Re: Coolant control.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Jon Elson <elson@p...> wrote:

> The problem with this is it becomes hard to keep coolant (and

chips) out of the

> works, especially the ways and screws. If you let wet swarf

accumulate on the

> table, it pretty soon starts to drip down the sides, and can

contaminate the ways.

> This can cause horrible corrosion, even in factory-built CNC

machines.

> There may be ways to put 'awnings' on the front and back of the

table to prevent

> liquid from dripping down the sides. This would be a big help.

Maybe even extend

> the idea to a 'gutter' with a drain hose back to the sump. This

would keep the

> drips from going down onto the Y ways. Then, a standard way

protector setup

> could pretty much take it from there.
> Jon

Jon, Fitch,
I've found a better photo of my simple tray setup and dropped it in
the file section on this group. URL is:-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO/files/milltray1.jpg
It's taken of a setup on the Horizontal and not the CNC but that
doesn't matter. What does matter is have a look at the photo and see
just what it has saved as regards chips going into the tee slots and
imagine how much coolant where would be dripping off the end of the
vise under flood coolant. On this machine with a 1" wide cutter 1"
deep in one pass you NEED flood coolant to get the heat away.
Another point is that the trays only have one row of holes in, all in
line so they will fit any of the machines as opposed to having a
special enclosure for each machine.
It's a simple job to just drop a plastic hinged shield inside the
tray to form sides to stop coolant flying when using a vertical mill.
I even have one on the Bridgeport Mill/Drill and I don't even use
coolant on this one as it's only nibbling at bits and never works
hard.

John Stevenson