Spindle Cooler -and just chatting a bit...

[AlanR]

A strobe synchronized to the spindle could be useful. That way you could see what's really going on in there.

A strobe wouldn't need to be synchronized to the spindle. Years and years ago we used a strobe tachometer to measure motor speeds in tape recorders and suchlike. You'd vary the strobe rate till the part appeared to stand still and then read off the RPM. The part would appear motionless at any exact multiple of the RPM so you needed to find the lowest or highest rate to get the RPM, it was easy since you knew the approximate rate before you started. If the rate was a little off the part would appear to revolve slowly.

These things can probably still be found - cheap.

Edit: I guess not so cheap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/110986536613

 

[John Hasler]

A strobe wouldn't need to be synchronized to the spindle. Years and years ago we used a strobe tachometer to measure motor speeds in tape recorders and suchlike. You'd vary the strobe rate till the part appeared to stand still and then read off the rate. The part would appear motionless...

...because the strobe was synchronized to it.

 

[AlanR]

...because the strobe was synchronized to it.

Manually

 

[markknx]

Hey that slightly off might be a good way to see chip formation. wonder if any of my halloween strobes might be fash enough. could make a cool video! Mark

 

[Rapscallion]

A strobe light can make a revolving cutter look stationary. Safety ishoes here.:nono:

 

[Marco Bernardini]

Hey that slightly off might be a good way to see chip formation. wonder if any of my halloween strobes might be fash enough. could make a cool video! Mark

I don't know the strobe timing, but a flash usually is fast enough (1/10,000 of second or less) to "freeze" an exploding bulb.
I made this experiment some lives ago, still on Ilford HP4 film. No need of a sound trigger: a couple of bare copper wires behind a bulb, connected with the flash jack, were enough to fire it when the bulb was hit by an U-nail thrown with a rubber band.
Alas, recharging time for flashes is pretty long, even with fresh batteries, and even the time required to store a digital photo is long, if compared with the speed needed for high-speed still frames.
If you have a bit turning at low speed you can be sure a flash will freeze the formation of chips: for the strobes you have to try… But it could be an interesting experiment anyway!