I want this! Hoping Langmuir gets with this company to add it as an upgrade
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Neat idea! Doesn’t the spindle have to have CCW rotation to make this work? Does MR-1 support M4?
I’ve seen multiple versions of collet swappers on YouTube. Like the Rapidchange arrangement, the first 2 require a motor that turns both directions.
The next 2 don’t appear to need a reversible motor but the designs are far more elaborate.
According to Techniks these are the torque requirements for various ER collets.
Even if the MR-1 spindle were reversible I don’t think it’s torque output is up to the task.
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It doesn’t mean they don’t exist but I’ve never seen an example of a commercial machine which swaps collets. My guess would be that the lack of popularity of this method means that it is cost prohibitive to make reliable. The bar for reliability should be set fairly high as an undetected tool change failure could have major consequences.
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It is reversible, just not with the standard control. The servo drive has direction input but it’s not wired up to the control.
After looking at the spindle housing. The easier approach is to come up with an ATC spindle and bolt it in than trying to do a collet etc rack of some design for sure.
a compact bt30 setup?
I would choose a HSK-E25 spindle over a BT30 for this machine. The taper and tool holder overall is much smaller, more comparable to the existing ER20 dimensions.
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your choosing a very hefty price tag for a hobby level machine. unless you can machine your own spindles and tooling
Im loving my MR1 so far but Im getting that upgrade itch too. I really want to throw this little spindle on:
and then maybe toy with the idea of replacing the stepper motors with Clearpath closed loop servos.
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I figured that out shortly after my last post from a google search. A forum member attempted to reverse direction with his but was unsuccessful. I advised against reversing because the MR-1 pulley (as is) is held in place with only a 5/16” right hand threaded cap screw.
[quote=“HuskyMachining, post:29, topic:28455”]
Im loving my MR1 so far but Im getting that upgrade itch too. I really want to throw this little spindle on:[/quote]
For those afraid to ask, this is $7,500 for just the spindle.
I still plan to do my own spindle but recently came across a compact ATC ready spindle for a little over $1K. Unfortunately it was designed for a machine with a 1.2Kw motor, a 6000rpm spindle max, and cutting non ferrous materials. It may not strong enough for our needs. It does however give me a few ideas.
Advertised as…
“BT30, ATC ready spindle…the height is only 200mm (7.87inch)”
Front
Side
Exploded.
I changed my mind on the german spindle once I got the $9.3k quote back from Mechatron. Too much cash for me. I think I may have to go the DIY route too.
BrianS, Im down to colab on an ATC bt30 spindle with ya, if you wanna share the design load, I could machine all the parts on my VMCs (i can do a little design work but im not the right kinda engineer). The only problem is I dont have or know a buddy that has a cnc grinder (i asssume that would be needed for the spindle bearing holes but what do I know) but we can always send the spindle housing out for grinding.
I also love colab project’s… multiple heads are usually better than 1.
for the money, I wonder if it would be easier to buy this $1k spindle you found and replace the bearing with ones rated for the 8k MR1 spindle speed.
Do you mind if I ask where you found that spindle?
I might buy one of these and at least use tbe bt30 draw tube and make the rest of the ATC bt30 spindle in house… What are your thoughts?
Whenever a company advertises “price on request” it’s almost a certainty much more than you’re willing to pay. $9.3k doesn’t surprise me if came with the drawbar, a gripper, tax and shipping included.
The design is mostly in my head. I’ve looked at enough schematics and parts diagrams to know how every goes together and how it works. Now I have to buy the specific small parts, take a lot of measurements, and reverse engineer it to make larger parts and tie everything together. I internet price shop a lot, keeping in mind you usually get what you pay for.
I have a manual mill, a lathe, a 8” rotary table, and a jig grinder designed for deep, precise holes. No CNC but a DRO would be nice. The spindle build has been on the back burner because I’m doing a lot of other mods at the same time.
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Changing the bearings on the spindle I found for any improvement would be only speculation. Not that I wasn’t thinking the same thing but I haven’t the slightest idea what it comes with. That’s assuming they actually make them aside from just the CAD images. I’m assuming so because they listed a price.
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I’ve seen a bunch of those green spindles starting at about $120. Here’s one I found on Amazon last year. Looks the same but with a very different description.
Here are some dimensions. If you took the spindle out to adapt it, I doubt much of anything would line up. I’d prefer to make something ATC ready, even if I didn’t go beyond using a manual drawbar. Just like having the option.
Im in the same spot with spindle ideas. that green Chinese generic bt30 spindle might be a good start if anything to just can the actual spindle and design a new housing. everyone was concerned with a bt30 setup and the limited Z height, but with some space blocks in the Y/X and a shorter fitting bt30 nose, I dont think its even an issue. Also- no one says the bt30 tool has to be outside the bearings. the tool could nest in the area of the bearings to keep it up tight.
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The low profile BT30 ER holders like this wouldn’t stick out much farther than the stock spindle, I think it is about 20mm, which might be recoverable just by locating the new spindle slightly higher:
I’m not in a rush to raise my Z height because I usually want less stickout to get greater tool rigidity. With BT30 I guess I could raise it and use a mix of toolholders in different lengths depending on the tool.
Can those cheap Amazon BT30 spindles be setup for a power drawbar? I think they are just using a threaded drawbar, not pullstuds like ATC spindles. Maybe one can be adapted?
I believe the ATC version of those which are more expensive come with a pull stud.
I always thought this might be a decent spindle to go to:
ATC 2.5KW spindle review - possibly the best Chinese CNC spindle out there! - YouTube
I don’t know where these guys are taking measurements.
The ER20 nut alone that came with the MR-1 measures 34mm x 22mm high.
From the flat area on the MR-1 spindle to the edge of the ER20 collet is about 37mm. So if you were to cut that part off, bored it out a to a 8 17’ 50” taper, and to the proper depth, an ISO20 or ISO25 tool holder should fit and also be a couple mm less height.
ISO20
This is the same size as the ISO30 chuck I got from Amazon last year. Only it came with a pull stud and I paid less than 1/2 that amount. They’re slightly too large in diameter IMO to fit into the MR-1 spindle properly.
GlockCNC
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And thats even taking into account moving the new spindle housing up on the slide plate an extra inch to compensate.