Spindle Care

Which High Speed Spindle is the best for my CNC machining centre?

Spindles NZ Ltd would like to off er some advice on spindles and spindle options. We rebuild, repair, balance and test spindles as a main stay of our business. Over the last 25 years we have seen lots of types, sizes and makes of High Speed Router Spindles, our aim is to get the customer up and running as fast as possible as we realise the machines they are fi tted to often are at the forefront of their production. We do buy new spindles if router spindles are just too worn out to repair but this is often costly and time expensive.

Before I try and answer the above question I would fi rstly like to say that machine tool manufacturers have been evolving and improving all aspects of their machining centres, tooling and the spindles fitted to the machines. I will mention makes of CNC machines and my disclaimer is that I am not recommending or condemning any of them and I am not working on the behalf of any of them. The beauty of Spindles NZ Ltd is that we are truly independent and our focus is to repair spindles only.

SCM fit various spindles, their main spindle is the one manufactured in house and uses their own casting. It also uses the tube it sits in as the extraction and the cooling. This is very eff ective as it deals with both problems in one system. It is a powerful spindle and very quiet. It comes in HSK and ISO 30 variants. They off er a liquid cooled version as well.

Biesse, Homag, Weeke (and a few others.) These machine manufacturers use HSD spindles as well as other types. Biesse generally use all HSD’s in lots of various types and sizes. HSD spindles are a cost eff ective proven industry standard in Routing spindles. They have a very large range and even cross over into applications that we do not even repair. They cover the stone and glass range. As a rebuilding engineer I find them great to repair as we have a good history of obtaining certain spares and good responsive technical staff .

Homag use a modified HSD that is specifi c to them, there are slight diff erences which points the customer to dealing direct with Homag when problems arise. We do however rebuild their spindles with no problems.

Weeke use HSD’s and Omlat spindles. Omlat are another good quality Italian spindle which last for years, they do use quite expensive bearings which at rebuild time can cost more, but I think this refl ects in their longevity.

There are no good or bad spindles, each have their positives and drawbacks as with everything. Most spindles are made in Italy however other makes such as Perske (German) and there are copies which are coming out of China which Spindles NZ Ltd do not rebuild or sell. Our comments on Chinese spindles are reserved due to lack of experience but we are cautious engaging in unknown brands.

In essence the high speed spindle is at the front of everything on a machining centre, it is worth looking after and buying a well proven strong brand.

Our next editorial is on what Spindles NZ Ltd can off er you as the end user and the support we can off er.

Jon Escreet

Spindles NZ Ltd www.spindles.co.nz

Marco Mancini, SCM Group's General Manager, with Pierantonio Macola, Smau’s President, and journalist Simona Regina.

SMAU Innovation Prize to SCM Group

SCM and CMS, the two benchmark brands in the SCM Group's machinery sector recieved recognition at the 57th edition of Smau, the annual Innovation trade fair held in Milan, Italy in October. The digital software and services integrated with the SCM machines for machining wood and the CMS machines for composites, plastic, marble, glass and metal, won the "SMAU Innovation" Prize.

The prize is an important acknowledgement of the high innovative value off ered by the SCM and CMS industrial machines, complete with digital services and Internet of Things - IoT systems that render the end customers' factories better performing in terms of effi ciency and productivity.

The case of SCM Group's excellence illustrated and awarded at Smau is an example of how the industrial machines have changed from "pure mechanics" to increasingly being more "intelligent" and smart, connected and integrated into the entire factory, in line with the needs of Industry 4.0. In particular, once the sensors have acquired all the data and information on how the machine is functioning, this is transmitted and integrated onto the web and converted into high added value services for the end customer.

These are only a few examples of the services: constant monitoring and analysis of the machine's state of repair and performance, anywhere and at any time; instant interaction and sharing of information between the customer and technical service provided, even remotely; a signifi cant reduction in time and cost when resolving technical problems, thanks to the possibility of identifying them in real time and even preventing them by using the "performance monitoring" data acquired.

All this is made possible by SCM's "Maestro connect" IoT and CMS' "CMS connect" platforms that allow the end customer to constantly work as effi ciently and productively as possible.

46th CIFF Shanghai 2020

A success to instill confi dence

An injection of confidence is undoubtedly the impression left by the recently concluded 46th CIFF Shanghai 2020. Despite taking place just six weeks after the 45th CIFF Guangzhou, which was moved from March to July due to the pandemic, this last edition of CIFF has certainly been a success, thanks to the 1,000 exhibitors occupying 250,000 square metres exhibition space and attracting 118,409 industry professionals, reaffirming this trade fair as the essential business platform for the Asian furniture market. Concluding on 10th September after four intense days under the same roof as the Shanghai Hongqiao National Exhibition & Convention Centre, the 46th CIFF Shanghai 2020 represented the entire furniture industry chain: home, outdoor and leisure furniture, home décor and home textiles, offi ce, hotel, and commercial furniture and, thanks to the overlap with the Shanghai International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair (CIFF/WMF) 2020, machinery for the furniture industry.