Spindle Comparison

[Smackre]

Ive been having alot of trouble with my porter cable having alot of run out. Not being able to use longer bits due to to much runout. So im thinking about buying a real spindle to fix the issue.

I have a older Porter Cable. Its a porter cable 520 I believe. Its 3-1/4 hp.

I would like to compare that to The motor package 3 on this website.
http://www.ekstromcarlson.com/router_packages.htm

Now i only do small work. Usualys its just small cuts nothing that realy needs alot of power. Im hoping the 1.34hp on that spindle will be enough. I work almost always in plastic. I do no work in metals and alittle in wood.

How does the 3-1/4 P.C. Compare to the 1.34HP Spindle? I would think the Spindle would still have more power than the P.C.

Another question i got is will this make me be able to cut faster in plastic. The plastic i cut is acrylic i believe. And right now to get the smoothest finish I use a 1/16" Tool running at 2.5imp at 21000rpm. With a spindle with no runout and such will i be able to run faster and maybe slower rpm? It seems to me right now the only way to get a good finish is the almost burn the edge.

[fpworks]

I have a SM-C73 that I bought a couple years ago for a router that I still havent finished.

I measured 0.5 to 0.7 micron runout along spindle taper. I have not yet installed a collet and a tool, but I would imagine the total runout will be 10 microns or better.

You have to buy collets from them, or the spindle warranty is void. If I remember, they said time between rebuilds is typically 7,000 hours, depending on use/abuse.

Have you gotten a quote on these motors yet? If I remember correctly, it does not cost that much more to jump from a -54 to a -73 sized motor, or even higher. However, the inverter costs will go up really high if you go past a -73 motor.

Justin

[Smackre]

There was a afew reasons I went with the smaller spindle. One was it could do 24000rpm. The other is the weight. My machine does not have a big stepper on the Z axis. And i dont want to make it have alot of more weight on the Z.

[fpworks]

You might want to make sure the -54 that you want/bought has angular contact bearings in the nose. I thought some of the -54s had only deep groove radial bearings, so you might want to check on your particular model.

www.fimec.it (oem)

Have you designed/built the motor mount yet?

[Smackre]

No i havent looked into mounting it yet. I still gotta talk people into spending the $$ on it hehe.

[fpworks]

If you ask for a CAD file, they will provide it for you. But, they seem to steer you in the direction of mounting it with the little M5 or M6 threaded holes in the case. (made from an aluminum extrusion...this just houses the windings and really isn't a structural part of the motor)

The proper mounting method is to clamp around the round part at the base of the spindle (houses main spindle bearings) but they don't mention that method of mounting.

Good luck, and let us know how it runs, my little project is way on the back burner, so I don't plan on running mine anytime soon.

Justin

Justin