Face mill for my spindle?

**jonaorr** · 05-02-2013, 09:57 PM

Hi!
I want to use a face mill with my chinese spindle, i bought a 1.5kw watercooled spindle from ebay that comes with an ER11 collet.

This one is my spindle...
NEW Update 1.5KW WATER COOLED/ER11 GERMANY BEARING SPINDLE MOTOR AND MATCHING INVERTER-in Other Machinery from Industry & Business on Aliexpress.com

And i want to use a face mill like this one for example...

Free Shiping Two Colors 400R 63 22 4T 90 Degree Right Angle Shoulder Face Mill Head for APMT1604-in Milling Cutter from Industry & Business on Aliexpress.com

What accesories or converters / holder i need?? because those kind of face mills use a shaft that is too big for my ER11 and are intended for other systems. But i see that the face mills usually comes with a hole for the shaft so i could use a smaller shaft or adapter that fits my ER11... is that possible? or may be i can take off the ER11 nut and plug something directly to the motor thread in the place of the collet?

By the way... i am a new to this cnc world, i am just finishing my first router.
Thanks a lot!
Jonathan

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**Dylwad** · 05-03-2013, 04:43 AM

1.5kw spindle and er11 isn't really up to the task, adapting a big face mill to it would be dangerous, as they aren't really designed for high rpm, and your spindle won't have enough power at the lower rpm range anyways.

I would stick to 3/4 or 1" max bits, which you can find with a 1/4" shaft.

Also with a big face mill, your spindle tram has to be perfect or the surface will have big steps in it, smaller bits will leave smaller steps in the surface if your tram isn't perfect.

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**jonaorr** · 05-03-2013, 10:36 AM

thanks a lot for your reply Dywad. So those spindles are not intended for use with a face mill... Now i understand why i cant find the adapter!
But i think i will make a holding shaft with a lathe and just try to use it anyway just to test results... i can run the spindle at the lowest RPMs i can with the attached inverter and make many small passes so that i dont stress too much the spindle.
I hope i dont break my spindle

... i think the problem is the balance?

**LeeWay** · 05-03-2013, 11:27 AM

Man! I would advise against it. I think that is too big for maybe even an X3 spindle.
I use an R8 indexable cutter on my X2 spindle head with a 2HP DC motor and it is only 1.25". It takes all it can do to face mild steel with it. Anything bigger just would not work.

Also I would say that if one were to make a larger shaft for a tool and had it balance well, then re-engineering would not be needed as long as the steel was suitable, however going smaller is a big safety issue.

I would try a small lightweight flycutter instead of modifying a full blown facemill for such a spindle. That or at a minumum half the size of the one in the link. A fast moving tool that fails is extremely dangerous for everyone anywhere near it.

**jonaorr** · 05-03-2013, 11:58 AM

OK! you convinced me!! sorry my lack of cnc knowledge seems to be dangerous!... so i will now google the fly cutters to learn about them. I can use a fly cutter to face surfaces with my spindle? ok... so the max diameter can be... 1" as Dylwad said or can i use a little larger?
Thanks a lot for your help!! i am better in electronics, but mechanics is not my strong side.

**LeeWay** · 05-03-2013, 12:54 PM

Again, I would stay small. Flycutters are usually a lot lighter than facemills, but they are also inherently unbalanced.
I know the look you are going for and you can only safely get that look on an adequately sized machine. A small CNC machine just won't be able to safely replicate that large smooth one pass flat surface finish.
If the part needs a large surface finished out, maybe polishing would do.
I used to hand polish a lot of aluminum and it says polished looking for a very long time. It might be an option for you.

When you have a smaller cnc machine, you need to get creative to be able to do some work around things to accomplish the objective. Read all you can on here from guys with small machines making parts and how they actually did the work on them. I learn something new just about every day on here.

Post a few links of cutters you might be considering and maybe we can help further.