high speed spindle

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Mark_f

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Has anyone built the high speed spindle attachment offered by J E Howell. They advertise on this site and I was looking at the spindle plans ad. It says it comes with the plans , the bearings , and preload washer all for $23 dollars. I would like to make a high speed spindle and this appears to be a good candidate. I just wondered if anyone has done this kit yet?


Mark Frazier
 
I am not familiar with that kit. But,since it is a HIGH SPEED spindle,I must ask how good can the bearings be for $23.00? You need GOOD bearings for a high speed spindle.
 
george wilson said:
I am not familiar with that kit. But,since it is a HIGH SPEED spindle,I must ask how good can the bearings be for $23.00? You need GOOD bearings for a high speed spindle.
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It states computer grade bearings , but I don't know what that means. For twenty three bucks , maybe worth a shot to try. It mounts in a 3/4 or 7/8 collet and is run with an O ring belt by an auxiliary motor. I figure a small DC motor would run it. It holds 3/16 shank end mills.

Mark Frazier
 
I only want to build it once , so I am trying to find the best plan for the cost.

Mark Frazier
 
I suppose you could google computer grade bearings and find out what grade they are. But,if you're building a grinding spindle,your spindle will not give a decent finish unless the bearings aren't up to snuff. Also,they may not stand the RPM very long. You might get a finish that looks like wild grain plywood.


P.S.: I just Googled it and saved you the work; Computer grade bearings are LOWER QUALITY. They are trying to sneak one over on customers. It sounds better to say computer grade bearings than dirty,lousy,stinking,miserable, goot for noting college boys,they don't know from none!!!! Well,sorry,I got into imitating the sour faced Dutch master cabinet maker in the museum when I was forced to work in a wing of the cabinet shop as master instrument maker!!!! :) Anyway,you get the idea.
 
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good bearings can be cheap, depending on the size. Since the kit specifies a maximum endmill size of 3/16, the bearings are probably really small. if I had to guess I would assume they're just hard drive platter bearings, good for 10k rpm or so. if you are worried about the quality of the bearings just buy the plans and then buy bearings yourself separately.
 
When it comes to spindles.....overbuild them IMO. I am building a high speed spindle using 1" ID NTN bearings, should reach about 10k RPM or so, very overbuilt for 3/16" max cutters. When I finish it I will post a thread if your interested. Hard drive bearings are nothing special, but they do stand up to long time use at high speeds. You can always replace them if they give you some trouble :))
 
Dan_S said:
good bearings can be cheap, depending on the size. Since the kit specifies a maximum endmill size of 3/16, the bearings are probably really small. if I had to guess I would assume they're just hard drive platter bearings, good for 10k rpm or so. if you are worried about the quality of the bearings just buy the plans and then buy bearings yourself separately.
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Yea, but the bearings come with the plans. I think from all the gladly accepted opinions here, I will skip the kit and find some good plans when ready to build. I got time as I have a half dozen projects going and just finishing up a few of them.


Mark Frazier
 
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