I am looking at (already have the money ready) bringing a decent new knee mill into my shop. Not a CNC. Just a work horse for doing some things quickly that are not set up easily or are impractical on a small bed mill. I like the idea of sticking with an R8 spindle for the wide array of affordable tooling available, and of course I could slap a ground face 3/4 collet in it and use any of my TTS tooling. I have been looking at maybe not the highest end, but higher end machines and they seem to be split between R8 and NT40 spindles. To be fair I have looked and there is some affordable NT40 tooling available, but I don't have any at all. I would have to start from scratch.
In the size range of machines I am looking at they are also split between 3HP spindles and 5HP spindles. Can R8 handle a 5HP load? When would you use that much power? I know that's a broad question, but the only machine i have with that much power is the Hurco with a Kwik 200 taper, and I don't think I ever put anywhere near that much load on the spindle. Hurco actually rated the machine at 4HP even though it has a 5HP motor.
In some cases the NT40 machine is cheaper than its exact compliment with the R8 spindle.
In the size range of machines I am looking at they are also split between 3HP spindles and 5HP spindles. Can R8 handle a 5HP load? When would you use that much power? I know that's a broad question, but the only machine i have with that much power is the Hurco with a Kwik 200 taper, and I don't think I ever put anywhere near that much load on the spindle. Hurco actually rated the machine at 4HP even though it has a 5HP motor.
In some cases the NT40 machine is cheaper than its exact compliment with the R8 spindle.
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