Principle of measuring spindle direction

When measuring spindle direction, spindle laser D146 can be used. When we measure the direction a machine spindle points relative to the machine bed, a spindle pointing in the opposite direction or a bearing journal, the laser transmitter is mounted at or near the centre of the spindle. When the spindle is rotated half a turn (180°), the centre of rotation of the laser beam is calculated where the detector is mounted. This centre of rotation is then stored in the display unit. Now move the detector a set distance to the next measuring point and calculate the centre of rotation for the laser beam again. The difference in the measurement values for the centre of rotation at detector positions 1 and 2 is the angular error between the spindle’s centre of rotation and the machine bed.

Spindle direction for boring machines and milling machines

Measuring the pointing direction in a boring machine or a milling machine can be carried out using either the table as the reference or the table’s movement/the machine bed as the reference. By doing this, we are also able to see if the table is parallel with the machine bed.

Alignment of secondary spindle

Another application is alignment of secondary spindle with main spindle. Here it is beneficial to use both measuring units (combined laser/detector) of the Easy-Laser® system D525.

Animation

Please download our informative animation to see an example of a machine spindle measurement. Shockwave player from Adobe is required.