Do I Need A Coolant System?

Firebrick, I have zero CNC experience and am just building my first machine. I found your post most interesting as you speak from lessons learned in very large scale, heavy industrial manufacturing. I love the idea of not having to worry about dealing with the added expense, let alone the mess, hassle, cleaning, maintenance as well as the other associated problems you mention about coolant.

For those reasons, I keep thinking about your and a few others advice of simply not bothering with it. However, that advice runs contrary to the majority of sage and greatly respected recommendations that coolant is an absolute necessity, if for nothing more than chip evacuation.

While the very large equipment is in some ways similar, it is very different from comparatively minuscule home machines in speed, power and cutting tools used. Please understand that I'm asking from a total beginner's perspective, just trying to learn before I start, and with great respect. I'm trying to understand the divergent advice on if coolant is necessary. Do you think your advice to not bother is applicable to teeny-weeny little machines like that LMS 3990?

Whenever I see big machine manufacturing with giant powerful machinery, it always give me sort of a special tingle deep inside. :) It's so freak'n cool! And, if for no other obvious reasons, the achievement it represents.

I'm guessing your suggestion is derived from experience gained in large scale, really impressive and amazing manufacturing environments something like this:

 
Firebrick43 said:
An air wedge or accelerator nozzle would be nice to keep chips from building up in pockets and such.

48008 or 48002 nozzles from airtx use specially designed tips that use Venturi to draw surrounding air into the tip giving more power with much less air usage and much quieter. Make sure your put a regulator inline to adjust flow to just blow out around the tool and not send them intooblivion
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I have a vortex cooler that I use when machining soft plastics. It is capable of air temperatures as low as 40 degrees F. They are definitely air hogs but they can save the day when needed. Exxair (brand/Co.) makes venturi-based devices for blow-off uses including air knives and nozzles.
 
Grepper,

Having varied interest such as draft horses, farming, and woodworking I have seen so many practices preached or practiced as necessary buy the non professional crowd. I have come to the conclusion most of this is driven by two things.

1. People look to professionals and take they ways that they are doing them as gospel. Remember 1 thing drives the practices of professionals. Profit. Many times profit means time or as little as possible to make a given product. Technologies such as coolant, chip conveyors/systems, carbide tooling, and cnc are not the cheapest to purchase and run, but the labor savings is so great they save money and or get more product out the door in the end. Hss tooling is very well suited for fine careful work and takes much less hp/machine rigidity to do the same job as carbide. But the proliferation of carbide inserts in the shop is very much a product of amateurs looking at and emulating professionals even if many times it's not really the best choice for their situation. (I am not saying hobbiest should not use carbide, I am saying many don't really understand when and where they should or should not)

2. Diy magazines and Internet forums have advertisers. That is really how the make money. Advertisers want you to buy their products and wares. The editors are not going to tell you that the products they advertise are frivolous or tell you better/cheaper solutions. Also they don't give negative reviews typically unless you closely read between the line.
.

For example in woodworking I have seen several people want to cut dovetails. Most of the wood bucher mags show jigs and routers to do this. Some are cheap but results are terrible. Others work well but are very salty. All the jigs require fiddly adjusments, perfectly cut/planed stock and several test cuts. If you making a dozen plus drawers (same drawer/dimensions)it makes sense. What hobbyist does that??? A 100$ worth of tools (hand saw, gage, pencil, chisel, and a small file I can cut two drawers with no gaps in the joint before my neighbor gets his jig set up. And he still can't get the pleasing gap free joint or do odd spacing or very narrow tails possible by hand.

Some of the hobbiest never step back and learn, but common think that a new, more expensive tool hocked in the latest rag is going to solve their woes of make a job possible.

I learned this lesson very young. At 12 my father found me a grizzled old mentor. A retired machinist, named Jack, regaled me of an earlier time when he was an apprentice. The man could do more with a file than many could with an entire machine shop. Not that he always did but filling a flat on a shaft was quicker than setting it up in a mill.

Next big lesson came at 18. Grandfather got me interested in shooting. Father really did care for it so when I came of age I was going to buy myself a pistol. I poured over the gun rags and all the rage at the time was glocks. The 17c had just came out and was compensated. I plunked down my hard earned money and couldn't wait. Well it was terribly loud, jammed, and flames in low light blinded you. It went down the road. I learned to not look at the current fad or listen to gun counter cowboys but watch for the quiet guys that shoot well with even ratty old guns and ask for advise. It surprises people at a range when someone shows up with a revolver or lever action and can put rounds on target as or more accurately and as fast to boot as a good semi auto pistol or AR.




uncle harry said:
Exxair (brand/Co.) makes venturi-based devices for blow-off uses including air knives and nozzles.
Click to expand...

We use the exxair blowoff guns at work and they are great. I didn't realize they sold seperate nozzles as well, the only reason I recommend airtx.
 
First, I really appreciate all the input here.

I'm not totally inexperienced with tools and machinery. I've rebuilt engines, transmissions, that sort of thing, so at least I'm not groping around in a clueless stupor, but I am a noob when it comes to mill operation. Better late than never, eh? The Internet is full of people who, for whatever reason, feel it necessary to spew advice even when they have no real idea what they are talking about. I only pay attention to information derived from expertise and experience; the rest is, to me, mostly just babble with only a sparse smattering of pearls of wisdom.

I recently retired, so now I have a little time to play. Time I don't want to waste making stupid, uninformed decisions. Been there, done that. :rolleyes: I've found the best way is through research, and seeking the advice of "grizzled old mentors" :) who actually have experience and expertise who are willing to lend a hand. It's something I hold in great respect and am deeply appreciative of. Grizzled is good. So, thank you!
 
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Uncle Harry- The Airtx vortex tube stuff looks very interesting! I guess the minimum compressor required is 10 cfm, and I only have a puny little compressor. That would add at least another $500+ to my little hobby project. Nonetheless...

This is a money pit and it won't ever end..., will it? :eek:
 
Hey, sorry to bump an older thread, but can someone link or provide information for the DIY microdrop coolant systems? some googling hasn't seemed to bear fruit.
 
Thanks!

Myself, I was thinking "why don't I just use an airbrush?", lo and behold, the second system is basically a big airbrush with an external paint feed :)
 
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