Recently tore down my spindle on the PM940 to do a belt drive retrofit. Running at 3200 rpm was unbearably loud plus I was wanting to check bearing preload and condition after a maybe 20 hrs of runtime. I was appalled by how much foreign material was in the lube. From small machining chips, rtv chunks, paint and other what appears to be sand from the casting process. The spindle I tore down was not much better. Plenty of debris in the upper and lower taper roller bearing. Most from the inside of the spindle where the casting slag was not removed. The spindle nut was loose which may have attributed to my surface finish defects. The grease had coagulated as well. Bearings to my surprise appear to be ok after cleaning. I removed as much scale as I could from interior of the spindle and then sealed the surface. I repacked bearings with Kluber grease and reset the spindle nut torque. Will have to check temps as it is slightly tighter than before. Hoping to have all my hub adapters and plates done by next week to get it run in. In hindsight though I highly suggest people review the spindle/gearbox sooner than later in case of damage.
On other item is I really would like to get a BT30 spindle. The current spindle is a 75mm diameter setup. I have gotten a quote from KAMI in Germany for the 75mm BT30 spindle in the FKM350. All appearance seem to be that this FKM350 mill is the same gearbox setup as the PM940. Anyone tried this spindle? I was quoted $230 shipped which I think is very reasonable but don't know the quality to know for sure. Also anyone else interested in one of these spindles? I believe they are the same ones that MTW has brought in before?
Thanks
Ryan
