¶ Intro
It is very important to understand that the ISO40 mechanical spindle on the KT machine uses conical spring washer (AKA: Belleville washer, coned-disc spring, disc spring, Belleville spring or cupped spring washer) to retain the tools, and uses a pneumatic cylinder to push the tool out, the pneumatic has no effect on tool retention, if you are dropping tools you should check the gripper and NOT the air!
The retention system in the spindle grabs and holds the tools, it is composed of a gripper installed on a drawbar pulled by conical spring washers, the gripper grabs on the pull stud installed on top of the ISO40 cone with a 3mm washer washer in between.
The pneumatic cylinder pushes the retention system down, this compresses the conical spring washers and opens up the gripper, and pushes out the tool by pushing down on the the pull stud.
¶ Not grabbing tools
| Problem | If | Possible cause | Because | Solutions | Resources |
| spindle does not pick up tools properly or it's dropping them while cutting. | found curved metal piece on table, or inspected missing petal from spindle gripper 4 petals | Broken gripper | Strong vibrations and corrosion of petals not properly maintained | replace spindle gripper clamp, and maintain new clamp by spraying anti-rust protective oil inside spindle | replace gripper |
| no damage on the gripper petals | worn out conical spring washers | old spindle conical spring washers wear out |
replace conical spring washers, follow instructions to replace spindle and install new conical spring washers
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replace spindle | |
| improperly assembled conical spring washers | reassembled or refurbished spindle not assembled properly | reassemble spindle properly with washers oriented 3 by 3 and one spacer | |||
| loosened nut that closes the spring washers | Not tight or missing locking screws on top of spindle | reassemble spindle properly with locking screws |
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| Spinning spindle while the pneumatic cylinder was down | Loosen up the locking screws and reassemble spindle properly and tight the locking screws |
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¶ Not releasing tools
| Problem | If | Possible cause | Because | Solutions | Resources |
| spindle does not push out tools properly | Only one of the ISO 40 cones is not popping out properly | ISO 40 cone stuck after cutting | Strong vibrations due to low quality wobbly diamond tool | Replace diamond tool | |
| Not enough air pressure to release tool | check air pressure is always stable above 7kg/cm² | ||||
| Strong vibrations and corrosion of cone not properly maintained | Replace ISO 40 cone, spray daily protective oil products on ISO cones | ||||
| missing 3mm washer | recently mounted ISO 40 cone not assembled properly | Install 3mm washer | PIC? | ||
| All the ISO 40 cones are not popping out properly | round stopping nut on top of pneumatic cylinder not regulated properly | locking screw on round stopping nut loosened up, recently replaced spindle not exactly same height, requires adjustment | Loosen up the locking screw on the round stopping nut on top of cylinder, the more you loosen the nut, the more the pneumatic cylinder will push down on the drawbar, the more the tool will be pushed out of the spindle, adjust the nut so that the tools are pushed out of the spindle for about 1~2mm, keep forcing an ISO 40 cone upward inside the spindle, at the same time hold the clamp button to push the tool out, and check if the tool it's been pushed out the correct distance, then release the clamp button and do adjustments on the round nut until the release distance looks proper, lock the nut in position with the locking screw |
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| Damage inside spindle | Dropped a cone while cutting |
refurbish or replace spindle
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replace spindle | ||
| Spindle not properly assembled | Recently assembled spindle not assembled properly | reassemble spindle properly | Spindle Assembly | ||
| Missing water seal casing | forgot to install seal casing when loading spindle inside machine | reassemble spindle with water seal casing on top of the spindle | replace spindle | ||
| Low air pressure | Air leaks |
Check for leaks around the machine and near the cylinder, fix leaks. Remove one of the 2 bottom pipes on the pneumatic cylinder, and hold clamp button, if air leaks from the other hole, replace O-ring seals of the pneumatic cylinder |
Pneumatic cylinder assembly | ||
| not properly sized compressor or air tank | KT machines do not use a lot of air, but need always a minimum of 7kg/cm² pressure to be able to release tools properly, if compressor is also hooked up to other tools or machines that use a lot of air, install a separate compressor only for the machine, or a properly sized compressor that can keep up with the minimum requirements of 7kg/cm² |