Thread: Mill coolant tray

To get the angle to go around the corner I had to cut the aluminum every 15mm and it went around fine, this was all sealed with the black goo like the rest.



The cap behind the knee screw is just a tight push on fit and has a rubber seal around the screw tube and also at the back where it sits against the column. I was going to fit a vertical piece there as well, but think it will be fine and will see how it goes.

With the drain covers I was going to look for some material online, but just ended up drilling them myself after griding them up at 15mm spacings.
I still need to make a little knob at the front of each one to get them out easy for cleaning.



Just some other random pictures







Dave

Edit,
After reading Rays reply below it reminded me that I need to add some detailed pictures and some more details to the post.

The hinge I used is 1/2 aluminium tube with a press fit solid aluminium rod inside which was drilled out to 6mm to suit the 6mm bolt.






These stops where a pain to make as they where rebated and the back ones needed to be longer and also have the corect angle because of the tray being different at the back.







Dave

MAN! now thats what I call a coolant tray!

Good to see Dave J engineering is back into full scale production , after a time of turmoil and distraction!

I remember you mentioning a couple of years ago you were going to make a coolant tray out of aluminium so that you could easily use a swarf wand to collect the swarf. I thought that was a top idea!

Looks great Dave.

Simon

Hi Dave,

Impressive work, well thought out, with great attention to detail, and clean neat execution.

I've never used flood coolant on the HM52, but seeing your coolant tray I'm tempted, especially when the CNC conversion gets back on track.

I'd be interested to see what you have planned for the new tank and pump arrangement.

Regards
Ray

Nice work Dave.

Bob.

Hi Dave,
Very nice No more puddles on the floor with that one.

Will you be putting an extension on the front of the table to catch the runoff from the vice too? I found that was always the worse with the HM50. The verniers design is a bit better and most of it seems to end up back in the tank.

Have you filled the system yet? I would really recommend going to full synthetic, it doesn't go off or gum up the system like soluble oil does.

Cheers,
Ewan

Have to agree with Ewan re the coolant. I could only get the semi synthetic cutting fluid from a H&F agent around here; or soluable oil. I found that the sol oil kept going off; also caused a skin allergy and stripped machine paint and powder coating.
The semi synthetic has lasted well and much kinder to the machine and myself.

Ken

Thanks for that Simon,
Yeah I am back in the saddle so to speak, and it's good to be back in the shed.

I have another project on the bench which is a taper attachment for the lathe. I just paint stripped it and expected to see rough cast under the putty and need machining, much to my surprise it was nicely machine with no putty only paint there.

I was glad I didn't need to pull the saddle of because I have a big enough job with making a new telescopic screw along with re mounting the light, coolant nozzle and DRO scale reader head mount as none will fit back on in there original place.

Dave

Hi Dave,
Gotta say it again, "great to have you back". The boss has just finished a full set of drawings for the taper turning attachment on the little Bantam at work that he is happy to make available to Forum members. He flies out to Cairns for 3 weeks but can be sorted when he gets back if you are interested. He has done them for Peter (PDW) in return for very generous gifts ( I haven't forgotten you Peter).
Oh Yeah, great work on the coolant tray...as usual. You could probably machine the Queen Mary and not lose a drop

Phil

Hi Ray,
Thank you for the compliments, I added a few more detailed pictures to the post as you reminded me I left out a few.

The little end stops for the wings to sit at 90 degrees where a pain to make and to tell you the truth I was glad it was finished. Every time I thought I was close I would remember something else and then I ran out of pop rivets and had to wait for them to turn up.

I am not sure how tall you or Josh are but I find the 150mm square tube risers and the feet under it make it a perfect hight when I am standing on the 50mm plastic dangerous goods pallets my mate picked up for me, they are really great for hiding swarf so your not walking in it.

Since the mill has an easy 150mm plus tank it will be that high which matches the pump just nicely and will come out to where my raising blocks are either side.It will also have castor's on it but they will be stepped up so I only lift it up around 10mm off the floor.

It will have the return on one side and the pump on the other with a small wall about 30-50mm high in the middle to stop swarf getting to the pump. I will also have fly screen on the return like my bandsaw to collect plastic and aluminum shavings. The return line from the left will go just nicely through where the fork lift slot is in the base which will give it a nice run to the other side.



Dave

Thank Bob and Phil,
Since you replies are pretty much the same I will address you both together.

I made the coolant tray up so when the 1 meter table is either way it is cover plus a bit. The table hand wheels just sit inside the tray when at full travel either way which will allow me to cover the extra bit of travel I am yet to get out of it with some mods.
When I am using coolant I find it always wants to run along the table edges, so this has it covered.

I am going to make splash backs off the column and also around the table in preparation for CNCing it.

Dave

Hi Ewan, thanks and yes no more puddles on the floor.

I just ducked up the shed for more photos for you.

Yep that is a problem with the vise but I have it covered and designed into it.

As you can see from the picture below, with the 280-290mm extension I still have 55mm to the tray edge at the front which is plenty because you are only ever briefly machining out there and the coolant usually runs around the vise channel anyway with it's design like a Kurt vise..
I could have come out further but didn't want to crack my shin on it.





As for coolant I emptied out the mill when I moved it and have full synthetic coolant to go back in, the stuff in it was rank. This also made me make the new coolant tray as cleaning the base was a huge job and I coolant was not going back in after that.
I should have really washed it out on the way in as I could have just used the hose.

Dave

Originally Posted by Toggy

Have to agree with Ewan re the coolant. I could only get the semi synthetic cutting fluid from a H&F agent around here; or soluable oil. I found that the sol oil kept going off; also caused a skin allergy and stripped machine paint and powder coating.
The semi synthetic has lasted well and much kinder to the machine and myself.

Ken

Thanks Ken,
It's funny you mention that, a few months back I cleaned the H&F old coolant out of the mill and the next week or two I started getting these little sores on my hands and a few on my knees. I went to the doctors and got some antibiotics which cleared it up in no time.
I put it down the the old coolant as it sat for 6 months untouched in the mill and it pretty well had pizza's floating on top, and as usual I didn't wear gloves.

Dave

Hi Dave,
Nicely done.
Do you have a real folder in your collection?
Is that ball valve in the mills tank factory?

Stuart

Hi Stuart, thanks.
It's the folder I have spoken about that I picked up for $10 at a garage sale as they never knew what it was or did. I will snap a few photos tomorrow for you, but it does a good job, though you do get a bit or rounding in the bend in the center. A bit of bracing would fix it, but it's one of those jobs I will get around to.

Yes thats a ball valve that needs to come out now. I drilled the base out and taped it for pipe threads at an angle so it made it easier to drain because the little tiny factory hole was useless being around 10mm and only a bung. If a bit of swarf got stuck or anything like it you would then need to put your hand in to unblock it, so your hands where in the crap you where getting rid of.

Dave