Simple question on those cheap belt drive BT40 spindles

[Greg9504]

Hello,
On those cheap belt drive BT40 spindles. If I do NOT want auto tool change (pneumatic drawbar). How do I hold the tool holder in place? Is there a manual drawbar? Is it as simple as a piece of threaded rod with a nut and washer that screws into the tool holder?



I have this CNC wire saw that I built for cutting stone. I can mount a core drill to it for cutting holes to pass the wire through. Last year I decided to try to use the drill as a milling spindle to mill a flat circle in the stone I was working on. I manually fed the "Z axis". It worked well enough. The problem is the drill turns too slow for most tooling, so I'm looking at adding a proper spindle and a proper Z axis. But I don't want to go full on with an expensive spindle as I'm worried things might not work out. These seem cheap enough I can risk destroying it.



Thanks

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[mactec54]

Hello,
On those cheap belt drive BT40 spindles. If I do NOT want auto tool change (pneumatic drawbar). How do I hold the tool holder in place? Is there a manual drawbar? Is it as simple as a piece of threaded rod with a nut and washer that screws into the tool holder?



I have this CNC wire saw that I built for cutting stone. I can mount a core drill to it for cutting holes to pass the wire through. Last year I decided to try to use the drill as a milling spindle to mill a flat circle in the stone I was working on. I manually fed the "Z axis". It worked well enough. The problem is the drill turns too slow for most tooling, so I'm looking at adding a proper spindle and a proper Z axis. But I don't want to go full on with an expensive spindle as I'm worried things might not work out. These seem cheap enough I can risk destroying it.



Thanks

Yes, you would use a manual draw bar, make sure, if you get one of these spindles, that it has the Angular Contact Bearings at the front of the spindle some just have a regular deep grove Ball Bearing

[Greg9504]

Hi, thanks!. Yes the ones I've been looking at seem to come in several price ranges, the higher the price the better the bearings (according to the seller).