MACHINE TOOL WITH SPINDLE DAMPER

摘要

A rotatable spindle is carried in bearings (17) located in one end of a bore in a spindle support (20), the other end of the support being fixed to a housing of the machine so as to cantilever the support. A damping chamber (32) is formed lengthwise of the support between the machine housing and the support, and a damping medium is provided in the damping chamber to reduce vibrations of the cantilever assembly. In one embodiment, a viscous damping fluid is utilised to effect squeeze film damping, and in an alternative embodiment a visco-elastic damping medium is utilised.