16 GEAR SOLUTIONS JANUARY 2004 gearsolutionsonline.

com
BASICS
THE
REBUILDIING
MACHINE TOOLS
OF
By Kenneth Flowers
Why retire a perfectly good
machine tool that may still
provide years of useful
service life? The following is
a step-by-step outline of
How to make cents out of it.
R
Rebuilding a machine tool requires expert-
ise in mechanical, hydraulic, lubrication,
pneumatic, electrical, control, and coolant
systems, as well as knowledge of the process
the machine performs. The rebuilding
process will require each of these systems to
be disassembled, cleaned, inspected, and
repaired or replaced as required. A com-
plete rebuild process takes place in a series
of steps, depending on the machine and its
complexity. But, generally speaking, the
process follows these basic steps.
1) Disassembly, cleaning, and inspection.
2) Engineering of software, electrical,
mechanical, and fluid systems.
3) Ordering of the required parts.
4) Machine rebuilding.
Rescrape or regrind guide-
ways, realignment verifica-
tion of the slides.
Subassembly and electrical
cabinet build.
Electrical and fluid system
build and installation.
Painting of the machine, in
its disassembled state.
Reassembly of the machine.
5) Startup and debug.
6) Mechanical recertification.
7) Test cycling and initial test cutting.
8) Runoff and final testing.
Obviously, there is a significant number
of details within each of the steps outlined
above, and a small book could easily be
devoted to the actual rebuilding process,
but I will limit my discussion to a few key
areas that I feel are among the most
important in the rebuild process.
DISASSEMBLY
Any machine which is to be totally
rebuilt should be completely disassem-
bled into its individual parts. All the
parts should be thoroughly cleaned
and then inspected for wear, or other
problems. No parts should be over-
looked, or assumed to be okay and
neglected. Thorough cleaning is
required to insure that minute deficien-
cies are noticeable during the inspec-
tion, as well as to prepare the machine
for the painting phase.
To speed reassembly, the parts should
be categorized and photographed during
the disassembly process. This simple step
will save countless hours of questioning
how something goes back together after
its been sitting on the parts shelf for two
months. It also insures that your
machine goes back together just as it
came from the original manufacturer,
not in some backward fashion, because
the rebuilder did not know the proper
reassembly order.
MECHANICAL
The mechanical portion of the rebuild
encompasses not only mechanical but
also hydraulic, lubrication, pneumatic,
and coolant systems. Within each of
these subcategories there are some key
areas which should always be
addressed in a good rebuild.
GUIDEWAYS
The machine guideways are one of the
most important aspects of the rebuild.
The process for refinishing the guide-
ways differs, depending on the machine
construction. On older machinery,
many times you will have cast iron on
cast iron construction. This type of
design requires hand scraping to prop-
erly match the two mating surfaces for
even contact, and to achieve parallelism
and perpendicularity to the other ways.
Hand scraping is a highly skilled trade
that requires years of experience at
which to become proficient. Two key
indicators of a quality scraped surface
are the proper bearing area and pattern,
plus the final alignments that are
achieved. A commonly used standard
for the bearing area is 10 to 15 contact
points in one square inch, and it is con-
ceivable that you could achieve 40 or
more points, by a series of repeated fine
scrapings. But, regardless of the number
of points, the total contact area should
be roughly 50-60 percent.
On newer machine tools, you may
find hardened and ground guideways
that are not scraped. With this type of
construction there will generally be a
low friction coating like SKC3, Moglice,
or Turcite on one of the mating sur-
faces. This low friction compound slid-
ing against the smooth ground way
surface has a very low coefficient of
friction. This is highly desirable, espe-
cially on servo-controlled axes, where
stick slip can be a problem. The low
friction coatings can be replaced if
required, and the ways reground for
finish and alignment.
gearsolutionsonline.com JANUARY 2004 GEAR SOLUTIONS 17
Subassembly, fully disassembled
Hand scraped surface
Recirculating ball screw
Acme screw
Fully disassembled bed
The last type of guideway is a rolling or linear way that uti-
lizes a rolling bearing pack running on a hardened and
ground linear rail. These types of guideways are generally
replaced completely, and are never repaired.
LEAD SCREWS
Equally important to the rebuild are the screws that move the
machine slides. There are two basic types in use today: the
acme screw and the ballscrew. All modern servo-controlled
machines are equipped with preloaded, recirculating ballscrews.
Older mechanical machines will probably be equipped with
acme screws. During the course of the rebuild, the screws
should be removed and inspected. Both types of screws can be
repaired if the damage is not significant, otherwise the screw
should be completely replaced. During the replacement
process, new thrust bearings should be installed on the screws
to insure that no axial lash is present in the drive mechanism.
Some acme screws require adjustment of the nut lash after
installation. Be sure the vendor does not overlook these critical
areas during the rebuild process.
WEAR PARTS
During the course of the rebuild, items that are considered to
be wear parts should be completely replaced. These include,
but are not limited to, all bearings, bushings, seals, and
wipers. With the machine fully disassembled, there is no
excuse for not replacing these items. There are exceptions to
the rule, of course. This includes items which seldom move
during the routine machine operation and may not require
replacement of the bearings and bushings because they were
hardly used and are still in like new condition. However,
any rubber or felt parts like seals, wipers, or packing materials
should be replaced in case of dry rot, even though they are
not visibly worn.
Parts such as clutches and brakes should be inspected closely,
and probably replaced as a matter of caution. These types of
parts are difficult to inspect because many of them are sealed
units that cannot be opened or repaired. If in doubt, they
should always be replaced.
GEARS
Machines that produce gears also require gears for their oper-
ation, and these gears must be inspected like any other wear
item in the machine. Since gears do move constantly, the
teeth, bores, and keyways can become worn. Some of the
most critical gears within gear machinery are those that con-
trol the worktable rotation and the cutter rotation. Any errors
in these gears will very likely show up as problems in the
gears the machine produces. Inspection of the gear spacing
and tolerances within the cutter spindle assembly and the
worktable are crucial to the success of a rebuild. Adjustment
of the lash for these gears during final assembly is equally
important. An excessive amount of lash can manifest itself as
spacing error on the gears produced by the machine.
18 GEAR SOLUTIONS JANUARY 2004 gearsolutionsonline.com
ALIGNMENTS
Both during the rebuild and once it
has been completed, alignment veri-
fication of the machine is critical.
Check to verify that the parallelism
and perpendicularity of the axes has
been maintained, both as the ways
are being refinished and after the
machine is under power and capa-
ble of moving the slides via servo or
mechanical control. There have
been standards developed by the
ISO and DIN organizations that
define the allowable tolerances on
these alignments. Most machine
designs have an applicable standard
that should be used to verify the
alignments. For example, on gear
hobbing machines, the standard is
DIN ISO 6545 Acceptance
Conditions for Gear Hobbing
MachinesTesting of the Accuracy.
ELECTRICAL
Design of the electrical system for the machine is a critical task,
since it will control not only the operation of the equipment,
but the safety of the operator and the machine itself. You
should investigate the vendor to verify his ability to design a
fully NFPA and OSHA compliant system. Proper control system
architecture is required for the machine to function correctly
gearsolutionsonline.com JANUARY 2004 GEAR SOLUTIONS 19
Detailed electrical drawing
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and be safe to operate. The standards set down by OSHA and
the National Fire Protection AgencyNFPA 70 National
Electrical Code and NFPA 79 Electrical Standard for Industrial
Machineryare designed to supply the controls engineer with
all the proper codes and regulations for a safe design. If your
vendor does not use these standards, you should consider
selecting another vendor.
Your electrical design should be done on a CAD system,
rather than the old technique of hand drawing. It should be
a thorough design, complete with identification numbers for
devices, wire numbers, colors, sizes, and stock lists.
GENERAL CONTROLS
You have a choice in the selection of the general controls for
your machinery. You can request the vendor to use Allen
Bradley, Siemens, GE, or Square D equipment on your
machine. Investigate the local sources you have for replacement
parts and choose a manufacturer that has local stock. Bear in
mind that a vendor may be able to offer you a much better
price by selecting a certain manufacturer. This is more often the
driving factor behind the vendors choice of a particular manu-
facturer, instead of a technical reason.
CNC OR PLC CONTROLS
Generally speaking, the vendor will choose a PLC (Programmable
Logic Controller) or CNC (Computer Numerical Control),
based upon its capabilities. This is usually the case with gear
machinery, because of the unique requirements these machines
have. However, there is still some room for selecting a different
manufacturer. There are just a few manufacturers of CNC con-
trollers that are applicable to a fully servo-controlled gear
machine to be found in this country. These include NUM,
Siemens, GE Fanuc, BWO, and Allen Bradley. Of these five,
Siemens and GE Fanuc are probably the best known. Although
not as widely known, BWO (produced in Germany) and NUM
CNCs (produced by Group Schneider, in France) are very pow-
erful and economical systems that are easily applied on the
simplest or most complex gear machinery. The presence of
Allen Bradley CNCs on gear machines has dropped off signifi-
cantly in recent years, and many new machine manufacturers
or rebuilders do not commonly apply them.
Generally, the CNC manufacturer and model does not play a
significant role in the final performance of the machine, unless
a very specific feature like automatic stock division, synchro-
nous tangential compensation, or custom interpolation is
required. When these types of special features are required,
some manufacturers have an edge over others, depending on
the features needed. Your vendor should consider the require-
ments and choose the best control for the application.
SERVO SYSTEMS
An often-overlooked part of the control package is the servo
system. The servos are the muscle behind the CNCs com-
mands. I say often overlooked because so much emphasis
20 GEAR SOLUTIONS JANUARY 2004 gearsolutionsonline.com
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A PROVEN PROCESS FOR THE HIGHEST REQUIREMENTS
MACHINING/TURNING/CRANE HOBBING (SPUR, SINGLE & DOUBLE HELICAL)
HERRINGBONE WORMS & WORM GEARS INTERNAL GEARS STRAIGHT BEVEL GEARS
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is usually placed on the CNC that the servos are something
of an afterthought. There is at least one driving force behind
this neglect: Most people assume that the CNC manufactur-
er will also be supplying the servo drives and motors. This is
not always the case. When you are considering using NUM
or Siemens, for example, you have the choice of using their
servos or choosing servos from another manufacturer such
as Indramat. However, if you are considering using a GE
Fanuc system, you will discover that the GE Fanuc CNC
must be coupled with GE Fanuc servos. Although there are
exceptions, 90 percent of the time this is the case.
Not all servos are created equal. Performance, adjustability,
and reliability are key factors in the selection of the servo sys-
tem. The motors must have the proper torque and speed to
move the axes at the required accelerations and speeds. The
servo drives should have sufficient amperage for the motors
and enough tuning parameters to correct for a variety of
issues such as inertia mismatches, lash, and inherent response
frequencies of the machine, plus full PID loop control. The
motors and drives must also be highly reliable to insure they
will survive the hottest summer days and will not succumb to
the dirt, oil, and coolant contamination that is so common
in many shops.
SOFTWARE
Software is probably the most underestimated aspect of an
upgrade. Few people who consider performing upgrades stop to
question how the PLC or CNC will be programmed. They sim-
ply assume the software will control the machine correctly. This
is a sure recipe for disaster. Software architecture is a science,
not a hobby. A sound software design can make a world of dif-
ference in the operation and safety of your machine. There are
two types of software that are present in a machine, depending
on the type of upgrade you are having performed.
gearsolutionsonline.com JANUARY 2004 GEAR SOLUTIONS 21
Typical conversational program screen
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PLC SOFTWARE
The PLC software is used to control the machine functions:
things like actuators that go in and out, turning pumps on
and off, monitoring fault and safety conditions, interlocking
functions, mode selections, etc. It takes years of experience to
refine the design methodologies required to produce a robust
PLC program. You simply cannot produce a robust PLC pro-
gram in a few days. When you couple the years of experience
required with the fact that every manufacturers PLC has a
slightly different syntax, addressing scheme, and operational
architecture, it becomes apparent that you need a highly
skilled engineer to write the PLC program, and a database of
well-written programs to use as templates.
One example of a robust PLC design is one that I call
event-driven fault and diagnostics. In this scheme the PLC
logic is written to detect and catch every fault or warning.
When a fault or warning occurs, the fault is used to display a
message, and to stop the machine if required. Using this
scheme, you can never have a fault that stops the machine
without a message indicating why the machine has stopped.
Another example of a good programming technique is called
operator prompting. If you have ever operated a machine
and pressed a button, only to wonder why that button does
not function, you know what I mean by operator prompting.
Todays modern PLCs are so powerful that there is no reason
why you cannot develop logic that informs the operator why
he can or cannot press that button.
Development of these types of programming techniques
requires a good deal of time. A vendor cannot afford to devel-
op this type of program for every machine they upgrade,
unless they routinely reuse code sections. Suppliers that are
sole proprietorships, or that have few engineering talents,
probably do not utilize these advanced techniques because of
the time investment.
CNC SOFTWARE
This type of software can be further broken down into two
main parts. The first part is how the operator enters the pro-
gram data, and the second is the method used to turn the
program data into the proper motions on the machine.
Historically speaking, gear machinery software has been
developed using what is called a conversational approach.
In this type of design the operator enters the program data by
answering a series of preprogrammed questions about his
part, tool, and process. An intelligent macro program actually
moves the axes in the proper sequence to machine the gear.
This conversational technique is alive and well in todays
modern gear machinery.
Consider for a moment the task of a rebuilder who is
rebuilding a gear-shaping machine and will be applying a
new CNC control as part of the process. To satisfy the
demands of their customer, the rebuilder must supply a con-
versational program for this machine. The conversational
software development time for such a machine can be meas-
22 GEAR SOLUTIONS JANUARY 2004 gearsolutionsonline.com
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ured in months, if not years. If the rebuilder doesnt already
have software developed, they have a huge time and cost
problem to overcome. Not to mention that you cannot devel-
op such a program the first time and have it be fully tested
and thorough enough to handle all the requirements on a
particular machine. Developments of these types of conversa-
tional programs are evolutions, not revolutions. Be sure that
any vendor you select is up to the task.
DOCUMENTATION
The final part of the rebuild process involves documentation.
If you get a good rebuild done but end up with little or no
supporting documentation, you will have future difficulties
servicing the machine. At a minimum you should receive the
following documentation.
CNC and machine operation manual
CNC programming manual
OEM programming manual (conversational manual)
Electrical schematics
Mechanical drawings for assemblies and parts
Lubrication drawings
Hydraulic system drawings
Coolant system drawings
Software printouts of the PLC and CNC programs
Parameter printouts
CNC system option settings and firmware versions
All the original machine mechanical drawings and
parts books
The CNC or PLC manuals
The servo system manuals
Complete software backup on CD-ROM or diskette
All purchased component manuals and documentation
Although this article contains a variety of interesting topics
on rebuilding a machine, there is simply not enough space to
cover all the details that should go into a quality rebuild.
Keep in mind when considering a rebuild that not all
machinery rebuilders are created equal. Do not look solely at
the price aspect of the rebuild, look very closely at the details,
and ask a lot of questions. Hopefully the information con-
tained here will be beneficial to you when investigating
rebuilt machinery in the future.
For more information, visit the Machine Tool Builders Web
site at [www.machinetoolbuilders.com].
gearsolutionsonline.com JANUARY 2004 GEAR SOLUTIONS 23
About the author:
Kenneth Flowers is president
of Machine Tool Builders:
(815) 636-7502, or
[email protected]
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