[kmartin57]

I've read here that VFD controlled spindles are quieter than typical routers. Anybody got a way to describe how much quieter?

At 2.2kw can an air cooled spindle run for a long time, cutting slow/shallow cuts (20IPM) on wood or MDF, for 2-3 hours continuous? Ambient around 80-90 F.

If it is water cooled, is a chiller required? Run times around 3-4 hours a day max.

FWIW, the Bosch Colt I'm using now seems to handle what I'm trying, but the noise is deafening (ear protection required). I plan on upgrading this machine someday and would like to be able to reuse anything I buy now, just looking for possible options.

Also, any pitfalls others have experienced with buying the Chinese equipment? I've bought a few things off of Aliexpress and Ebay and have had no problems so far, as long as I take into account the extra shipping time.

[gfacer]

Its much more quiet....more like a drill press or sander, maybe a touch louder and obviously louder when cutting, the tool makes noise too.

I have a square type air cooled....gets a little hot, I rigged a PC style fan (220v one though!) Above the unit so the body never got above 50C....it was reaching that with just the regular fan, ambient in the 70s at the time. Water cooled I gather is much cooler running but mine seems OK, if not ideal.

Chiller should not be required if water cooled.

Why so slow in MDF? You'll kill your bits at that speed.

[ger21]

Be aware that an air cooled spindle will be a LOT louder than a water cooled spindle at high rpm's.
Most of the noise you here from a router is from the cooling fan. An air cooled spindle is similar.

Also, be aware that a 2.2Kw spindle is probably at least 5x more powerful than a Colt.

Not sure why you're only cutting at 20ipm, but your rpm should be below 10,000 at that slow of a feedrate. Either a router or spindle should be pretty quiet at those speeds. At 20ipm, there should be almost zero load on the spindle, so it shouldn't get too hot.

With a water cooled spindle, some people just use a bucket of water. A water cooled spindle will run cooler with 100° water running through it than an air cooled spindle will.

Buying from the chinese can be rather hit or miss, unless you have previous experience with the seller.
I've purchased two air cooled spindles this year, from the cheapest seller I could find. It's pretty easy to see that their quality control is pretty inconsistent. I would expect a bit better if I had payed more.

If you want to be guaranteed to get a good spindle, you can buy from an importer like UGRA, but you'll pay a lot more.

[gfacer]

That may be true (water cooled a lot quieter), but coming from a Porter cable 3.25hp router, the 2.2kw spindle is almost too quiet.....you can forget its on in a busy shop pretty easy, running at 18k rpm in my case.

I just would never run water over my machines if it could be avoided in principle

[ger21]

the 2.2kw spindle is almost too quiet.....you can forget its on in a busy shop pretty easy,

Depends on what you're cutting, and how aggressive your cutting.
We have a 10HP spindle that is very quiet when not cutting, but can create enough cutting noise to drown out everything else in a 15,000 sq ft shop.

[kmartin57]

Why so slow in MDF? You'll kill your bits at that speed.

Because I don't know any better, maybe? This is all new to me.

I haven't got the machine aligned and tuned yet. I can see that I have Z axis alignment issues, Y axis backlash issues, heck I have issues. I have it limited to ~30in/min at the moment. The problems don't seem to be to bad, but I don't think I have the tools to make better, so limiting the speed. I'm waiting on bits and a dial indicator to show up so I can start fixing it. (The build went much faster than I thought it would, so I thought I had time. Now sitting here frustrated)

Feed rates and such, it seems I saw a link somewhere to a calculator, can't find it at the moment. Do you have a link handy?

[kmartin57]

Be aware that an air cooled spindle will be a LOT louder than a water cooled spindle at high rpm's.
Most of the noise you here from a router is from the cooling fan. An air cooled spindle is similar.

Also, be aware that a 2.2Kw spindle is probably at least 5x more powerful than a Colt.

Not sure why you're only cutting at 20ipm, but your rpm should be below 10,000 at that slow of a feedrate. Either a router or spindle should be pretty quiet at those speeds. At 20ipm, there should be almost zero load on the spindle, so it shouldn't get too hot.

With a water cooled spindle, some people just use a bucket of water. A water cooled spindle will run cooler with 100° water running through it than an air cooled spindle will.

Buying from the chinese can be rather hit or miss, unless you have previous experience with the seller.
I've purchased two air cooled spindles this year, from the cheapest seller I could find. It's pretty easy to see that their quality control is pretty inconsistent. I would expect a bit better if I had payed more.

If you want to be guaranteed to get a good spindle, you can buy from an importer like UGRA, but you'll pay a lot more.

@All, good information, thanks. My take away, I'm running to slow and to high on the rpm. The slow I knew already, the rpm I didn't know. The 5x times more powerful I thought would be more around 2x, but still good to know.

[ger21]

What kind of machine are you putting it on? A 2.2Kw spindle weighs about 11 lbs I think, where a Colt is maybe 3-4 lbs?

[kmartin57]

What kind of machine are you putting it on? A 2.2Kw spindle weighs about 11 lbs I think, where a Colt is maybe 3-4 lbs?

I'm not planning on getting it, I'm just gathering information. For now anyway. I have questions, and no local source for answers, so this info is great.

[dharmic]

I can run my 2.2kw water cooled spindle for 5 hours, recirculating water with the supplied pond pump into a 10l bucket and cutting aluminium - the spindle gets warm but not hot, you can comfortably grab the collet (once it's stopped!) and hang on without being burned.

Noise levels? I run that spindle in my shed and you can't hear it in the house 15m away when the door's closed. Compared to a router they are stupidly quiet. For short jobs I don't even bother with hearing protection which I would wear every time I powered up a router. Good point about the cutter making noise - I generally tweak the spindle and feed speeds throughout the job to try and stay away from loud resonances and so on, a hundred or two RPM change can halve the noise level.