ISO-20 Headstock

NEW ISO-20 Headstock – It’s Great For Your Router, Taig or Sherline Mill (Or Any Custom Build For That Matter)

The GlockCNC ISO-20 is the perfect fit for guys who don’t want something to big, yet want something with robust bearings, can run high speeds and has great precision. If that sounds like what you want, then this is for you. How are we able to offer it so cheaply?

The best way to reduce the build cost on a ISO-20 system is; skip the petal clamp stud puller. Many ISO-20 headstocks are designed for a pneumatic pullbar system. Frankly, it’s just as fast to use an cordless impact driver with a socket adapter on a pull bar as it is to use a pneumatic system (ok, well it might take you an extra 2 seconds…but it’s still super fast). You see, for a good quality petal clamp it’s actually quite expensive. Plus, if you use a petal clamp system, you’ll need a larger diameter bearing and bigger headstock casing. This is because the spindle arbor will need to be larger in diameter. All that stuff really adds up fast. The solution…a simple pullbar using the threads already built into the ISO-20 tooling.  This means we were able to use our existing headstock casings and current stock of bearings. That translates to a super bargain for you. What are some of the other benefits?

Great For High Speeds – If you opt for angular contact bearings, you can run these at 15,000RPM to 25,000RPM.  If you go for the hybrid ceramic steel bearings, you can go for  the 25,000RPM (you’ll want to consider adding some heatsinks with fans or Peltier cooler for anything over 15,000RPM. Also, don’t choose the Sherline V groove pulley for high speeds, it won’t work well). It’s pretty rare to find a headstock with bearings this robust that will work at those speeds for metal working. For high speed, what’s mostly on the market are VFD spindles with small bearings that are only good for routing wood. With your new ISO-20 headstock, you can get some real work done.

The Taper Goes Into The Bearings – One of the goals when creating a spindle arbor is to get the tool taper to be inside the bearings. This puts the work load on the inside of the bearing race…where it belongs. With most other spindles, the tooling taper hanging well outside of the bearing ID. That’s not what you want. Our spindles use a stub nose spindle arbor. This allows us to place the tooling high up into the bearing…and that’s exactly what you want.

High Precision Tooling – You only need to go to eBay or Amazon to find inexpensive super precision tooling. You can find tools with .0001″ to .0002″ runout for about $30 to $50. Sometimes I see ISO-20 tooling for even cheaper. Of course, you can buy higher end tooling if you want, the choice is yours. The two most common collet chucks for ISO-20 tooling are ER16 and ER20 tools. Depending upon what ER system you choose, that gives you a range of 1/32″ to 9/16″ (1mm to 13mm) cutter holding capacity.

Fast Tool Changes – As mentioned before, just get yourself a cordless impact driver with a socket adapter. You can now zip the drawbar in and out with ease and speed. No more fooling around with a fix ER chuck on your mill or router.

So, I Can Use This As a Router AND Cut Metal? – Absolutely!  Your limit will likely be your CNC routers frame. Do some experimenting to figure out your feeds and speeds. Of course, you can also use this for all the wood routing you desire. You are no longer limited by the tiny wimpy bearings used in routers or cheap VFD spindles. Those other router spindles just aren’t designed for higher loads.

Fits About Everything – The headstocks are a direct fit for Sherline products, we offer an adapter for Taig mills and it’s super easy to create a mount for your router or custom application. So yeah, it pretty much fits everything.

Can I Hog Full Depth With My 1/2″ End Mill In Steel? – No. And don’t try. This is an amazing headstock, but it’s not a massive Mazak machining center. Work within it’s limits and you’ll have a great little machine.

Is Any Tooling Included? – We do show some tooling in our images, but none is included. All tooling is up to you.

GlockCNC ISO-20 Options

Wide Bearing Variety – So here’s the breakdown of choices:

ABEC-5 Sealed Deep Groove Come Standard, 8,000RPM

ABEC-5 Sealed Angular Contact Bearings, 15,000RPM

ABEC-7 Sealed Deep Groove For High Precision, Twice As Accurate As ABEC-5, 8,000RPM

ABEC-7 Sealed Angular Contact Bearing for High Precision & Speed, 15,000RPM

ABEC-7 Sealed Hybrid Steel Ceramic Ball bearings, High Precision & Very High Speed, 25,000RPM – These will be pricey…

ABEC-9 Sealed Angular Contact Bearing, High Speed & Super High Precision, 15,000RPM – These will be pricey…

Ribbed Pulley OR “L” Size V Groove Pulley – You can get our 2 step 5 rib pulley (60mm & 40mm steps) or the Sherline compatible L size V belt with 3 steps. We highly recommend the ribbed belt option. It’s much better for power transmission and high speeds. Image shows L size V groove belt.

Taig Mill Adapter – You’ll really like our new Taig mill adapter. It’s a nice thick chunk of 6061 anodized aluminum. Plus, it’s bored and threaded for an AXA quick change lathe tool holder..in a nutshell, you can use your Taig mill as a lathe with this adapter! AXA tool post not included.

High Speed Balancing – If you get in on the Pre-Order Bonus, you’ll get the 15,000RPM spindle balancing included.  Otherwise, the standard balancing is good for 8,000RPM. You can opt for the 25,000 RPM balanced spindle arbor if you want to ramp-up your cutting. We recommend angular contact bearings for anything over 8,000RPM.