I am wondering how this VFD and spindle has worked out for you in the longer term, as I’m considering something similar.
@jandyman Everything has worked very well. As it did before I upgraded to the SLB. My only complaint would be noise. With an unheated workshop, I decided to go with the air cooled. Hearing protection is a must.
It doesn’t get that cold around here, but we do have 2-3 freezes per winter. I could have gone with a water cooled unit and used windshield washer fluid as coolant. I could have also gone with a 220V unit, but the 110V unit works well - I have not been able to bog the spindle enough to cause any issues.
That’s interesting about the noise. I thought even the air cooled units would be relatively quiet compared to the Hitachi M12VC router on my current setup. But I would probably need ear protection most of the time anyway, cutting maple and other hardwoods to build bass guitars - the cutting itself is the loudest part! On metal or MDF it might be different. I hate cutting MDF (for jigs) because of the dust. (I use a dust enclosure instead of a dust collection system, for various reasons.)
@jmckeand
@jandyman The comment on the sound is based on what others have said elsewhere when comparing air to water cooled (pre purchase research). I have not directly heard a water cooled unit, but the air cooled one does sound like a jet starting up when the spindle is spinning up. Between dust collection, cutting sound, and fan sound hearing protection is a must.