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Arbor-Spindle best practice for cleaning before installation

slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
I have an old large for my mill 3" face cutter. I tried it out just to see how it would do. Not so bad, but it was really difficult to get it out of the spindle. The typical whacks on the 3 turn loose drawbar was not working. So I lowered the spindle made a wedge and it tapped out without too much drama. Perhaps it was not as clean as it should have been?

So what is considered best practice when installing an arbor?

Clean with what?

What about cleaning the inside taper of the spindle?

Any oil? spritz of WD40 and wipe it, or no oil at all?
 
I have no idea what best practice is. Perhaps some of the more mill-seasoned members can chime in.

I do know what works for me. The spindle and taper must be religiously clean. Any grit or metal chips or tiny pieces of metal will score the tapers. Even Lint can make a poor fit. A Susquatch hair will mess it up for sure. Metal and abrasives might also get embedded and be very difficult to remove.

I sometimes use bluing (Prussian blue) to check it - NOT DYKEM or layout fluid. DYKEM is too thick. I clean with a solvent like alcohol or varsol or or or. I've seen guys use brake cleaner. Use a lint free rag - not flannel.

Bottom line, clean both thoroughly and then check that you have a good 70 to 90 % contact fit. Unlikely to be better than 90 but you never know.

Also good idea to disassemble and use a light oil after use.

Is that best practice? I doubt it. So I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say. Including any criticism of what I do.
 
I assume they still sell Spin-L-Mates, an abrasive wiper tool to match your taper.
Use carb cleaner, not brake cleaner, it leaves a slight film. Wipe with dry clean rags, as many times as you have to until they remain unsoiled.
Never lube a taper, don’t touch it with your fingers if you can avoid it.
 
I made these for cleaning out my machine tapers. MT5, MT4, NMTB#40. Wooden plugs, wrapped with a sheet of cheap paper towel. Cheap is the operative word here because its less absorbent therefore less lint. I'll use them every time I remove and install a different tool into the spindle.
 

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Susquatch said:
How do you deal with rust?
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If some are seeing rust with black oxidizing on the holders (Taper) and inside the spindle taper on the chinesium stuff.
Now would be the time to look into stepping up into better holders. Chances are, the spindle will need attention depending on the tolerances your shooting for.
 
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little ol' e said:
If some are seeing rust with black oxidizing on the holders and inside the spindle taper on the chinesium stuff.
Now would be the time to look into stepping up into better holders. Chances are, the spindle will need attention depending on the tolerances your shooting for.
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I'm guessing that you don't live in the rust belt. About the only bare metal that won't rust in south west ontario without protection is high grade Chrome. And I've seen that rust too. Unprotected Stainless and black oxide is no better. All are MUCH better than plain steel, but much better is just a degree. Rusted better is just more costly rusted.

That's why I oil after use and clean it off before use.
 
Oh, I'm in the rusting belt alrite.. Although,
I think the heated floors in the new shop took care of my surface rust issues. The black oxidization on the holder tapers were more of a heat issue at the time, along with the Briney holders I was using .
 

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Agreed. We are on the same page that the taper should be oil free in use.

But I gotta tell you that I've NEVER seen brake CLEANER leave any residue. In my experience it's an ideal residue free cleaning agent. Are you sure you are not talking about brake fluid? Brake fluid is an entirely different animal that would definitely leave a film.

Ya, just looked at where you are. Rodney is in the rust belt alright. Maybe not quite as bad as Windsor/Chatham, but much worse than the rest of Canada. I think your heated floors are awesome through the winter. They are the perfect dry heat. But I'd be dehumidifying or running an air conditioner in the summer too.

I also confess that I'm paranoid of rust. My tools cost way too much to take chances. I'd rather keep them oiled and then clean them before use than discover them badly rusted when I go to use them.
 
Susquatch said:
Agreed. We are on the same page that the taper should be oil free in use.

But I gotta tell you that I've NEVER seen brake CLEANER leave any residue. In my experience it's an ideal residue free cleaning agent. Are you sure you are not talking about brake fluid? Brake fluid is an entirely different animal that would definitely leave a film.

Ya, just looked at where you are. Rodney is in the rust belt alright. Maybe not quite as bad as Windsor/Chatham, but much worse than the rest of Canada. I think your heated floors are awesome through the winter. They are the perfect dry heat. But I'd be dehumidifying or running an air conditioner in the summer too.

I also confess that I'm paranoid of rust. My tools cost way too much to take chances. I'd rather keep them oiled and then clean them before use than discover them badly rusted when I go to use them.
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Brake cleaner , nonchlorinated, does not evaporate as cleanly as carb cleaner, varsol is pretty good too, both surfaces wiped with either can be painted over. Brake cleaner is iffy if painted over after cleaning a metal surface. A Morse taper can get a bit sticky if you clean the surface with it. A freshly reamed tailstock will hold a taper well and also give a sharp eject when asked, clean it with brake cleaner vs Carb cleaner and you will notice a difference in how it grips and how it ejects. I acquired this tidbit from the inspection room quality control engineers at a major aerospace contractor, who were admittedly quite pedantic about stuff like that. I think it had to do with the ability to pick up and carry off petroleum based contaminates more so than leaving its own trace components.
 
Stellrammer said:
Brake cleaner , nonchlorinated, does not evaporate as cleanly as carb cleaner,
Click to expand...

Well, now you are qualifying it as non-chlorinated. That leads to a discussion of good non-chlorinated vs garbage non-chlorinated. I don't like garbage anything let alone garbage brake cleaner.

Not much value in arguing this to death. We agree way more than we disagree. On the issue of brake cleaner, let's just be happy agreeing to disagree.
 
Degen said:
Going to through fuel on the fire, even though its no longer available....freon leaves no residue.
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Saves on having to look into the prices of shrink fit holder systems

If a rusty oxidized holder taper is the problem along with the spindle taper looking much the same... Freon, would help for an arm strong shrink press fit:eek:
 
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little ol' e said:
Saves on having to look into the prices of shrink fit holder systems

If a rusty oxidized holder taper is the problem along with the spindle taper looking much the same... Freon, would help for an arm strong shrink press fit:eek:
Click to expand...
The very fact that having a shrink holder that has runout in the microns and a spindle that probably has a thou stops me even thinking about shrink fit. Maybe if I decide to sell all my property and buy a $1.5M. Deckel Maho.
 
Stellrammer said:
The very fact that having a shrink holder that has runout in the microns and a spindle that probably has a thou stops me even thinking about shrink fit. Maybe if I decide to sell all my property and buy a $1.5M. Deckel Maho.
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Actually, I looked at a new Hurco 5 axis last week for something to do.
They are pretty wicked running with heat shrink holders....
With the norm options these days both coolant and air/acc- lube mist through the spindle. I still can't get a cigarette ashtray mounted in the consol yet, but they said they would look into it...
I was surprised... no chatter whatsoever in all the programs he ran.
Do you wana buy a 76 cutlass......? I'll even paint it any color you like:)
 
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