Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Coolant Question (was Re: Swarf Removal)

Having worked in the design industry for many years and actually designed
fixturing to address this problem I can mention a few points that might
help:

The machine should be designed IN ADVANCE for chip removal. Most mills and
lathes aren't....especially those for hobbyists.

If you use fixtures for work holding, they should be designed to allow most
of the chips to fall away from the work.

Flood coolant will help remove chips but there isn't any method that will
remove ALL of them (not even vacuumn) so periodic cleaning will be required
on any machine. A splash guard shouold be used with flood coolant. This is
somethihg that would need to be built to suit YOUR application. Just keep
in mind the guard(s) will have to allow adequate room for part, tool and
machine clearance over the entire range of machine motion. These would most
likely be mounted around the table rather than the tooling.

A coolant trough around the fixture or around the base of the machine is a
big aid for directing coolant runoff into the tank. Coolant runoff should
flow to a point above an easily removed (for cleaning) screen inside the
coolant reservoir. The reservoir should be partitioned to allow chips to
settle out before they reach the coolant pump.

Incidently, if your machine is producing long "stringy" chips, you will have
a chip build up problem no matter what type of chip removal system you have.

>Jeff brought up a good point, but I'd like to see some discussion in
>general about the use of coolants.
>
>I'm approaching the hump of my mill/drill CNC conversion and I have
>just started thinking about cooling and chip/swarf removal. How have
>you folks dealt with this issue? Assuming you're going with a flood
>system, it seems like you'd need:
>* A splash guard around the table (attached to the head or the table?)
>* Obviously a pump, nozzle, and reservoir
>* Some way to collect the swarf/coolant mix - a hole drilled in the
>bottom of the table? Just let it run over the edges? This is the one
>that stumps me
>
>I've also seen the mist coolant systems, which seem like they'd be
>less messy, but you still have to get the chips out of the way of the
>cutter.
>
>How do YOU do it?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jeff Swayze
>