[vlmarshall]

Originally Posted by Jason3 Almost! I built a spindle with a 3 Hp Magmotor like the combat robot guys use...the motor was ferocious... Rated speed at 24v is 6000 rpm, and it has tons of torque. If I could keep the motor cool, I would absolutely use it on something like the Sherline spindle. You can control the brushless RC motor controllers with a servo tester - http://www.robotcombat.com/products/RL-SRVTST.html Did you consider using a servo to drive the spindle? Everybody I've heard of doing that has been very pleased with their performance. Best regards, Jason

Yes, I've thought about using a servo tester, I think I have one around here in my tons of RC stuff...
Hmmm... a servo spindle would give me instant rigid tapping ability...
Your 3hp combat 'bot motor sounds good, my current spindle setup is fan-cooled, but I guess I'd need more than just a fan... maybe a Peltier or water cooling?

Originally Posted by Riceburner98 We use Basic STAMP's all day here at work to run our test equipment. Super-easy to program (which is likely why we use them), but SLOW, inefficient code, and retardedly expensive. I've blown at least 6 of the $90 BS2P40's in the last few months. They don't like static charges. I'm changing to Cypress PSOC chips (they have tons of configurable devices embedded on the chips) since we use those in products we sell and so guys here know how to program them in C, but I use Atmel parts exclusively at home. I'd reccomend Atmel or PIC any day over Basic STAMPs, unless speed or cost doesn't matter and you need to have kids program it. I've got the SurplusCenter control boards mentioned above (both the old plain aluminum one and the black anodized one) but haven't done much beyond spinning a motor with them. Hopefully they're easy enough to interface with. Lately I've been machining at 10k RPM / 120inches / minute and feel the need for more speed though. I like the idea of a nice high speed spindle with the RC motor attached. I could go for 20k RPM as long as it doesn't sound like a screaming Banshee. (Dremel tool.) It's fun watching a rooster tail of aluminum spit out of the cutter!

Arrgh...I think I'll wait a bit on this one. When I get into PICs it'll be for robotics, I guess I won't torture them in my mill, at least not right away. Dealing with a learning curve AND a destructive environment sounds expensive.

Yes, running something like a 3/4" two-flute through aluminum at 10,000RPM and 100IPM is a lot of fun... but noisy.