Unahorn
Aluminum
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2012
- Location
- sacramento
How many hours do you think a high quality Japanese type machine spindle should last? Considering normal type use and no crashes?
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Spindle hours
- Thread starter Unahorn
- Start date
- Replies 11
- Views 1,911
Well I’ve seen 20 year old spindles in fadal machines. So they can last.
But I would not say that’s the norm
My Mazak lathe is technically American but has over 14000 hours so many that it tripped the reader past 9999 I suspect. Still original spindle
My 1998 fadal has original grease pack spindle still going strong but it’s low rpm 7500
I’d say 10 years or about 20k hours is what a low speed spindle should last (under 15k rpm) faster ones will probably wear out quicker but I’d be pretty upset if I didn’t get 5 years of service out of one.
But I would not say that’s the norm
My Mazak lathe is technically American but has over 14000 hours so many that it tripped the reader past 9999 I suspect. Still original spindle
My 1998 fadal has original grease pack spindle still going strong but it’s low rpm 7500
I’d say 10 years or about 20k hours is what a low speed spindle should last (under 15k rpm) faster ones will probably wear out quicker but I’d be pretty upset if I didn’t get 5 years of service out of one.
DavidScott
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Location
- Washington
25,000 hrs grease, double that for air/oil. And 20 years on a Fadal spindle means it didn't run much. The one I worked with got 6 years of one or two shifts a day from new. That is before it died, subtract 1-1/2 years if pocket floor surface finish mattered because of no more preload.
That sounds reasonable. Like I said 20k hours is what I’d expect. I seen another machine that had a grease pack for 12 years or so that I know was ran hard but it was still smooth. The taper was trashed though
2outof3
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2014
- Location
- West Coast USA
Of all the things, I would not expect to have an affect on a grease pack spindle but does is room temp. It can cut life in half. RPM is the biggest factor. 20,000 hours on a 20,000 RPM spindle seems reasonable to me.
I think most machines and especially Japanese machines have spindle chillers. I know my cheap American fadals have them.
2outof3
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2014
- Location
- West Coast USA
Some do and some don't. But it was interesting to see in a builder supplied powerpoint that room temp really affected spindle life.
triumph406
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
- Location
- ca
Then you replace it with another $3500 spindle and keep on going. That Fadal replacement spindle is availible off the shelf at least 2 if not more places I can think of.
DavidScott
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Location
- Washington
Employer was too cheap so I had to lower the max spindle speeds from 10k to 8k, then 6k by the time I jumped ship. I also was modifying programs to get rid of the swirl marks in pocket floors as that would scrap the parts we were making. Oh, and the Z would move .006" as it warmed up or cooled off, and I had to hold .0002" on some parts. Rebuild would have been around $1200 at that time if we pulled and installed.
2outof3, room temp affected spindle life?? How exactly as that is quite interesting.
TeachMePlease
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2014
- Location
- FL
Can you share some more info on that? I'm intrigued.
2outof3
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2014
- Location
- West Coast USA
It was specific to a grease pack spindle in a spindle over 20,000 RPM. Like cutting the life of the spindle in half. The machine did not have a chiller but a cooling mechanism built in. I am no scientist but there is not much room for error in the bearings ability to grow in these high speed spindles. I have not seen that result in the field but with another machine even using a chiller (since most chillers are stupid on and off and not running based on head temp) I suspect some failure are being premature because of the high fluctuation in some shops of temp. Unfortunately, shops will buy sophisticated machines that are designed to run in temp controlled environments and then used in open shops where temps will swing wildly. Wild especially compared to the ISO call out for a controlled shop temp.
Last edited:
dstryr
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2010
- Location
- Nampa Idaho
Im happy around 15-20k hours on the bigger machines running automated.
Average replacement on a horizontal / 5 axis machine is around $40-60k with labor
$60k dollars / 15k hours = $4 per hour to operate it...
We are putting about 5k hours on our big machines per year so 3-4 years between changes without woops.
This is obviously in aluminum running higher RPM. If you are cutting steel / harder metals at lower speeds Id be hoping closer to 20k+
Average replacement on a horizontal / 5 axis machine is around $40-60k with labor
$60k dollars / 15k hours = $4 per hour to operate it...
We are putting about 5k hours on our big machines per year so 3-4 years between changes without woops.
This is obviously in aluminum running higher RPM. If you are cutting steel / harder metals at lower speeds Id be hoping closer to 20k+
