CAVCOMachine Tool Rebuilding
(800) 570-0118
Way grinding · Connecticut · Since 1980

How long does way grinding take?

Sent out, the answer is months, and almost none of that is grinding. The machine comes apart so it can be rigged out, the controller and electrical cabinet come off, it rides a truck twice, and it gets debugged when it comes home. The grinding itself is days.

Cavco grinds ways on your floor

We developed the procedures and the precision machinery to regrind ways in place, hardened or soft, and realign the axes while we are there. The machine stays where it is. Only the guards and the axis we work on come off. Our technicians bring the process to you, and the machine is back to work in about two weeks. Ask us for the number for your machine.

It is a proprietary process we have run for years, delivered by trained technicians, under a non-disclosure agreement with every customer as standard. It holds the same tolerances as grinding at a rebuilder, for less time and less money.

Where the months go
Sent outOn site with Cavco
Mechanical teardown so the machine can be movedRequiredGuards and the one axis only
Electrical teardown from the controller and cabinetRequiredNone
Rigging out, and rigging back inRequiredNone
Trucking, both waysRequiredNone
The grinding and realignmentDaysDays
Debugging after reassemblyExtensiveNone
Typical downtimeMonthsAbout two weeks
Way repair, not a rebuild

If the machine needs a complete rebuild, we do that at our shop. If what it needs is way repair, an on-site realignment with way grinding is the better job and the cheaper one. The alignments come out the same either way. The areas we work on go back to factory specification, and you get the numbers.

Which machines

Bed and saddle ways on lathes, vertical turret lathes, horizontal boring mills, bridge mills, broaching machines, and surface and cylindrical grinders. Ways are ground flat and true to specification and checked with lasers and electronic levels. If it has ways, ask.

Questions we get
How long does way grinding take?
Sent out, months. The machine comes apart so it can be rigged, the controller and electrical cabinet come off, it rides a truck twice, and it gets debugged when it comes back. Cavco grinds the ways in place at your plant. About two weeks of downtime, with only the guards and the axis we work on coming off.
Can way grinding be done on site?
Yes. Cavco developed the procedures and the precision machinery to regrind ways and realign axes in place. The machine stays on your floor. No rigging, no trucking, no reassembly at the other end.
Is on-site way grinding as accurate as sending the machine out?
Yes. The alignments come out the same whether we rebuild the machine at our shop or realign it on site. The areas we work on go back to factory specification, and you get the numbers.
Hardened ways too?
Yes. Hardened or soft. The process was developed for regrinding hardened ways in place.
What machines can be way ground on site?
Bed and saddle ways on lathes, vertical turret lathes, horizontal boring mills, bridge mills, broaching machines, and surface and cylindrical grinders. If it has ways, ask.
Do you sign an NDA?
Yes. The process is proprietary and we work under a non-disclosure agreement with each customer as standard.

The next question is usually how soon

Call, or send the machine make and model and what the ways are doing. We answer the same day.