Re: High Speed Spindle for SIEG X2 - Finally .... ... just a nagging doubt ?

I think I will give it a shot.. I will order one on Monday.

I have a 'Minicraft' drill which is now at least 10 years old and was
used in a commercial environment drilling 4mm holes in PVC. It was
chosen to be mounted in a larger machine that did all kinds of clever
cutting because of its small size. I guess it is probably
significantly more flimsy than the Proxxon, but survived hundreds of
thousands of holes running for hours at a time. There is no mention of
a time rating on it though. If the Proxxon is as good (and as
technology has improved, it should be significantly better) I guess
lifetime should be almost indefinite with minimal lateral force.

I suppose I should explain what I want to do..

This particular application is drilling and then profile cutting pcbs
into odd shapes and I was hoping to use the Proxxon piggy-backed onto
the mill for drilling and the uprated main spindle of the mill
(actually an X1 in this case) for the profiling. I guess I should get
round to CNCing a spindle controller to switch between spindles, which
would give each a rest while the other is performing. The spindles
only need to run about 3 inches apart to allow the unused spindle to
clear the workpiece. Currently, I have to run the boards through
twice, once with a carbide drill and a second time with a carbide end
mill. If this works, it will save 50% of the handling time without the
expense and complication of building an auto tool changer.

It's a pity that the holes are too hard to punch directly in the
boards or I would use the Mill to build a press tool to do it all in
one! I did experiment, but punching from the plain side ripped the
copper track, and punching from the track side splintered the hole on
the other side.. getting the board off the punch was another story
altogether!

Thats prabably enough rambling.. I'll get a proxxon and try it out!

Cheers Guys

Chris

If --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Irby Jones" <irbyrat@...>
wrote:

>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Horne" <chris@>
> wrote:
> >
> > A bit of a question regarding these proxxons
> >
> > I like the Proxxon tools a lot for hand use and this new one looks
> > just the biz.. but..
> >
> > The literature says 'rated for 30 minutes continuous'
> >
> > I don't want to spoil the party, but
> >
> > Has anyone used them as a mill spindle for an extended period of
> time?
> >
> > My application is 15 minutes on, 30 seconds off all day long.. is
> it
> > going to go bye byes in short order ?
> >
> > and if it is the bearings that fail.. can they be changed
> relatively
> > easily?
> >
> > Chris
>
>
> Chris,
>
> I bought a Proxxon hand held, flexible cable spindle (Flexishaft, I
> think it was called) to use with my little cnc router. While I was
> in the store, I looked over and compared the regular hand held
> grinder spindle with the flexible cable one and they looked to be
> identical with the bearings set up the same on each. I intended to
> use the flexible cable spindle with a lower speed, much quieter
> motor and belt system to provide 25,000 RPM to the spindle. I ran
> the flexible cable spindle for about an hour or so at that speed,
> cutting out a pattern, before I noticed the plastic coating around
> the "speedometer" cable was melted in the middle of a wide sweeping
> turn it made! It only had that large radius 90 degree turn, but
> obviously it couldn't take such continuous duty operation like that.
> I cut off the flexible cable and mounted an old Dremel type grinder
> motor, that I had modified to run full speed continuously, behind
> the Proxxon spindle to drive it. That system has run overnight lots
> of times and not developed any problems. I've felt the bearings of
> the Proxxon spindle while it was running, and they barely get warm
> to the touch after several hours. My housing, though, does provide a
> heat sink of sorts.
>
> So I think the spindle bearings will not be the weak point. I don't
> have any idea what the grinder motor will do, though. The bearings
> don't seem to be too bad to remove and replace, if that would become
> necessary. They are held in place by a small snap ring on the
> spindle.
>
> Irby
>