Drip, drip, drip

[Chris152]

I guess most of you have thought of this, but we just realised yesterday after parting a 2" round bar - constantly applying cutting fluid is a pain and wasteful. So the lad did this this morning:





Gravity fed and easy to control the drip rate. We had the pipe already so cost nothing. (We thought about getting the suds pump going but it seems there are issues with health hazards unless you monitor the fluid carefully.)

 

[Spectric]

Cutting fluid is also a coolant so having a flow is better than drips to stop overheating cutting tools.

 

[Sideways]

It's a real catch 22.
Using soluble oil / water mix coolant is such a mess in a diy setting. It tends to spray, cleanup is a pain and if you don't and leave it, it does stain your machine in places like underneath the vice on a milling machine.
Not ideal but I'll stick to oil and indexable tools that are more immune to high temperatures.
The gravity feeder is a good idea.
Compressed air is supposed to be helpful cutting aluminium but that's going to blow chops everywhere with a non enclosed machine.

 

[Chris152]

Thanks both. Yes, a slow drip with carbide insert tools is the best we can do, I think.

Version 2 - the Molyslip spout wasn't a good shape to connect to and had a slow leak at the join, so we replaced it with a tin can and a jam jar lid, and a spare connector from the air compressor.



Much better, and no slow leak over night. Parting is much quicker and easier when you're not constantly picking up the fluid to add more, we're getting lovely cuts compared to before.

ps Nothing like a photo to remind you it's time to tidy up the little wires hanging around the place

 

[Bingy man]

Regards your wiring-20 mm plastic conduit is cheap and easy to fit and greatly reduces the risk of damage or worse a 240 volt contact..

 

[Chris152]

Regards your wiring-20 mm plastic conduit is cheap and easy to fit and greatly reduces the risk of damage or worse a 240 volt contact..

The main power lines are securely attached and quite neat, it's just the wires to the tachometer and extension from the VFD to the control that are draped about the place. But they definitely need better treatment than they're getting at the moment - I'll look into conduit, as you suggest - certainly looks tidier and safer.

 

[Bingy man]

The main power lines are securely attached and quite neat, it's just the wires to the tachometer and extension from the VFD to the control that are draped about the place. But they definitely need better treatment than they're getting at the moment - I'll look into conduit, as you suggest - certainly looks tidier and safer.

I see your point on the mains cables , yes the conduit is cheap , quick to install and the access elbows help you to feed cables from a to b . Available in black or white .

 

[Fergie 307]

I have used a similar set up for years. In my case using a medical drip tube courtesy of a nursing friend, they have an adjustable plastic clip to regulate the flow. I think you can buy them on e bay etc.

 

[Fergie 307]

It's a real catch 22.
Using soluble oil / water mix coolant is such a mess in a diy setting. It tends to spray, cleanup is a pain and if you don't and leave it, it does stain your machine in places like underneath the vice on a milling machine.
Not ideal but I'll stick to oil and indexable tools that are more immune to high temperatures.
The gravity feeder is a good idea.
Compressed air is supposed to be helpful cutting aluminium but that's going to blow chops everywhere with a non enclosed machine.

Have always found paraffin to be best for cutting aluminium.
I think it's probably fair to say that in most DIY work the important thing is to stop the aluminium sticking to the cutting edge of the tool, rather than cooling it. Paraffin does this really well, and a regular drip is quite sufficient.
If you are working to very tight tolerances then you can use full flood cooling if you have it, very messy on an open machine. Alternatively accept that the part will get hot so machine it a fraction oversize, then have a nice cup of tea while it cools back to normal temperature, then finish it to the final size.
Of course allowing for the effect of heat on the final size applies equally to any metal, finishing should always be done cold if it needs to be really accurate.