Wavy surface side milling

[billyghog]

Any news on this???

I haven't had a chance to dig into this much further, but I'm pretty certain it's the spindle bearings going bad as some have suggested. There is a few tenths of axial play in the bearings if I push hard up and down on the tool. I'm currently taking finish passes really slowly and it's leaving a nice (enough) finish. If I take them fast like I'd like to, the issue appears. It's looking like it's new spindle time... Hurco wants $9k for one, which is painful. Rebuilds are nearly the same price too.

 

[billyghog]

Broke down and bought a new spindle. Just under $10k delivered with tax and all. Took about 3 hours to install and we're up and running. Wavy finish issue is fixed and the machine is a lot quieter now! It's also an upgraded dual contact spindle, so things can be more rigid with the right toolholders.

 

[Milland]

Cool, thanks for the update. If you get a second, perhaps post a picture of a finished part similar to the pics you took at the beginning of the thread. It would be interesting to see how it now looks.