Awea BM-1600 Spindle Repair

The Awea BM-1600 is a CNC vertical machining center.  The spindle we repaired is a grease lubricated and gear driven spindle that is capable of speeds up to 6,000 rpm.

CHALLENGE

This Awea BM-1600 spindle arrive to Northland Tool and Electronics completely seized.  During disassembly, it was noted that the bearings were extremely difficult to remove.  The bolts were loose/missing on the rear shaft cap and drawbar cap, both parts had cosmetic damage.  The #2 bearing suffered a catastrophic failure and the cage was destroyed.  We noted that the drawbar cavity was full of a thick black sludge.  Lastly, the tooling taper ID was worn with very poor tool contact.  No other dimensional deviations were noted.

SOLUTION

The following actions were performed on this Awea BM-1600 spindle:

• Clean, inspect overall dimensions
• Grind, chrome plate. and finish grind the tooling taper ID
• Replace bearings, Bellevilles, o-rings, and assembly screws

RESULT

After reassembly of all components, adjusting bearing preload, and undergoing break-in and testing procedures, this spindle passed our final quality inspection before being returned to our customer with a 1-year warranty.