Mori Seiki SV500 Spindle Repair
Mori Seiki SV500 Spindle Repair
This Mori Seiki spindle was sent to us from a company in Italy to repair. Their sister plant here in the United States has been a customer of ours for spindle rebuild over 20 years.
The spindle was completely disassembled when we received it. At times this makes it difficult to determine the cause of failure but we are able to determine which parts will need to be reworked or replaced in our initial spindle evaluation. Our evaluation showed that the front spindle bearings failed first and were stressed to the point that the inner races split. The drawbar assembly gripper fingers and Belleville washers were worn beyond tolerance. The shaft drive dogs and front cover were damaged from impact. The rear housing was tapered and worn oversize by 25 microns.
We replaced the gripper fingers and Belleville washers to recondition the drawbar assembly. Our machining department repaired the damaged drive dogs. The rear housing and shaft taper where sent to our grinding department where they were green ground, chrome plated then finish ground on one of our Kellenburger ID/OD universal grinders.
Once the reconditioned parts passed our QC process the spindle was released to our clean room for assembly. The shaft was balanced on our schenk balancer and the bearings were installed. Then shaft was gently slid into the housing and the capture was set. After the rest of the spindle was assembled the spindle was placed on our custom test stand for break in and final trim balance. When this was completed the spindle repair was thoroughly tested by our QC personnel to insure micron tolerances are held and the vibration levels were within our standards. View Our Mori Seiki Spindle Repair Page Here.
Republic Lagun VMC3516S
8,000 RPM
This spindle came in broken down. It was also missing the drawbar assembly and parts for the shaft tail. Quite often we do not receive all the parts we need for a proper spindle repair. This Republic Lagun spindle also had worn drive dogs. The shaft taper was slightly below the gauge line. The front housing was +50 microns where the 3rd bearing sat.
We ground chrome plated and reground the shaft taper and the front housing in addition to our standard spindle repair.
This was shipped back to the customer before the estimated time we quoted.
We recently had a customer inform us that they were trying someone else due to the lead time we quoted them. We understand that from the customer’s point of view that they needed their spindle yesterday, in a manner of speaking. This particular customer did not have a spare and the OEM did not have any in stock. This certainly put the customer in a bind; so they did what they felt they had to in order to minimize downtime. This customer explained to us that they were happy with our quality and prices, and was hesitant to go elsewhere.
From our stand point this spindle had to have a grind chrome plating and finish grind to bring it back to specs; unfortunately this takes some time. The estimated lead time we quoted them was 5-10 business days. We always do our best to get a customer’s spindle back to them as quickly as we can. We understand how important it is to keep their business running smoothly.
They ended up sending the spindle to another vendor, who quoted them a 5 day lead time. This was their lead time for anything sent in regardless of how much work needed to be done.
We received a call from this customer after the spindle had been repaired by the other vendor. The customer let us know the other vendor took 7 weeks to return the spindle. The customer has since sent us another spindle to be rebuilt.
When it comes to turn around time we try our best to get the customer what they want. If we can’t do this we will tell you the truth. The truth hurts sometimes but it is for the best.
Van Norman Regulating Wheel Repair
This spindle failed as a result of bearing contamination. This is the most common cause of failure for spindles.
We repaired this spindle with our standard repair process. We cleaned and inspected the overall dimensions. The bearings were replaced. We then adjusted the preload, balanced, assembled and broke in the spindle. The final step in our process is a thorough inspection by our quality control technician in our clean room.
GMN TSEV-100SDU Spindle Repair
5,000 RPM
There were a few things that needed repair on this spindle. The grease was washed out of the front bearings. The grippers were missing so we replaced those. A housing rod had bent threads and needed to be replaced. The HSK taper had 20 microns runout which we corrected with a grind chrome plate and regrind bringing it back to specs. The front nuts also needed to be repaired. This was all done, inspected by our quality control department and returned to the customer.
Fuji Lathe Head Spindle Repair
4,000 RPM
This spindle had reached its estimated life span and was sent to us for a preventative maintenance check. We test ran the Fuji spindle on our custom test stand and determined through vibration analysis the bearings were near the end of their lifespan.
We cleaned and inspected the overall dimensions of this Fuji Lathe Head. We replaced the bearings, adjusted the preload, balanced, assembled and broke in the spindle. It was then checked by our QC department and shipped back to the customer.
The Fuji machines at this customer location are very important to their process and can have only limited downtime. By repairing their spindles before catastrophic failure they are able to plan downtime and receive much shorter lead times due to a reduced scope of work needed to repair the spindle.
Spindles sent in for preventative maintenance also receive our standard warranty.
Guering Spindle Repair
This Guering spindle came to us as a cartridge-less spindle, meaning only the shaft and bearings. The customer and OEM felt it was best to keep the housing in the machine. This enables them to change the shaft and bearings quickly to minimize downtime. This is not generally the best way to have you spindle properly rebuilt.
In many cases the spindle ages and the bearings start to fail. Fretting and corrosion can damage the bearing bore in the housing. Installing bearings into a damaged, out of tolerance housing will shorten the life of the spindle and generally you will still have the finish problems you had before.
Another issue is when the spindle is installed in the housing. It is difficult for the rebuilder to control what is going on with the customer’s end of the rebuild. Most of the time the bearings are opened to the environment and can get contaminated during the handling of the shaft. It is also very easy to overload the bearing and cause false brinneling of the bearings.
If you do decide to have your spindle repaired without sending in the housing, make sure you confirm your housing bores are within tolerance before you install a fresh set of expensive bearings. This will at least let you know where your problem may be and you can plan ahead for the next spindle failure.
Mazak VTC-16 Spindle Repair
7,000 RPM
This customer wanted a ballpark quote for his spindle repair. He was satisfied with the amount so he sent his spindle in to be thoroughly quoted, which is always a free service. After he received the actual quote he decided to proceed with the repair.
We cleaned and inspected the overall dimensions of the spindle. We discovered that the cause of failure was due to contamination. The taper had 40 microns of runout. The tooling rocked in the taper and the bellevilles were worn.
We replaced the bearings. We also ground, chrome plated and reground the taper. The preload was adjusted. The spindle was balanced, assembled, broke in. It was then checked by our QC department and shipped back to the customer.
Heald 438-100 Spindle Repair
2,600 RPM
In most companies there are several operators working on the same machine. In this case the third shift operator took the spindle apart trying to figure out what was happening with the air purge. He then put the spindle back together. The spindle was making noise and was tight. Our technician spoke with him but was unable to troubleshoot the problem over the phone. The spindle still was not working properly so they sent it to Northland Tool & Electronics for a thorough evaluation.
We determined that this Heald 438-100 spindle had contaminated bearings, and most of the grease was washed out. The shaft face had 10 microns of runout, and needed a kiss grind. View Our Heald Page Here.
Leadwell T6 Spindle Repair
This customer called and said that this Leadwell T6 spindle failed and it sounded like the top bearing. They said it looked like the grease melted out of the bearing. They sent the spindle to us to be broken down for a complete evaluation.
We determined the rear bearings had been contaminated by coolant. We worked closely with our customer to determine where the coolant contamination was coming from to avoid future problems. Once we found the source of the coolant we repaired the spindle in our clean room. After the spindle was repaired to our stringent criteria it was test run, QC’d and returned to our customer.