Spindle Choice

[oldie1]

Hi,
I am buying a new cnc router on which I have the choice of a water cooled or air cooled spindle. The air cooled is an extra cost to the standard supplied spindle.
What is the general opinion of which is the best choice? air or water. Only for a home workshop.
Thanks
Tony

[elanjacobs]

I'd go with air cooled. A water cooled system just adds more potential points of failure.

[Greolt]

Assuming you mean a round bodied Chinese spindle in either water or air cooled.

Not square bodied or one of the little brushed motors with a collet stuck on.

I'm with the above poster. Go with air cooled. Despite the popular myth they are much noisier. They are not.

Much simpler setup. No water and pump to deal with. Mine has never got warm.

I have had water cooled and air cooled and I would never go back to water.

[Ger21]

I bought two 2.2Kw air cooled round bodied spindles last year for $125 (US) each from Ratt Motor on Ebay.

[pippin88]

I believe the supposed downside to air cooled was a higher minimum rpm as the fan is on the aisle (not driven separately)?

[elanjacobs]

That would depend on the spindle. Our CNC at work has an independent cooling fan (and barely gets warm, even after a solid 8 hours of work), but the smaller hobby-sized units might not be like that.

It's unlikely to be spinning below 16k rpm (18-24k if it's just running straight endmills), so I don't think airflow will be an issue.

If heat does become a problem, a small computer case fan could probably be attached to the top of the spindle with minimal fuss.

[oldie1]

Thanks for the advice, The general opinion is air cooled spindles and that is what I have gone for.