- Joined
- Mar 31, 2014
- Messages
- 607
I just thought I'd post this idea, I did this a year ago and it's worked out well for me.
Because my shop is in my basement I try to keep my air compressor use to a minimum, we have 2 cats that double in size when the compressor kicks on and my wife isn't very fond of it ether, also I'm not a big fan of using air around my machines.
Instead of using air to clean things off on my CNC I always use the coolant but readjusting the coolant nozzles position and flow constantly is a pain, I added a second valve and a length of tubing, I just let the tubing lay in my chip tray when not in use, it's great for cleaning chips off when removing a part without them spaying all over the place from the air blast, it also works well when doing a slot and the coolant is keeping the chips away from the tool but the slot builds up with chips behind the cutter, I find it very handy also for cleaning the T slots out, my pump supplies enough flow that when the second line is in use there is little to no effect on the flow to the coolant nozzle directed at the cutter.
)
It works great for cleaning the vise when swapping out parts, I keep a variety of spring around to hold my parallels in place so chip don't get an opportunity to get under and behind them, when using the extra coolant line to clean the vise the chips get washed away but the springs hold the parallels in place.)
It's just an option rather than using air around the machine, the chips don't get blown all over the place they get washed to the chip tray where they belong and those times when you need a little more coolant here and there it's available.)
Don
Because my shop is in my basement I try to keep my air compressor use to a minimum, we have 2 cats that double in size when the compressor kicks on and my wife isn't very fond of it ether, also I'm not a big fan of using air around my machines.
Instead of using air to clean things off on my CNC I always use the coolant but readjusting the coolant nozzles position and flow constantly is a pain, I added a second valve and a length of tubing, I just let the tubing lay in my chip tray when not in use, it's great for cleaning chips off when removing a part without them spaying all over the place from the air blast, it also works well when doing a slot and the coolant is keeping the chips away from the tool but the slot builds up with chips behind the cutter, I find it very handy also for cleaning the T slots out, my pump supplies enough flow that when the second line is in use there is little to no effect on the flow to the coolant nozzle directed at the cutter.
)It works great for cleaning the vise when swapping out parts, I keep a variety of spring around to hold my parallels in place so chip don't get an opportunity to get under and behind them, when using the extra coolant line to clean the vise the chips get washed away but the springs hold the parallels in place.
)It's just an option rather than using air around the machine, the chips don't get blown all over the place they get washed to the chip tray where they belong and those times when you need a little more coolant here and there it's available.
)Don
