text: Diy Brushless Spindle - Page 18
  25-10-2015 #171
  i'd like to be able to cut alluminium but also softer stuff like plastics and wood. Do you think it could be suitable for steel also? i thought it would be too weedy?
  25-10-2015 #172
  You'll never get one spindle to cut everything. Steel needs slower speeds, typically a few hundred rpm up to a couple of thousand, what it really needs is torque and lots of it! Wood and plastic on the other hand need higher rpm and feeds. You're best not thinking about steel on a router and just buying a mill if you want to do steel. In all honesty you're better off buying a 2.2kW water cooled spindle for just under a couple of hundred quid which will do all you want with consument ease...I've got a home made brushless spindle and I've not bothered using it. I will do on something but not sure what yet...
  If you still want to make one then use a feeds and speeds calculator to work out what speed and power you want for the materials you're wanting to cut and then look at something like a 5565 brushless dc motor (look on hobbyking) 170kV to 270kV outputting approx 2kW coupled to a 100A ESC.
  Last edited by njhussey; 25-10-2015 at 07:15 PM.
  26-10-2015 #173
  Exactly the kind of info i'm needing
  12-10-2016 #174
  Hi guys, sorry to "revive" this thread, but I would like to know if somebody has been able to control this kind of spindle (outrunner with an ER collet) with an Arduino UNO to be able to achieve precise RPMs? As this would make it much more practical for the kind of use I want to make out of it... if so, how did you achieve it? Would it bother you sending the line of codes / diagram / pictures / videos or anything else to show what you did and all that? I am a newb when it comes down to electronics and really want to achieve this ! Thanks !!
  28-11-2016 #175
  I use a comtroller from http://www.logicnc.com/rcnc.html
  Everything I try to go to on that site asks for a password, is it still live?
  03-03-2017 #176
  Last Activity: 06-03-2017
  Just got done with my DIY Brushless spindle. I had everything but the ER16 stub laying around. I'm using an old 320 kV motor and a VESC speed controller (skateboarding). First tests have been very promising, compared to the Colt trim router I'd been using.
  The VESC will hold the RPM very close under varying loads. I've only tested it on 6S batteries, but my CNC runs on 42V so that should be close to getting it to speed.
  I cast the adapter tube in Urethane (again, stuff laying around). A lot of work, but not bad for only needing to spend $20.
  The VESC BLCD software will show volts, amps, etc. live if it's hooked up via USB. I always thought it would be a neat idea to slow the feed rates down based on load. I'm running LinuxCNC but have no idea how I'd hook all that up.
  03-03-2017 #177
  did you attache the stub directly to the motor? or did you build bearings between them?
  04-03-2017 #178
  I put 2 additional bearings on the stub and then a coupler from the stub to the motor. It's all held together by the casting. Everything lines up good, I just made a solid couple (no flex) hopefully that will be ok. Can't wait to try some actual work with it.