I have the stock 24v spindle…and cutting a project in 1/2 mdf (depth: .20 and feed rate: 60). I was cutting multiples of this project and I was on number 3 (the other 2 were perfect). On the 3 piece the machine was about 28% finished when I noticed the spindle offsetting the cut on each increase of depth. It would offset to the right and up, creating a bit of stairs.
So I stopped the project before a broke a bit. I move the spindle over to a clean part of the material to give the project another go…everything was working except that now there is no power to the spindle.
I shut off everything, rebooted the computer, checked the com port was engaged, and as a safety, went through the setup again, just to make sure all the easel settings where in place…everything good, except when turning on the spindle. I then went to toggle the spindle power switch, to the up position, which should have turned it on, but didn’t. I then checked all wiring to see if anything was loose. All was good. Then I remember somebody posting something about giving the spindle a manual turn (without power to it of course), gave the turn, turned on the power and spindle starts running. I stopped it and tried again, nothing…turn the spindle by hand…runs again.
I’m thinking I have a problem (understatement) but I want to make sure I’m not missing something. This sounds like what others have reported…the onset of a bad spindle? If so, what is my next step - report this to who ( and how)
Thanks.
Happened 4 times to me I switched to a dewalt 611 i,recommend you do the same. Your spindle is dead. Call customer service they will help you out
There is an option on top of this forum says Support. You can e-mail on X-Carve support. Besides, if feed rate is 60 Inch Per Minute, that’s too much for stock spindle. Cause chattering and kills spindle. Before I upgrade to Dewalt, I was using 20 ipm and .15 deep at most. But JoeBerman is correct. You will be upgrading your spindle to either Dewalt or Makita some day anyway.
Thanks Joe and Alan,
Yeah, I may be headed in the DeWalt direction earlier than I had anticipated.
As far as feed rate and depth of cut, I was working with some numbers that Zack Kaplan had suggested to experiment with on MDF …" I was having success with a 1/8" 2 flute end mill, 0.020" depth per pass and 100 IPM with MDF." So far I hadn’t had any problem with chatter, or bit breaking and this is the first for the spindle. I thought 100 was a bit much for me, so the 60 was a compromise. BTW…is there a mount that works for the Makita? That may be an interesting choice as well.
Thanks again.
This time you did have bad Spindle. So, there is no ready to buy Makita Mount. People making themselves. I purchase Dewalt mount and I’m the first customer to try that. So far I’m happy with it. But you still want to stick with Makita, it is great choice too. You may want to search previous posts to see what people doing for. Good luck.
Yep, sounds like your spindle is borked. I’ll jump on the “buy a dewalt mount!” train as well, I just put one on mine, and it makes a whole new machine out of it. For MDF like that? Slam a quarter-inch bit in it, and do the whole shabang in a single pass at 50 in/min, easy.
Thanks all,
Alan, thanks for pointing the Makita project out, I had missed that. I may have gone with that, IF I had a spindle to cut it out…but since I don’t, it seems that the Dewalt is a good choice, so I will turn in my order for that mount.
Dan, that sound encouraging to say the least. I may have to look for a 1/8" collet for it as well, since I just purchased a bunch a week ago…hate to see them go to waste.
Thanks again everyone.
They actually make a very inexpensive reducer bushing that you just slide onto the shank of your 1/8 tool, then pop it into the 1/4 collet. From what I’ve heard, runout is very low and it’s a LOT less expensive than buying a new collet for the DeWalt. They are available if you really want one, though.
I just got done with my first job using my Dewalt and the $5.50 bushing adapter (adapter bushing #271) from MLCS: MLCS Woodworking Adaptor Bushings and Ball Bearing Guides
and everything seems great. I didn’t take the calipers to any of my cuts, but everything fit together as expected.