Question Kress or Stepcraft HS Spindle?

Hi All

My poor old Dremel 3000 is fine for light materials but I need to upgrade to something more beefy. The choice seems to be between the Kress 1050 and the Stepcraft HS spindle. There is a big difference in cost - the Kress being a lot cheaper. Can anybody tell me what the advantage of the HS spindle is over the Kress to justify the price difference?

Thanks in anticipation.

I bought the Kress 1050.

Disatvantages are:
- higher weight (1,7kg), normally to much for the Stepcraft
- too big in diameter, so it won't fit into Stepcraft without modification (SC600, V1)

First thing to do is to build a new plate for holding the motor. The 43mm hole ist to close to the x-axis profile.
I drilled new holes for the screws in the original one, so that I could use the Kress for this work. Wouldn't do that with my brand new Proxxon. Now everything works fine.

There are more advantages for the Stepcraft Spindle, but I can't say anything about it, because I don't have one.

Hi,

an other disatvantages of the Kress is the noise.

I work in a flat without hobby room, for this rason, I decide me for the HF500.

Greetings
Thomas

Thanks Guys for the info. I didn't think about the weight - I have the 600 V2 is this strong enough for the Kress - also does V2 need modding to fit it?

Although noise isn't an issue because I have no close neighbours, the Dremel is very noisy so I guess the HF spindle would be more comfortable on the ears.

I have both the HF500 and the Kress. The Kress is more powerful (at the spindle) but a lot more noisy. The HF500 has the advantage that spindle peed and on/off can be controlled by the software (UCCNC in my case) - I like that a lot. And because it's an HF motor (I believe about 85% efficient), the power at the spindle is not a million miles off the Kress (which I believe is only about 65% efficient).

However, there are definitely quality/consistency issues with the Stepcraft HF500. My first had about 0.15mm play up/down in the vertical axis. My second, the controller will only drive it up to about 90% of speed... So while I'm sure some work fine, there are some issues.

Cheers,
David

BTW your SC V2 should be rated to take the weight of the Kress.

Thanks for all the info gents. I like the idea of the HF500 because of the noise, but now a bit worried about the quality issues,

I can't say anything about the Kress, although I'm sure it is good spindle but I'm very pleased with the HF 500. Even without upsetting the neighbours the low noise level makes working very pleasant, important if you are cutting for a long time.

I have cut 12mm MDF with no problem (even made a 6mm pass by accident) with only the vacuum driving me mad with the noise! It is expensive but if like me you are a bit of a design tart it also looks great (mind you the collet spanner is a bit cheap!).

I have the Kress 1050, and the noiselevel is ok (you need mostly not the full speed).

For me there is absolute no reason why i should spend 500 Bucks for the HF Spindle, when the Kress is doing the Job

Best Michel

I can only agree with Best Michel.

Also purchased a Kress 1050 for 150 euro, and it's a very strong piece of equipment, doing the job just fine.
You even get 10 years warranty at Kress after registration, which stands for something...

And at 16500 rpm (stand 4 on the Kress which I use), the noise level is not too bad actually.

The Kress fits perfectly on my SC-2 420, and any other V2 models.

Hi, yes, I use the HF spindle, unfortunately I have now to send in 2 times since it makes strange noises this. Now I have a Kress 800 appointed as the second spindle, however, I want to use it ind apartment - Is this at level 4 very loud?

Not that much: you can expect some noise from a cnc miller anyway....that's quite obvious.

My vacuum cleaner is much noisier than the Kress spindle, but even then, nothing that could annoy my neighbours.
Just don't start anything after 22:00 o' clock, but that's common sense I guess....

Thanks for the reply, my vacuum cleaner "Columbus ST7" has only 67 dB, hence the question - because the Kress is yes with 87dB offered where it refers to full speed, I think. If you really is not much louder, I will sell my HF spindle

Best Regards

I can only say that it's ok at +/- 16500 rpm.
If you buy one, don't forget to purchase a 3.175 / 1/8 collet for it: the tool has a 8mm collet as standard.