Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Coolant control.

Hi Fitch:
Am I correct in assuming that your mill is a kneemill?
(I'm not too familiar with Lagun mills)
Recognize first of all, that without a full enclosure you will always have a
problem with coolant containment and chip containment.
I would not piddle around with localized containment, I would build a
monster containment box around the whole front of the mill with only the
electronics and electrics poking out. ( and the knee elevation crank if you
have Z only on the quill)
Aluminum sheet and angle is cheap, and the labour to build a big box is not
much more than the labour to build a small box.
Have a good look at some of the machining centers: the tin box around them
is really a simple affair.
Only the size is intimidating on one of these!

Cheers

Marcus
-----Original Message-----
From: Fitch R. Williams <frwillia@...>
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2001 7:43 AM
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Coolant control.

>Hi folks,
>
>I'm new to this list, but not to some of the people who post here.
>For those I've not met yet I have (for a month or so now) a 1984
>vintage LAGUN FTV-2 mill with 2-1/2D Anilam Crusader II control. The
>mill has a Hitachi SJ100 VFD for the motor that is not connected to
>the controller. I bought the mill from Peter Nolan - it came with
>COMEDITCNC, about 10 end mill holders, a nice lesson on making it go.
>I bought BobCAD for drawing and tool path generation. Its operational
>- made some parts. Its my first ever exposure to hands on CNC.
>
>OK. The Problem De jure - containing the flood coolant. I'm working
>on containing the flood coolant on my mill. Its harder than it was on
>the manual mill because once the thing starts cutting, it just keeps
>going and it can build up chips really fast! I need to squirt a lot
>of oil at it to keep them clear and preserve the surface finish. I
>have a back splash shield already on the table - it helps a lot.
>
>I have decided to buy some good window screen and make a swarf screen
>to sit in the vise to keep it from filling up with chips on those
>occasions where I will be making more than one or two parts. I may
>make similar screens to sit on the table on each side of the vise
>(brass screen soldered to braising rod frame perhaps?) so cleaning up
>the chips is a matter of picking up the screen and dumping it.
>
>First question: Has any body tried using screen this way?
>
>With regard to coolant control there are two current problems:
>
>1) The coolant channels on the vise are laughably small compared to
>the coolant flow required for adequate chip clearing. On the manual
>mill I built up the edges of the coolant channel to give it more
>capacity, but this is really not a good long term solution.
>
>2) Splashing off the front of the table, or slinging off the front of
>the table if using a carbide cutter at high rpm.
>
>I have two reasonably sizable pieces of plexiglass (?? Its clear
>plastic stuff - I can cut it with the band saw if I'm careful) (12" by
>30" or so, some sheet metal (furnace duct gage) and sheet metal tools
>that will work furnace duct gages of sheet metal, and a couple of
>magnetic bases from old imported indicator stands to work with. So
>I'm shopping for ideas before I cut up the metal or the plexiglass.
>
>I gather this is an ascii list - no pictures allowed? Is it allowed
>to use the RCM drop box for pictures related to this list?
>
>Fitch
>In So. Cal.
>
>The FAQ for RCM is: http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal
>Metal Web News at http://www.metalwebnews.com
>The "Drop Box" is at http://www.metalworking.com/
>
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