Comprehensive guide to upgrading my spindle?

[LiamN (Liam Newcombe)]

Luke posted a bunch of very helpful stuff about spindle upgrades;

Instructions for fitting a 2.2kw (or other power spindle) and VFD

Hi Guys, following on from my thread on upgrading the Shapeoko 3 to a 2.2kw spindle [IMG_8031] Here was the discovery with a fair amount of ramblings. I thought it would be useful to do a full write up on it – so that others can learn from my mistakes and learning’s. Firstly, why do this? It’s worth noting that an air cooled spindle does not have all the benefits of a water cooled version. Here is why I upgraded to a water cooled spindle: • Higher torque and lower speeds – better for mi…

How to wire up a water cooled spindle to a GBRL CNC - Shapeoko 3 or similar

You’ll be needing the HDZ or at least the Z Plus for a smaller spindle due to the weight.

On 110V you’ll need to be careful not to buy a 220V spindle & VFD combo.

Lots of folks rate the GPenny spindles on Ali Express / Amazon / eBay

You don’t need 2.2kW on a Shapoko, the machine hasn’t got the rigidity to need that power, but… I really like having the ER20 collet so I can use normal sized edge finders, center finders and other spindle tooling in my machine. I have pretty much given up using the bitzero now.