Posted by Christian Stark on Fri, Mar 26, 2010 @ 01:20 PM
Our customer acquired several Okuma Howa machines from a sister plant that closed. The installation of the machines was anything but smooth. The first problem they ran into was a spindle that was making noise and leaving chatter marks on the parts. We concluded the bearings were worn and pulled the spindle for repair.
Our breakdown evaluation found the failure of the rear bearing to be the main cause of failure. Contamination had worked its way through the rear cover into the rear bearing causing the grease in the rear roller bearing to fail.
Here is a view of the back cover and the contamination that was present.
Further investigation revealed that the drawbar system for this spindle had been modified and could not function properly.
After we repaired the spindle we sent the technician who assembled the spindle to work with the dealer who was installing the spindle. Because of the modifications done to the spindle at the other facility ajustments needed to be made to the spindle during the instalation process. The installer was happy to have our assitance.
By working with the dealer and our customer we were able to get the machine up and running and solve many of the issues they were having with the imported machines.
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Posted by Christian Stark on Fri, Mar 05, 2010 @ 11:00 AM
Mazak VTC200B
12,000 rpm
40 taper
Oil Mist Lubrication
This customer has multiple Mazak VTC200B machines in their facility that were experiencing frequent spindle failures. We disassembled the first spindle and found that the design was very poor. The nut for the rear bearings was hydraulic and had the long shaft that attaches to the drive motor bolted to it. The problem with this setup occurs if there is any misalignment with the drive motor, any vibration in the drive motor or if any number of ground surfaces are not virtually perfect. Any flaws in these areas subjects stress directly to the rear bearing causing premature failure. To compound these issues the drawbar system that requires significant forces to function is included in this assembly. We discussed these findings with our customer and mutually decided the best course of action was to replace the shaft, hydraulic nut and drive motor tube. This was the only way to insure proper fits and run outs. Special care will also need to be taken during the installation process to insure proper alignment and balance.
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Posted by Christian Stark on Fri, Mar 05, 2010 @ 10:47 AM
Bryant WBA Grinding Spindle
70,000 rpm
Thru Tool Coolant
An automotive company in the mid-west contacted me regarding their Bryant grinding spindles. Their ID Bryant spindles were only lasting from 1 week to 3 months between repairs. The repair company they were using was voiding the warranties sighting contamination and charging them for full repairs. At $5000.00 or more each repair the costs were adding up. They felt a repair company should be trying to solve the cause of failures and reduce the total repair expenditures.
That's when they called Northland Tool & Electronics. We evaluated their process and put a program in place to identify the failure causes and provide solutions for them. Upon evaluation of the first few spindles we found that the previous repair facility had used inferior bearings that were not capable of the speed the spindles were run at. The spindles were also filled with coolant causing the bearings to fail prematurely. The more we dug into the spindles the more we found. Inferior machining/grinding practices were used and major spindle parts had been replaced incorrectly changing the dynamics of the bearing lubrication system.
When we completed the testing process we determined the most cost effective route to eliminate the failures. The previous poor workmanship and a spindle design that was prone to contamination needed to be fixed. We modified the spindle to resist coolant contamination and fixed or replaced the damaged parts. We also gave the customer testing procedures to implement during installation to insure longer spindle life.
Our repairs are now 50% cheaper than their previous vendor and we have increased the spindle life to years instead of months.
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Posted by Christian Stark on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 11:59 AM
Gamfior E13779M
One of our success stories in the aerospace industry comes from a manufacturer of wing spars. Their 5 axis machines were experiencing frequent spindle failures and it was taking the OEM in excess of 30 days to complete the repairs. This lead to them purchasing 2 spare spindles for each machine they were running. The first thing we did when we were called in was to perform an on-site evaluation. We met with the plant manager and the maintenance department to determine the scope of the problem and the goals for the spindle repair program. We then evaluated each machine individually looking at all the spindle related components, lubricators, chillers, tool change mechanisms, electrical systems and performed vibration analysis to each spindle. Once we established a baseline we worked closely with our customer giving them possible causes for the spindle failures they experienced and providing them with solutions. Our customer also shared pertinent information with us such as spindle crashes and machine issues that may have affected the spindle performance.
Six months after implementing our spindle repair program their spindle expenditures decreased by a factor of three. At the current time they have not required a spindle repair on the machines we have in the program for over a year and a half. When we started with them they averaged a spindle repair every three months, per machine!!!
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Posted by Christian Stark on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 10:54 AM
- Mori Seiki SH500 BIG PLUS
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- This customer was referred to us by another of our customers. This spindle had been repaired several years ago and during that repair the taper was kiss ground. Unfortunately that made the BIG PLUS taper unusable. We were able to repair the taper to BIG PLUS standards and rebuild the spindle.
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Posted by Paul Litterer on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 10:31 AM
Insure your getting the maximum performance from your BIG PLUS
tooling by having your spindles repaired by Northland Tool & Electronics.
To receive the maximum benefit from your BIG PLUS tooling your spindle
must meet the same high quality standards you have come to expect from
BIG PLUS. Northland Tool has worked closely with the engineers at BIG
Kaiser to develop a repair program exclusively for your BIG PLUS spindles.
Special care and attention will be given to the tooling interface, drawbar,
bearing journals and balance, insuring that we provide the extreme
accuracy required. The tooling interface will undergo specific quality
checks throughout the repair process using only BIG PLUS certified
equipment provided to Northland Tool by BIG Daishowa Seiki.
Our in house grinding department has over 20 years experience with
the close tolerance work required for spindle parts. Northland Tool
works closely with BIG Kaiser to insure the highest quality standards
are met with your spindle repair.
Click Here for a Free Spindle Evaluation by our experienced staff.