Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get 2,000+ tool plans, full site access, and more.

User Tag List

Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Can Measuring your Spindle's Electrical Resistance Indicate the Lubrication Level?

  1. #1
    Supporting Member rgsparber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
    1,278
    Thanks
    733
    Thanked 2,763 Times in 650 Posts

    rgsparber's Tools

    Can Measuring your Spindle's Electrical Resistance Indicate the Lubrication Level?

    The short answer: I don't know.

    However, I just completed a survey that implies that you can characterize your machine and know when your bearings are dry using an ohmmeter.

    If you are interested, please, click here


    Your comments are welcome. All of us are smarter than any one of us.


    Thanks,

    Rick

    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook
    Rick

  2. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to rgsparber For This Useful Post:

    drivermark (Jun 12, 2022), Frank S (Jun 5, 2022), Inner (Jun 6, 2022), Jon (Jun 12, 2022), nova_robotics (Jun 6, 2022)

  3. #2
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    2,120
    Thanks
    9,978
    Thanked 1,133 Times in 609 Posts

    nova_robotics's Tools
    That's some good work there Rick. One tiny note, I done goofed on the data I gave you. I gave two values for resistance, for example 0.09 and 1.2, were for stationary and rotated respectively. The low value was for a stationary spindle, the high value was for the rotated spindle. I just got it in my head that rotated would always produce a lubricant film and be higher resistance, but I forgot to actually write that. Sorry about that.

    2000 Tool Plans

  4. #3
    Supporting Member rgsparber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
    1,278
    Thanks
    733
    Thanked 2,763 Times in 650 Posts

    rgsparber's Tools
    Quote Originally Posted by nova_robotics View Post
    That's some good work there Rick. One tiny note, I done goofed on the data I gave you. I gave two values for resistance, for example 0.09 and 1.2, were for stationary and rotated respectively. The low value was for a stationary spindle, the high value was for the rotated spindle. I just got it in my head that rotated would always produce a lubricant film and be higher resistance, but I forgot to actually write that. Sorry about that.
    Thanks for the correction. I see other entries where I misinterpreted the same way. All corrected now.

    I am reminded of a comment made by one of the designers of Auxiliary Power Units that are used in jets. He said they use magnetic bearings so when running at the full 50,000 RPMs, the spindle does not touch the housing. However, when stopped, the spindle rests on the housing. I asked how you get from stopped to full speed without tearing things up. He just smiled and said that is where the magic occurs.
    Rick

  5. #4
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    2,120
    Thanks
    9,978
    Thanked 1,133 Times in 609 Posts

    nova_robotics's Tools
    Quote Originally Posted by rgsparber View Post
    I am reminded of a comment made by one of the designers of Auxiliary Power Units that are used in jets. He said they use magnetic bearings so when running at the full 50,000 RPMs, the spindle does not touch the housing. However, when stopped, the spindle rests on the housing. I asked how you get from stopped to full speed without tearing things up. He just smiled and said that is where the magic occurs.
    Hard drives have all switched to air bearings. The spindle floats on an air bearing, and the heads float above the surface of the magnetic disc because the boundary layer effect causes the heads to "fly" just off the surface, which is also essentially an air bearing. What happens when the hard drive is spinning up or spinning down? More magic I guess.

  6. #5
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    79
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts
    As far as the read/write heads go, each platter has a ‘landing zone’ where no data is stored. Often, the zone is coated with a low-friction material to protect the head.

  7. #6
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    2,120
    Thanks
    9,978
    Thanked 1,133 Times in 609 Posts

    nova_robotics's Tools
    Quote Originally Posted by bob47907 View Post
    As far as the read/write heads go, each platter has a ‘landing zone’ where no data is stored. Often, the zone is coated with a low-friction material to protect the head.
    Yup. But what about the spindle bearing?



    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •