HSD Spindle warm up/cool down

[beacon14]

Well, I finally made the time to swap the old PC for my new 2.25HP HSD spindle. Ahhhhhhhh. My ears are happy and my cheeks are sore from smiling all week.

I have a couple of questions regarding the warm-up and cool-down procedures. I can follow the 6 minute warm up procedure mentioned in the instructions, but then what? Since the fan runs all the time I assume there is no cool-down period and I can just turn the spindle off when I'm done cutting?

What about the shorter intervals when changing bits or sheets - anywhere from a minute or two to 5 or 10 minutes. I have to stop the spindle to change the bit, do I have to warm it back up for the amount of time it was off? How about the time between sheets, anywhere from 3 minutes to a stop for lunch. Just leave it running?

I keep having the urge to jump for the stop button when I see the tool head for the material but it sounds like I forgot to turn it on. What a difference.

Thanks for any advice.

[Brady Watson]

David,
They say 9,000 RPM for 10 min for the Colombo spindles. I was told that 9k is too fast & that I should start the spindle around 2500 RPM for a few min to prevent skidding the bearings - as the grease is thick and cold. Then I increase it to 5,000 and let it simmer for about 10 min. The goal is to warm up the grease in the bearings and to let everything expand to operating tolerances. You will obviously have to warm up longer in the winter than the summer, depending on your shop & ambient temp. You want to feel the cast iron bearing lands at the bottom of the spindle to be warm. This will tell you that you are ready to go. Anything over room temp is generally OK for warming up the spindle when you check the cast iron.

As far as cooldown goes, you can just leave the fan running until the cast iron cools. The grease is pretty thin and will solidify just like candle wax when cool. It is not necessary to warm up after changing bits, unless you go to lunch and you put your hand on the spindle bearing housing and it is cool. Of course, you don't have to go crazy with warming it up. I ran mine for 3yrs of heavy cutting without ever warming it up. The goal is to warm up the grease, and get things up to operating temp - just like your truck when it is cold.

-B

[beacon14]

Thanks Brady, that all makes sense.

[knight_toolworks]

it seems to take a long time for full cooldown. like if I warm up the spindle in the morning it has a really cold sound. but if it has been sitting most of the day with the fan running then I warm it up the bearings don't sound as stiff as the do the first of the day. I still do a warmup after a hour of sitting. I only cool it down if I have to take off before it sits a bi to cool with the fan.

[bstern]

Now that we have some spindle control from the software has anyone given any thought to using a temp sensor to turn on the spindle wait till it warms up and then start cutting?

Should be pretty simple to do.