The error motion of a machine tool spindle directly affects the surface errors of machined parts. Those are usually due to the imperfectness of bearings, stiffness of spindle, assembly errors, external force or unbalance of rotors. The error motions of the spindle have been needed to be decreased to desired goal of spindle"s performance. The level of error motion is needed to be estimated during the design and assembly process of the spindle. In this paper, the estimation method for the five degree of freedom (5 D.O.F) error motions for rotary units such as a spindle and rotary table are suggested. To estimate the error motions of the rotary unit, waviness of bearings and external force model were used as input data. The estimation model considers geometric relationship and force equilibrium of the five degree of the freedom motions.
