Seeing all these posts about water cooled spindles and how quiet they are is making me want to spend more money. I don’t do any hard core milling - all wood with a decent mix of 2, 2.5 and 3D carves. So I guess I could go with either a 1.5kw or 2.2kw. Getting 240V to my machine is not a problem. I do have the HDZ so that’s not an issue either. I’m looking for a good spindle that folks on this board are familiar with so when I run into an issue I can readily get help. Any good recommendations? Also, I do have a laser that is plugged into my PWM signal. I know there was a post about having two devices on the PWM but I don’t know if there was a definitive answer on that. Is that doable? Or are there two PWM points on my board (2.4e I think)?
I run the PWM signal to my laser and Hy VFD and it works great. Just run them in parallel and make sure one of them is disabled or turned off. Just wire the PWM signal in parallel to both units.
I went with a 800W G-Penny spindle and never regretted it.
I second @wb9tpg’s comment.
I chose to have a set of connectors installed so that I can switch between the laser and the spindle control in a few seconds.
If I had to go back in time and choose a spindle now, I would probably choose an 800W instead of the 2.2kW I got. Sure, it’s good to have power, but those 2.2kW beasts are big and heavy, so if you don’t need it, check Gary’s thread and go for 800W or 1500W.
It seems most ppl go for the 2.2Kw because of the ER collet size (ER20), just don’t expect the Shapeoko to put that power to full use, You can find 1.5Kw with an ER16 which can get you up to 3/8" shank tooling.
Not to hijack but didn’t think we need another spindle thread, im also spindle shopping and likely going to order a g-penny 1.5KW, my question is there a significant benefit to going with a 220v one over 110v?
If i had to i could do some wiring and get 220 to where my CNC is but is it worth it, is there a major downside to just staying with 110?
My other question does anyone know how much louder the air cooled is vs water cooled? i suspect the cutting is the loud part anyway so is it worth the effort and extra money of doing a water cooled setup?
I have yet to see anyone complain about using an 110v 1PH input to 220v 3PH output VFD. That said, be sure to use a circuit that can support the full amperage draw (see below) and not sharing with other appliances/tools, otherwise you could trip a breaker or worse. While you might never see it actually pull that full amperage rating, when it comes to electricity I rather play it safe than be sorry.
Also, typical industrial VFD installation recommends a circuit breaker and/or fuse inline, i.e. my 2.2kW VFD recommends a 25 amp (Type B) breaker, and as I am piggybacking off my dryer line for 220v 1PH (not running simultaneously of course), it has a 40amp breaker in the panel. So I rather it trip at the shortest possible distance (in my VFD electrical enclosure next to the CNC), rather than what would happen if it didn’t till over 40amps.
At full load (1500W output) that spindle should draw 220V * 7A * 1.732 = 2667VA from the VFD. Even if the VFD is 90% efficient, it would draw 2667VA / 0.9 = 2964VA from the service at full load. At 220V, that’s 2964VA / 220V = 13.5A (minimum 15A circuit). At 110V that’s 2964VA / 110V = 27A (minimum 30A circuit). A more reasonable 800W spindle would require about half as much.
I am still in the process of installing my water cooled spindle, so don’t have real comparisons (and won’t against an air cooled spindle per se). I can say my screaming Makita is still louder than the cutting noises I induce into aluminum and can only imagine wood would be less. It does add complexity (and cost) into the system as you mention. Many have gotten by with simple cheap water fountain pumps and a bucket, but isn’t very elegant and adds a larger footprint vs PC cooling equipment. Some have seen failures with the pumps included in the spindle bundles, not sure how G-Penny holds up in quality of the pump.
Ya i was looking into doing the water cooled and using PC cooling and price just started adding, up so then i was wondering how much louder air cooled really is.
I have a makita right now and i would be happy with anything that isn’t louder then the makita haha
Im sure a 800w would work fine but from what i have seen they come with ER11, i need something atleast ER16.
I got my supplies from Performance PCs which has 10% (all orders) and 15% (over $299 ) coupons running at the moment. They have been pretty fast on shipment (next day) too. Still gonna cost more than a submerged pump and bucket though
I don’t have a water-cooled spindle to compare against, but my “1.5Kw” air-cooled spindle is plenty quiet as far as I am concerned. With the doors to my enclosure closed, the loudest thing happening is generally… the fan on the VFD. I’ve been quite happy with the spindle - I don’t think I would even notice if it was quieter than it already is.
I had a DeWalt. The noise comparison is… an order of magnitude? Night and day? Screaming bloody murder vs quiet purring? It is so substantially better that I don’t know how else to express it, and I don’t have the equipment to do a proper measurement.
In practical terms, it was the difference between actually wanting to use the machine and not. With the doors closed, I can hear it enough to know that it is running, but that’s about it.
Thanks for the info, air cooled might be the way I go then since i am really not that worried about it being silent, just didn’t want anything louder then my makita!
) coupons running at the moment. They have been pretty fast on shipment (next day) too. Still gonna cost more than a submerged pump and bucket though 
