240V spindle to Altmill?

Community Discussion 📄 General
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I’m still waiting for my Altmill to be shipped over to Europe, and I’ve been considering my spindle options. Since my local voltage is 220/240V, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a spindle that works natively with this voltage.

I understand that going for the 110V spindle offered by Sienci might be the simplest solution, but it seems more logical to avoid converting from 220/240V to 110V if possible. My current plan is to use the power adapter included with the Altmill and run the CNC using a transformer.

Does anyone have experience with a similar setup or advice on a better approach?

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Hi Ville,

Welcome to the forum.

240V here too, but a longmill user, so a bit easier to decide what route to take for a makita router can be bought local and be rated for pocal power. But, if/when I would get me that monster of an altmill, I would go the same route.

I got me a small step down coil convertor to run the machine but I wouldn’t want a power tool to run on a coil. Inductive peaks can do nasty things to more sensitive equipment.

So… I would go and find me a spindle that speaks our native grid language. Good news is, that with double the voltage, we Euros can run double the power into our spindles without taking down the whole neighborhood. That would be something I would take into account aswell. Can’t let a good bonus go to waste. One does not have to use 4kw but surely it’s nice to have it hanging around on a machine that can handle such beasts. Spindle size might be a deal breaker though. Keep in mind it’s easiest if the spindle fits the mount. Other things to keep in mind is the VFD. It needs to be able to communicate with the slb, so no deviation from what sienci says at the bottom of this page.

So the only thing now is the pricetag. I have not looked into spindle set pricing, but I allready know you prolly will not find one under siencis pricetag so yer looking at $541,- adding vat and all to have a low aim of $700,-

Well… I’ve looked a few hours into finding something and I too am pretty lost. There is more to this than simply find a unit and bolt it on. I am allergic to ali express when it comes to something I want warranty on, so nogo on those.

You know what, your approuch is the right one, when the mill is ordered. You gave me something to think about though. I think I will research this topic a bit more and maybe get me a spindle on my longmill and get that to work before wanting an altmill.

I know a guy I need to talk to first.

Sienci has guys too. Maybe drop the question there. They must have looked into this problem one way or the other. Maybe they can even recommend just replacing the VFD with another unit. There are too many routes to take to be able to get this right in a few hours.

Anyhow, thanks for the rabit hole. :grin:

Oh, it might be wise to run the spindle unit on a seperate tranformer than the altmill.

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Hi Eddie,

Thank you for your detailed response. I really appreciate how you’ve looked at this from different angles to help us high-voltage users find a suitable solution. Upgrading the LongMill with a spindle before considering a completely new machine does seem like a smart approach.

This is my first CNC, so I’m quite new to all of this, but I’m keen to dive into the topic and learn as much as I can. I truly value the advice you’ve shared and would welcome any further input from you or others in the community.

I’ll also check back with the Sienci team for more guidance—last time they suggested I turn to the forum for advice.