A perusal of the search lists on this topic have revealed several attempts to upgrade the anemic stock spindle to a more powerful aftermarket version.
However, I have not seen any which I would say are definitively successful.
I realize that the Nomad 3 attempts to address this, and is a turnkey solution albeit a pricey one. I could justify the cost if there were other improvements such as a larger workspace but I already own the Nomad Pro and would prefer to upgrade it instead. I love the precision of the machine but the lack of spindle power is a serious handicap which causes machining run times to be far lomger than they otherwise have to be to avoid stalling the cutter in the middle of an hours-long job.
Has anyone had anything like success in putting a more powerful spindle in place?
What are the barriers to replacing the stock spindle with a more powerful spindle, other than geometry?
What is the possibility of manual control of a new spindle while leaving the stock spindle electronics in place?
That kind of conversion is exactly what I am looking for.
Perhaps @Vince.Fab could add details to the original construction thread? Curious if there ever was a product produced?
I am mechanically adept enough that the modification part doesn’t intimidate me, but the electrical and software integration is far beyond my understanding. Those are the kinds of details I am looking for and what I mean when I say a definitive solution to the spindle upgrade problem.
This here was my attempt at it from a slightly less software involved side. I made no changes to the software but you would need to be aware of your endstop limits doing it this way when doing your cam.
It limits the z and y axis, it would technically be possible to move the y out but way more effort then its worth, at that amount of work its better to build a custom machine based around a print nc mini. Deflection has not been an issue. Ive been manually turning it on after it probes tools.