Throughout the life of a machine, most shops will experience downtime due to spindle damage and repair. Damage caused by spindle impact requires replacement of the entire spindle – a very lengthy process that is extremely costly in terms of downtime, parts and labor. When a machine is awaiting spindle repair or replacement, it is not making chips.
To make spindle repairs less of a nightmare, Toyoda Machinery developed a modular design that simplifies the spindle replacement process. This modular design allows individual components to be removed and replaced without the need to replace the whole spindle, getting machines up and running quickly, and at a lower cost.
Bill Gibler, senior spindle technician at Toyoda Machinery, explained that the spindles sport a removable taper that provides “effortless” access to subassemblies. Technicians can then quickly and easily replace the taper unit in the field.
The removable taper also allows for fast changes and accommodation of different types of tooling, so shops can match any production requirements. Other benefits include optimized cut times and minimized intervals between operations.
Toyoda’s in-house spindle rebuild department supports a team of engineers that are factory trained to follow the proprietary OEM spindle construction procedures and tolerance dimensions. These processes involve strict standards and testing on every component. If, during performance testing, any part fails, the entire test fails and the unit is disassembled to determine the cause.
