WM18 mill running hot

Is it normal for the spindle to feel hot after a short period? I have not used the mill much tbh, as I only got the vice and milling cutters recently. This evening was milling a piece of mild steel with a carbide endmill and noticed that the spindle gets quite hot after a while, not that hot that you'll burn yourself but still hot...the work piece is cold to the touch after machining and so is the endmill (or rather a bit warm)

Is there something wrong with it or that's normal?

The spindle is free to rotate when in neutral, and slightly more stiff when in high or low gear, sound ok to me, no grinding or funny noises...

Chris

Yes this is fairly typical. I changed the motor on mine but even the induction motor gets hot while running for a while. The spindle gets hot because of the lubrication/friction in the bearings conducting the heat of the moving parts.

Again, it shouldn't be so hot that it singes your fingers, but a little bit warm/hot isn't anything unusual. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael-w on 21/02/2018 20:25:15

Chris, I have a similar issue with my VMB and asked a question here - you may find that discussion useful.

Thanks for the link John, interesting reading.

It's not that hot that you wont hold it, or you'll burn yourself...just noticeably higher temp. So I'll leave it as it is and monitor the temp just in case it gets worse.

The mill is brand new with barely a couple of hours use, so could be it gets better with use, sort of like a running in, who knows!

Thanks for tour help gents

I have a Warco WM14. The same problem occurs so I have a 6" fan blowing on the motor cover all the time it is in use. I leave it on for 30 minutes or so after use to cool the motor even more. Haven't had a problem since I started doing this, hope I'm not tempting fate!