Huron Milling Machine

[martwell62]

We have a ku5 huron milling machine and the table has just dropped to the floor
for no reason and we cannot move it.. anyone got any ideas on fixing this problem

[Petro]

When you say dropped to the floor. I am guessing its a gravity fed axis. Usually there is a brake that kicks in when servo power is kicked off. If that was the case then thats your most likely culprit or the electrical circuit that controls it.

[ecky]

Hi
Do you still have the problem with your Huron Ku5 or have you had it repaired?
The vertical axis is a mechanical ball screw and looks like you have lost the ball bearings in the ball screw, I have repaired these many times and can advise if you still have the problem
Chris
When I say mechanical, I mean there is no servo as this is a purely mechanical machine and no electric/mechanical (fail safe brake) FYI Petro :-)

OMG, earth to ecky, earth to ecky, MARTWELL it has just dawned on me that you must be martin from wellfield, I repaired your machine last week, invoice in post soon mate :-)

[martwell62]

Cheers chris thanks for reply and repairing machine so far so good..

[Petro]

Wow, Not to often I hear of the balls blowing out of a ball screw and the head drops. This must be a common thing then with this machine design I assume? Thanks for letting us know what you found and thanks ecky.

[ecky]

My pleasure Martin, Derek was a great help also, think he has ideas of going into the machine tool repair business now, my charger is being picked up in the morning by my mate Dave by the way.

Petro this is a common fault on these machines and highly dangerous as you can imagine, as much as 2 or 3 ton dropping under Newtons law, it usually happens if the mechanical knock offs are loose or fail however with Martins machine the ball nut was excessivly worn and like a moody teenage boy its balls dropped eventually, the only way to eleviate this problem is planned maintenance, take out the ball screw and nut and inspect it every 2-3 years or so, however as with all end users its a case of if it aint broke dont fix it, haveing said that Martins machine is 40 years old so she has held up well