Good spindle choice?

[ljdm]

Ebay item #200216574070 Perske 2hp. Spindle users - is this spindle ok for a 'Bot?

[thewoodcrafter]

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/27/29202.html?1206566609

[ljdm]

This one is a little diferent - it's new, 1/2" instead of 3/8" collet.

[Brady Watson]

Buying a used spindle is taking a real chance...You have no idea what condition the bearings are in & spindle bearings are very expensive. A pair of replacement bearings for my 5hp spindle costs me nearly $500...and I was lucky to have a friend who has been doing motor repair professionally for 30yrs to help me R&R the bearings correctly. Some places charge $1000 to R&R spindle bearings. Save up a little more & buy a new one from SB. You'll get a *new* spindle & the correct VFD with a warranty, 2 sets of collets, 2 nuts, wrenches and the correct electrical line to go between the VFD & the motor...which can be expensive if you order it by itself.

-B

[ljdm]

This is supposed to be a NEW spindle. But when you add in wiring, collets, wrenches, SB support, etc...... and SB support is a MAJOR consideration. The thought of getting a spindle for a few hundred dollars is tempting, but if it goes anywhere near SB price, the savings aren't worth it at that point. Gotta admit, it did catch my attention.

[cnc_works]

I bought my "new" spindle locally. It was just too good a deal to pass up. Local machine engineer had it left over from an abandoned project from several years ago, ran into $$ problems and was liquidating. Installed it and began hearing a singing from the bearings. Turned out that (according to the distributor), it had sat on its side without having the spindle rotated for too long, the grease had gelled and starved the bearings. The dist said that they hand rotated any spindles left on the shelf on a regular basis to avoid this problem.

Fortunately, the price was good enough that I still got an excellent deal on the VFD/spindle combo, but I did have to have bearings replaced on a "new" spindle.

Another in the endless supply of "gotchas" when buying equipment other than brand new from the distributor.

Donn

[ljdm]

The old saying "If it's too good to be true" is usually right. Although, if it stayed at just a few hundred dollars, I'd grab it. any more than that, it might turn out not to be such a good bargain. Thanks all for the input.