Rage Against the Machine Tools
How long do bearings last? It depends on a wide variety of factors, including the type of bearings, the environment they’re used in and the stresses you’re asking them to tolerate. The bearings in the wheels of your car might carry you 100,000 miles without incident, whereas in some harsh environments, for example quarries and mines or the construction industry, bearings might last nowhere near as long. Context is everything, the important thing is to know how long your components will safely last for, so you can plan your downtime and maintenance accordingly.
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Unfortunately, for one company over in the United States of America, this was proving impossible. The firm was operating a collet closer and had a target lifespan of 15,000 hours for the bearings being used in the machine. Unfortunately, the bearings were failing after only 100 hours. This wasn’t a one-off issue, but a regular, consistent problem which was causing the company to have to replace vital parts on a weekly basis. The ramifications in terms of cost and lost production time were horrendous.
After the company contacted us for help, NSK’s team of highly trained engineers carried out a comprehensive Application Review and suggested that the firm’s issues could be solved by adopting a pair of our HPS Angular Contact Ball Bearings on the front and the back side of the collet closer’s spindle. This was in place of the existing double row bearing which wasn’t able to support the axial loads involved in production.
"NSK’s bearings and linear guides have the benefit of decades of R&D behind them, as well as near limitless engineering experience"
Joerg Wagner, NSK Europe Sector Manager for Machine Tools.
Our HPS (High Performance Standard) series of Angular Contact Ball Bearings come with a bearing life 15% greater than conventional bearings, the grease life is one and a half times that of open-type bearings and they also offer higher axial rigidity (due to an optimised design and high-quality balls), improved dust and water resistance, high-speed performance and even quieter running than conventional alternatives.
‘Machine tools are essential equipment across countless manufacturing sectors,’ says Joerg Wagner, NSK’s Sector Manager for Machine Tools. ‘They must operate precisely and consistently in order to produce high quality finished parts. Similarly, the component which make up machine tools must be reliable and a perfect fit for the task at hand. NSK’s bearings and linear guides have the benefit of decades of R&D behind them, as well as near limitless engineering experience, and that’s why we’re confident we can provide a solution for any problem.’
After the American company adopted the new product and configuration, those regular failings became a thing of the past. The collet closer was able to operate consistently and at a lower temperature than previously. These operational improvements ended up saving the company €165,000 a year, which only goes to show how much impact apparently small changes to your operation can have.
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