Spindle Repair Locations
Northland Tool & Electronics is proud to be able to provide spindle repair and spindle rebuilding services across the United States and beyond. Thanks to our blog, we are able to show you images and share stories about spindle repairs such as this Weiss Bridgeport Spindle Repair which came from Knoxville, TN. Or this Mori Seiki CL203B Spindle Repair that came from Chicago, IL.
Omlat 6358 Spindle Repair
33,000 rpm
This spindle repair was received with the spindle seized up. Upon breakdown it was found that the front bearing cage was broken. The shaft pilot and journals had excessive run out.
The spindle shaft was ground,chrome plated and finish ground to specifications. The bearings were replaced. Our spindle repair technician needed to balance the spindle but required the tool holder. The customer sent in the tool holder and once received the technician was able to bring the balance in. The spindle was checked in quality control and passed all testing. The customer received their spindle repair and tool holder back.
It is very important to send in a tool holder with the spindle. We are able to check taper run out with your tooling and it is sometimes required for balancing purposes.
- Matsuura MAM700 spindle repair
Matsuura MAM700 Spindle Repair
Matsuura
MAM700
15,000 rpm
A spindle failing during a customer’s busy time is not good thing. Our customer called and needed this spindle repair done as soon as possible. We received the spindle and found that the shaft nose OD rubbed out on the front cover. The shaft taper had 18 microns of run out and the front bearings were contaminated. The spindle would need grind, chrome plate and finish grind to the taper, a kiss grind to the OD nose and front cover. We expedited the shaft rework through our Kellenberger grinding department. The shaft was then hand carried to the platers and picked up the following day. The shaft was put on the Kellenberger grinder the same day that it was picked up. Our spindle repair technician replaced the drawbar, springs, grippers, bearings and orings. The taper now has only 1 micron of run out. All out going test show that the spindle had good balance and drawbar force. The customer received their spindle repair back within 4 days.
- Cincinnati Arrow Spindle Repair
Cincinnati Arrow Spindle Repair
6000 rpm
This spindle came into our facility with a low drawbar force. We broke the spindle down and found that the area on the drawbar where the Belleville’s sit was scored.
The drawbar is a critical component in the spindle. The reason for low force might be caused from weak Belleville’s, wear to the drawbar, or debris in the drawbar. If the force is low you might get chatter, repeatability or finish issues. The drawbar should be checked periodically. This can sometimes help save a customer from major spindle repair cost.
We had to grind the drawbar in order to allow the new Belleville’s to seat properly. The spindle was rebuilt and the repaired drawbar was inserted into the spindle. The outgoing test shows that the drawbar had 1,528 lbs of force.
- Kitamura Transmission Repair
Kitamura Transmission Repair
3,000 rpm
A Kitamura machine tool dealer we work closely with was called to pull a spindle from their customer’s machine and found that the cause of the problem was the transmission for the spindle. The dealer referred their customer to Northland Tool & Electronics and described the transmission to us. We discussed the problems they were having and determined that we could rebuild it. We received the transmission and found both external pulley shafts OD’s were very worn. This looseness caused damage to the shaft, drive keys and nut from fretting. The pulley shaft was ground; chrome plated and finish ground to spec. The pulleys were welded, machined for sleeve installation and a key way was cut in. The assembly technician replaced all of the bearings; seals, assembled checked for proper gear mess and shifting and test ran. Final quality control ran the transmission at the maximum rpm and it passed all tests. The transmission is back at the customers and the machine tool dealer says the machine is running fine.
- Gleason GTR250 Spindle Repair
Gleason GTR250
5000 rpm
A manufacturer of gears sent us this Gleason GTR250 5 axis CNC Gear Chamfering spindle. Their complaint was the 40 taper was pitted and would not hold the tool accurately. Incoming inspection showed 35 microns of run out in the taper. The grease in the front bearing was washed out, and the rear bearings were contaminated. The shaft rear journal was under sized and the rear housing was over sized. The rear shaft journal and housing were ground, chrome plated and finish ground. The taper was finish ground and had 4 microns of run out. The spindle was then assembled using ABEC 7 precision bearings. Our assembly technician test ran the spindle for 6 hours; pre loaded the bearings and adjusted drawbar force. Quality control then inspected and gave the approval on the spindle.
Makino A81
Makino A81 Spindle Repair
6,000 rpm
A contract manufacturer was installing their Makino A81 spindle when someone hit the X travel and jammed the spindle into the housing. The spindle was not entirely in the machine so damage did occur. When the spindle was pulled from the machine they found when the shaft was spun by hand the bearings sounded rough. They called Northland Tool and requested an expedited rebuild on their milling spindle. Once we received the spindle it was determined that the bearings would need to be replaced. We also found that the shaft taper needed to be ground, we needed to repair the front nut and we would have to manufacture a new shaft spacer.
Our machinist was able to produce a new spacer and repair the nut within 24 hours. During the machining process we also ground the taper to remove the run out caused by the crash. Our spindle technician carefully assembled the spindle paying special attention to the mating parts to make sure any damage from the crash was repaired. The spindle was test run on one of our custom test run stands. The spindle passed the quality control inspection and shipped out to the customer in 5 days. The cost for this spindle repair through Northland Tool was significantly less than going back to the OEM.
Mori Seiki MV40 Spindle Repair
Mori Seiki MV40 Spindle Repair
Canadian Customers
Mori Seiki
MV40
12,000 rpm
We repair several spindles from our customers in Canada. This spindle came to us in very rough shape. The spindle had a damaged shaft taper, broken drive dogs, coolant plungers were worn and the shaft journals were undersized. We were able to repair the drive dogs in our machining department and fix the shaft dimensional issues by grind, chrome plate and finish grinding the shaft taper and bearing journals. This process can be done for a fraction of the cost that the OEM would charge to replace the shaft. In some cases we can improve the shaft design and make it more robust than the original. Our experienced technicians then assembled the spindle in our clean room and test run, balanced and performed our rigorous final quality checks. The spindle was shipped back to the customer.
Some of the fears we hear from prospective customers in Canada is the border crossing. Please call us if you have any questions and we can provide a solution. Our expert-shipping department handles all of the commercial invoices and sets up important documents with the customs brokerage. We experience very few border delays. View Our Mori Seiki Spindle Repair Page Here.
Matsuura R plus 800
Matsuura R plus 800 Spindle Repair
12,000 rpm
The rear roller bearing failed in this spindle. The tooling taper had 9 microns of run out and needed to be reworked.
This machine was an intricate part of our customers production process and they could not have the machine down for to long. We worked with them to make sure we had the bearings needed for the repair in stock when the spindle arrived. We were able to rework the taper in our grinding department the day the spindle was approved. In fact the spindle was in our clean room being assembled before the end of the approval day. The next day the repair was completed, test run and passed our strict final QC by noon. The spindle shipped that day and our customer was up and running within two days of removing the spindle.
Hardinge C42
Hardinge C42 Spindle Repair
5,000 rpm
The bearings in this spindle reached the end of their lifespan. The ID collet taper had 10 microns of run out. We were able to kiss grind the ID taper and after assembly it had less than 2 microns run out. The spindle was rebuilt in our clean room and test run at 5000 rpm. When our customer installs the spindle they should be able to run a short warm up procedure and then they will be ready to make parts.