# High speed spindle attachment for my mill



## gbritnell (Feb 25, 2010)

Gentlemen, I am taking a small break from the V-twin project to finish up a few unfinished jobs. One of them was this high speed spindle attachment for my mill. I have a first generation Enco mill and the most I can get out of it is 2130 rpm so for small mills I needed something like this.
 The drawings along with the bearings came from Jerry Howell. I purchased the 24 volt power supply and motor from Ebay. The motor runs at 4000 rpm so I sized the pulleys to get 1-1/2 times that speed, around 6000 rpm. I also bought a 7/8 R-8 collet to mount it in. 
 The machining was straightforward but with close fits for the bearings and shaft. The spindle is reamed for .187 diameter as most of the small high speed end mills come with that sized shank. 
 I have a stash of 'O' rings and found one that was actually for the oil filter cover on my old motorcycle. 
 Not knowing how much torque this motor has I started out with a .062 end and took a cut at .04 deep, it cut fine. Next I put a .125 end mill in and went .05 deep. This time I could hear the motor change sound but it still cut through the brass with no trouble. I think this attachment will work out great for all the small pieces I make.
 Jerry included a caution when using this tool, unplug your mill!! If you inadvertently reach for the on off switch as you are so accustomed to doing you might have parts and pieces flying everywhere.
George


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## Blogwitch (Feb 25, 2010)

Very good result G.

As you most probably know, I am playing about with high speed stuff at the moment.

This US chappie does a very good range of 1/8" shank carbide tooling, and he does some very nice burrs/ends mills for any hard bits you come across that need machining. I have had a load of drills off him, they are supposed to be used, but they are just as sharp as new, and only a fraction of the new price.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/jtg1969/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25


Blogs


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## Deanofid (Feb 25, 2010)

Nice, clean looking setup, George. I remember you asking about motors for this project a while back. What kind did you end up buying? Any specs for it?

John, thanks for the link.

Dean


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## gbritnell (Feb 25, 2010)

Hi Dean, I don't recall the exact specs on the motor. It was a continuous duty, 24 volt with metric shaft and mounting holes. Seems like it was only around $15.00 which included shipping. The power supply seems very nice. I was going to build one but for what I paid for this one it wasn't worth the time.
George


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## bucketboy (Mar 4, 2010)

Clever  I was thinking of doing something similar I have a question about spindle speed though :-\ my router spins at 28,000rpm, commercial high speed mills run at over twice that, for my project, do you think 6,000 rpm is fast enough for 1/8 or less dia mills when machining ali or delrin?


PS I intend to fit a fly-wheel on the output shaft to help maintain spindle speed when cutter is under load.

Bb


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## gbritnell (Mar 4, 2010)

Hi Bb, actually I have at times used 1/32 end mills in my mill and it only spins 2000 rpm so 6000 is a big step up from there. 
gbritnell


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## steamer (Mar 25, 2010)

My VanNorman could certainly benefit from such a device....DAMN....another project! ;D


Dave


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## Twmaster (Mar 26, 2010)

George,

I'm not sure I understand how that works. This is not spinning the entire spindle is it? 

Puzzled in puckerville.


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