acceptable spindle runout

K

kiinstructor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What kind of spindle runout do you cuemakers have? I have a machine with 4 spindle heads made by bludworth. The spindle run on 6003 bearings that are all mismatched. I began noticing that the pockets were slightly larger than they were previously so I changed to another spindle head, I only use one at a time. Then that one began squeeling and shut down, hooked up another and soon after that one bit the dust. Took them apart only to find mismatched bearings. Each one had 3 but they were different from spindle to spindle. I have a massive and expensive job ahead of me to rebuild these spindle as the need ABEC7 or higher bearing for the tolerance. I tried one with just standard bearing about 5 bucks a piece, everyday ABEC3 bearings and it worked well but was off about 1.5 thou. I can used this if I allow for the offset. Does anyone know where I might find 6003 bearings of good quality reasonable. Most places Ive checked are 40 bucks plus per bearing. Any opinions or help will be apprecaited. Hot up here in the northwoods over 92 and humid.
Happiness
Mark
 
kiinstructor said:
What kind of spindle runout do you cuemakers have? I have a machine with 4 spindle heads made by bludworth. The spindle run on 6003 bearings that are all mismatched. I began noticing that the pockets were slightly larger than they were previously so I changed to another spindle head, I only use one at a time. Then that one began squeeling and shut down, hooked up another and soon after that one bit the dust. Took them apart only to find mismatched bearings. Each one had 3 but they were different from spindle to spindle. I have a massive and expensive job ahead of me to rebuild these spindle as the need ABEC7 or higher bearing for the tolerance. I tried one with just standard bearing about 5 bucks a piece, everyday ABEC3 bearings and it worked well but was off about 1.5 thou. I can used this if I allow for the offset. Does anyone know where I might find 6003 bearings of good quality reasonable. Most places Ive checked are 40 bucks plus per bearing. Any opinions or help will be apprecaited. Hot up here in the northwoods over 92 and humid.
Happiness
Mark
Click to expand...

Hello Mark,

The spindle I used back in the day was probably had no more than .005" of run out. I would look at your spindle run out and anything else that could introduce rigidity problems. Good inlay work requires a very solid machine from top to bottom, solid setups and good programming.

If the bearings are one if the issues you need to invest in the highest quality bearings you can afford. Bargain hunting in this area may not be the way to go.

Good luck!

Bryan
 
Mark,

Be careful!

It may not be in the bearings. The spindle nose and or collet system may be the source of your runout.

You can chuck up the spindle shaft in a 4 jaw and indicate it out to almost zero and then check the collet bore for runout. You can also then check the runout on a cutter shaft to see how your collet and collet nut are. You may be surprised that the runout isn't in the bearings.
 
kiinstructor said:
What kind of spindle runout do you cuemakers have? I have a machine with 4 spindle heads made by bludworth. The spindle run on 6003 bearings that are all mismatched. I began noticing that the pockets were slightly larger than they were previously so I changed to another spindle head, I only use one at a time. Then that one began squeeling and shut down, hooked up another and soon after that one bit the dust. Took them apart only to find mismatched bearings. Each one had 3 but they were different from spindle to spindle. I have a massive and expensive job ahead of me to rebuild these spindle as the need ABEC7 or higher bearing for the tolerance. I tried one with just standard bearing about 5 bucks a piece, everyday ABEC3 bearings and it worked well but was off about 1.5 thou. I can used this if I allow for the offset. Does anyone know where I might find 6003 bearings of good quality reasonable. Most places Ive checked are 40 bucks plus per bearing. Any opinions or help will be apprecaited. Hot up here in the northwoods over 92 and humid.
Happiness
Mark
Click to expand...



Mark a chuck should have zero runout, I have a Porper B lathe and I have had to remove my chuck for cleaning a few times. I also added a rear chuck to my lathe in both cases I had zero the chucks to eliminate runout.

Have you zeroed your chuck?
 
Well if it were me the first thing that I would do is check your spindle taper of the spindle with a test indicator.. Thats going to tell you if your spindle is truely out or if its your collet and nut.. Another thing that you can try is precise bits collet care system to clean your spindle bore and collets http://www.precisebits.com/products/chemicals/colletcare.asp Now as for me I am useing a porter cable 7518 production router with precise bits ultra precise collets and nut system and I am getting .0002 TIR.. So to me .0015 is way too much run out and would drive me absolutely bonkers
 
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