Is the spindle load meter worth the $$$

[ScottDW]

It seems to be just a simple analog amp meter. Has anyone rolled their own digital version with possibly more useful data displayed?

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[wildwhl]

I'm sure anyone smarter than me could roll their own. I find the Tormach offering very useful though.

WW

[smokediver576]

It seems to be just a simple analog amp meter. Has anyone rolled their own digital version with possibly more useful data displayed?

I find it helpful once in a blue moon. But only if you are running a large tool like a 1/2" cutter. If you are running a 1/4" EM then I think you would snap the EM long before you would show much max load.

Interesting that if you go with the full enclosure - you loose the meter.....

[wildwhl]

I find it helpful once in a blue moon. But only if you are running a large tool like a 1/2" cutter. If you are running a 1/4" EM then I think you would snap the EM long before you would show much max load.

Interesting that if you go with the full enclosure - you loose the meter.....

I've made mental notes of the max on the meter that different size end mills can handle (like using the A in Tormach, for example). I've covered the entire panel with a polycarbonate sheet, poorly formed by me, to keep coolant from splashing there with full enclosure/improved flood coolant.

WW

[kstrauss]

I "rolled my own" using a cheap eBay Chinese analog meter and a junque box housing recycled from another project so a total cost of about $5. For a load that varies I find an analog display more meaningful (but perhaps less techie looking) than a digital display. Banggood has digital displays for $2 so you could afford both!

[GLCarlson]

It seems to be just a simple analog amp meter. Has anyone rolled their own digital version with possibly more useful data displayed?

Nitewatchman (I think it was) observed that a spindle tachometer can provide the same information, plus knowledge of how fast you are really going. Which is useful for tapping, if nothing else. I've had a cheap optical tach on my 1100 for years, no load meter, and can easily see (and usually hear) when I'm pushing the machine.

Build a tach. More useful information, same cost.

[shred]

I made one from a bare meter I had lying around with the thought to get the real one if it was useful enough (the spare meter has a different range than the Tormach one). It works well enough, but as others say most of the time spindle load isn't all that useful.