZ route too)? I kinda want to see if I’ll have any clearance issues with my enclosure setup.
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Gotta be fast on the draw with @Luke around. 
Excited to see a C3D spindle that takes better advantage of the improved SO4/Pro motion system.
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What type (ceramic or?) and how many bearing sets are in this spindle?
Very cool to see this offering!
Look, I can’t see why, but I need to ask.
How about… I decide to buy some other spindle down the road and want to re-use the VFD.
Can the VFD be unlocked?
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Right now, I think we’d say no (who knows what could change though). @Luke is the VFD pro around here, so maybe he can answer this in better detail, but I think a similar spindle should be a drop-in replacement without a need to change parameters.
EDIT: Also, once we meet whatever existing demand there is and get sufficient quantity, we’ll offer replacement spindles.
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Robs right, as long as you were using a similar spec spindle it would be a drop in replacement.
The reason we lock down the parameters is that these are quite advanced VFD’s, a big step up from the huanyang and others that I and others was using 5 years ago. There are literally hundreds of parameters. Internally we’ve been testing and using these for almost three years. Even the most advanced user (well intentioned) could do damage to their spindle or setup by changing the parameters.
One of the benefits here is we are taking this on as RTB warranty. If it doesn’t work it can come right back to us for inspection and diagnosis.
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Would this also be true for the HDM’s 1.5kW spindle (water cooled ER20 model) to also be eventually in the C3D store as replacement spindles? If yes would it be compatible with the VFD in this kit (ie. 1.5kW VFD, proper power cables between VFD to spindle, …)?
Obviously I’d be on the hook to get my own water cooling solution but may be a way to get to my ideal solution using all/mainly C3D sold components.