b'Transparency is crucial when repairing machine spindles.By Bob Hodge pair, end users can gain value bycise, heavily stressed components receiving a complete, comprehen- of a machine. Special care therefore E verymanufacturerlooksforsive repair that is done quickly andmust be taken to ensure that spin-ways to add value for custom- economically. dles are designed and built to pro-ers and derive value from suppli- Spindles are the heart and soulvide the required accuracy and lon-ers. With machine tool spindle re- of machine tools and the most pre- gevity. When a spindle degrades, a machine tool either does not hold specified tolerances or does not produce parts at all. In any case, it costs money.When a spindle goes down, it is natural to want a machine back up and running as soon as possi-ble. Having a spindle down in the middle of a job with a tight deliv-ery is not a good feeling. However, although you need a spindle re-paired quickly, it must be repaired correctly. A fast but substandard re-pair is not much consolation if part tolerances do not hold or a spindle quickly fails again.Trust, but VerifySo how do you know that a spin-dle will be repaired as quickly as possible without cutting corners or taking shortcuts regarding the quality and completeness of a re-pair? The answer is transparency. A spindle repair company should provide proper documentation so customers know they are deriving value from spindle repairs.In most machine tool spindles, there are 250 to 300 individual com-ponent and assembly characteris-tics that impact performance and longevity. For a comprehensive re-pair, each of these must be checked and evaluated for suitability. Since many tolerance measurements are in microns, components should be All images: Advanced Spindle Technology absolutely clean and at the proper Final runoff is performed on a test stand for a high-speed Kessler spindle. temperature to accurately inspect 34APRIL 2020 SpindleRepair.indd 34 3/16/20 12:29 PM'