Hi Guys

I have been thinking of building a completely new Head assembly for a Square Column Milling Machine that I am converting to CNC. I would like to get away from the noisy Gear type transmission and go with a two speed belt drive assembly. I am planning to change the electric motor over to a 3 Phase unit and install a VFD for speed control. I really think that this is a better way to go for this size of Mill.
The main body of the new head would be built up using plate metal. I would like to find a round type Spindle Cartridge (R8) that is flange mounted for this new Head project. Does anyone know of a good place to purchase a suitable Spindle for this project at a reasonable price? Thanks for your help.

Regards
Willyb

OK everyone out there. Help!! let us know who makes a good R8 spindle.

I spent the past few months shopping myself, for a hobby project, all I came up with are from places like Pope, dunham, and SKF, they are pretty expensive, upwards of 4-10k. Let me know if you find something cheaper.

This is the problem that I found while searching for a suitable Spindle for my Mill. They are either starting at $4,000 (which is way to much) or $150 which are not heavy enough. It's to bad that someone didn't offer one in the $500 area with R8 tooling and I beat they would sell allot to the hobby guys. Any of the used ones that I have found on Ebay always had some weird taper for the tooling. I guess I will keep looking for a used one.

Willyb

PEU - where are you?

A member on this site (Peu) designed such a thing a few months back (not flange mount, but I am sure it could be altered a bit). I am not sure if he built his design or not, but it's a dead ringer for this requirement - perhaps someone could PM him if he fails to chime in...

MikeAber made an R-8 spindle also.

Scott

Try here, not cheap but a lot less than $4000. Not sure if they are suitable for milling though.

http://www.dunhamtool.com (http://www.dunhamtool.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?category=high_speed_spindles&cart_id=)