2.2kW Spindle with Modded Shapeoko 3 XL

Shapeoko 3 XL with 2.2kW Spindle, HDZ, and Linear Rails
1/4 single flute end mill
24,000RPM
Mist Coolant was used for Contours and finishing passes

[@jaydenritchie1992]

his video give me confidence in the rigidity of linear rails, they are perfect, my ignorance imagined the tool to chatter/vibrate due to movement

[@ShopperPlug]

How much did the spindle cost? What kind of accuracy, repeatability and precision you're getting? 9:05 - Is that a gigantic herb grinder you just made lol

[@hms1688]

Good work!!! We also have rich experience in sheet metal fab, we are a strong manufacturer in China, with high quality and competitive price.

[@a.opristinelimited5006]

My VFD is displaying HOC kindly Tell me what is the problem And The Solution.

[@Robberbarron27]

That thing cuts through aluminum like butter!

[@Jdtcst5]

shit man, I really want to upgrade the shapeokos I have at work now. Hopefully the budget for next year will allow for it

[@pass-123]

What feeds and speeds did you use?

[@Goguleroma]

I hear some rigidity chatter when it mills on x- and when cuts linearly along the y axis. Interesting result though. You could push a bit faster from what i see and hear, maybe 20% more with 10%less width.

[@akka4751]

great result for a shapeoko! could you tell us your feed, deep of cut and width of cut?

[@DianTomov_ST_Dupont_Lighters]

Now you can use more faster feedrate and depth of cut, corect?

[@TheArtis56]

Hello, what kind of tape (tape + glue?) are you using, and is it reliable solution? Especially when stock gets warm/hot and after contact with water

[@jiajerho4815]

I've never had issues even with large amounts of mist coolant. I probably wouldn't use flood on it but yet again you probably shouldn't use flood on a shapeoko lol. I've found even after mist coolant, this method of work holding remains stronger than clamps (I did a hammer test afterwards to try and get the part off and compared it to clamps). Funny enough the only time I completely broken an endmill was when I was using clamps and the part flew off.

[@hayabusa3558]

Hi ! How you ground your vfd and shapeoko . Mine just disconnect after 3-5 mins . Thanks

[@R10DIP]

Hello Jiajer Ho, wonderfull mod. Can you tell more about your X axis linear rail update ? I can't se but did you also updated the Y axis ?

[@jiajerho4815]

Hello, the Y axis is the standard Y axis. I did not see a point in upgrading the Y Axis because it was already very strong and I wasn't able to get it to skip steps even pulling on it. Although it does have upgraded belts like the steel belts. The X axis has linear rails and the steel core belts as well. Instead of the V-wheels, it was upgraded to linear rails as the new spindle is very heavy the biggest problem I had with the Shapeoko was the deflection along the X axis which is caused by the V wheels. The new upgrade improves rigidity a lot along the X axis.

[@R10DIP]

@@jiajerho4815 Thank you very much for this. I'm think of adding a linear rail on the X axis to but I was thinking of keeping the current V wheel and adding a top and bottom linear rails. Will see how it work.

[@getfastfish5020]

I'm interested in seeing it use a 1/8th bit

[@nickoutram6939]

I see your bed has threads in every hole -how on earth do you keep them clean with all those aluminium chips flying about?

[@jiajerho4815]

You could get plugs for the wholes but we just use a shop vac with the nozzle on it and it gets rid of all the chips very quickly!

[@fsecofficial]

Is that the 220v or 110v VFD? Also what’s your feeds and speeds there. Looks like about 100mm / m. I was wondering about the torque at low rpms on these spindles. Any chance it could do steel at say 20mm / m?

[@jiajerho4815]

this was a 110V VFD. They were around 60 inch/min. The issue with steel is you need to go at lower rpm to prevent heat and chatter but that will significantly decrease the torque. Steel cutting with a router is pretty much impossible to achieve good surface finish. I would suggest a mill for that.

[@fsecofficial]

@@jiajerho4815 i have a sherline 2010 mill I’m converting to cnc. I’ve seen a 2.2kv spindle crushing stainless without too much issue. Conventional only and a 0.3 mm axial doc. My machine is pretty ridged it’s just that wack 500w spindle it came with is like an electric toothbrush.

[@Thorhian]

@@fsecofficial 2.2KW is plenty of power to cut steel. The question is whether or not the spindle's motor is designed to have more torque at lower RPMs. A lot of these super cheap Chinese ER collet spindles are specifically built to operate at around 18K-24K RPM. At those RPMs, you will need to have a really large feed rate with a smaller tool to mill steel properly, which requires a rigid machine. A typical CNC router isn't really rigid enough to be milling steel at high speeds.

[@fsecofficial]

@@Thorhian I got a little sherline 2010 mill that chews up steel ok. I think it’s just a matter of how much time do you have. I mean a file can be used to mill steel but a Bridgeport is always gonna win the race. I get that. I just have an old router I got a few years back and I always wanted to upgrade the spindle and see if I could at least get decent results in some 6061t and maybe some brass (nasty stuff on routers). This POS 800w cheese grader it came with can’t machine jello unless it’s a 0.01mm doc with a 0.2mm radial step over on a 7mm 2 flute carbide flat endmill I can make it work. Surface finish is like shit but it does make some shapes lol. Speed tapping forget about it. Climb milling forget about it. It does make the best toothpicks and scrap metal in town though. 😂

[@Thorhian]

@@fsecofficial Yeah, I know. Heck, my statement probably justifies why your Sherline works well. You likely have a spindle that can deliver more torque in the lower RPM range rather than spin up to insane RPM's that only make sense for cutting wood and aluminum on hobby machines due to the lack of rigidity and power of motors driving each axis.

[@birdpump]

There is a lot of chatter and vibration though

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Why did you machine the entire face of the material if you planned on cutting circles out? That is a lot of unnecessary machining.

[@jiajerho4815]

By doing adaptive clearing instead of a giant contour, it prevents the material in the middle from flying out causing severe damage to the tool and possibly the machine. It clears out the side so that wouldn't happen.

[@CryoftheProphet]

@@jiajerho4815 Man, this really answers my question about whether or not I should nab a shapeoko pro, and the hdz with a 2.2kw spindle and the Saunders plates.. This thing is a beast for milling aluminum..

[@SlideoStudios]

@@CryoftheProphet Honestly, if you could save up I would recommend the shapeoko HDM. This setup with the belts still has limitations and if the HDM was a thing when I started, would've gotten that setup instead!

[@CryoftheProphet]

@@SlideoStudios basically the hdm will only have the advantage of ball screws, other than that my pro with hdz, 2.2kw spindle and linear rails is essentially going to be doing the same thing: I’d be willling to bet both would make parts the same roughly. The hdm had a 4 month wait. If I really was concerned with shear brute force, I would have gotten a precision Mathew’s conversion or something

[@pXnEmerica]

Who needs a grinder that big?

[@joshuavincent7884]

Grinder??

[@ratherrelatablemantisshrim2409]

What spindle is that?

[@jiajerho4815]

2.2KW Water Cooled Spindle

[@ratherrelatablemantisshrim2409]

​@@jiajerho4815 I saw the description and title - I'm just wondering if you have a link to or the model number of the specific one?

[@jiajerho4815]

amzn.to/3f8hp83 Here it is. Make sure you ground it

[@ratherrelatablemantisshrim2409]

@@jiajerho4815 lol thanks a bunch!

[@DavZell]

@@jiajerho4815 In another response, you said you used the 110V VFD. This link is for the 220V VFD. Can you clarify which you used? Thanks!