Found out my spindle bearings were shot 6 months ago by reading a vibration analysis article

I was scrolling through some random forum last week and stumbled on a post about spindle vibration analysis. Turns out if you hold a penny on the tool holder and feel for chatter, you can catch bearing wear way before it gets bad. I checked mine and sure enough, that penny danced right off. I had been fighting surface finish issues for half a year thinking it was my feeds and speeds. Replaced the bearings and now my parts come out like glass. Has anyone else tried the penny trick or do you use a vibration meter for this?

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nancy92928d ago

Does that penny trick work on bigger spindles too or is it just for smaller machines? I can see how it would be simple and cheap compared to buying a vibration meter. The real key is catching it early before it ruins a whole batch of parts.