Torus Pro Coolant System And Enclosure Upgrades

This is a place-holder for a new thread about coolant systems upgrades I'm doing on my Torus Pro.
I am starting by doing quick and dirty upgrades to the system, but intend, within the year, to end up with a complete, multi-nozzle programmable coolant system that compensates coolant nozzle position automatically for tool length and depth of cut, and even provides several user-selectable oscillation patterns for the nozzles.

For the enclosure, I've started with shower curtains, but will shortly build a Plexiglas full-enclosure, with dual bi-fold doors to give complete enclosure, but retain excellent access.

Regards,
Ray L.

Maaan what a bummer. Hate it when that happens. You are doing some ultra cool stuff with the mill. The auto nozzle height adjustment is a great idea. It would great to complete a run without adjusting the freakin' nozzle every time I do a tool change.

OK, here is attempt #2.....

First upgrade was ditching the entire stock coolant pump, reservoir, hose and nozzle. The only part I've kept, for now, is the pipe attached to the side of the head that holds the nozzle.

I replaced the reservoir with an $8 14 gal. Rubbermaid storage container from Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cata...gry=Search+All

I replaced the pump with a $30 1200GPH sump pump from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/14-hors...tch-68486.html

For ease of access, these just sit on the floor, under the machine (shown here only half-full):

Attachment 180729

I replaced the stock looooooong LocLine hose with a 3/8" one of better quality, with a 1/4" nozzle. I used a couple of pipe nipples to extend the hard line down almost to the bottom of the head, so the LocLine can be very short. This prevents the LocLine from moving due to machine vibration:

Attachment 180730

This setup gives FAR more coolant flow and pressure. Enough, in fact, to spray a solid, coherent stream to the farthest end of the chip tray, and then some. It does a good job of clearing even big, heavy chips:

Attachment 180731

The bad news is, this setup completely over-whelmed the coolant return system, so that after just a few minutes, the chip tray was full of coolant to the point of over-flowing and spilling over the sides, and the pump was running low on coolant. The biggest problem is the "grate" over the drain "sump" - it quickly becomes clogged with chips, and the coolant flow slows to a trickle. So, I removed the grate, and tossed it. I cut a piece of blue plastic furnace filter to fit in the bottom of the sump, to act as a filter. Even though the sump can fill with chips, flow rate back to the coolant reservoir remains adequate to keep the pump fed, if only barely.

I've also had trouble with significant amounts of coolant escaping the tray, as there are significant gaps between the bottom tray, the side trays, and the front and back "walls" that the coolant can "splash" through. The trays and walls do a great job of containing chips, but they're not so good at containing coolant. So, today I un-bolted the side trays and walls from the bottom tray, and spaced it up a couple of inches with wood blocks. I had some automotive weather strip I bought years ago from J. C. Whitney, and I applied it to the lip around the edge of the bottom tray, then re-installed the side trays and walls. This has created an almost perfect seal. I still have a few small leaks, at the ends of the angle brackets that fasten the side trays to the front and rear walls. At some point I will take it all apart, and seam-seal those areas, to provide a smoother transition.

Next steps:

1) Adding second LocLine and nozzle
2) Adding "wash-down" hose to clean machine and trays
3) Enlarging drain to 3-4", and adding second drain on left side of machine.
4) Adding chip separator to drain system, so chips collect in a second Rubbermaid container, and coolant drains off and returns to the pump reservoir.

Regards,
Ray L.

Picked up some bits for the next step today. Went to the hardware store, and bought a ABS drain pipe flange, for 3" pipe:

Attachment 181028

This will get mounted to the underside of the chip tray in place of the stock coolant drain reservoir, and will allow chips and coolant to be dumped directly back into the 14 gallon reservoir. This will certainly cure the drainage problems. To prevent the chips from getting sucked back into the pump. I bought a small plastic bucket the pump fits into. I will drill a bunch of probably 1" holes about an inch or two up from the bottom of the bucket, to let coolant get back in. To keep chips out, I bought a plastic mesh furnace filter (the kind that looks kinda like the Jolly Green Giants Scotch-Brite), that will be attached to the inside of the bucket, covering all the holes. This should allow coolant to flow freely but completely block chips.

Also got the 3/8" Tee fitting I needed to attach my second LocLine nozzle, so I will now have more than plenty of coolant flow, and, hopefully, no more problems with inadequate return flow, or coolant dripping over the edges of the bottom tray.

I'll be out of town until Monday night, so it'll be next week before I can get this all installed.

Regards,
Ray L.

OK, I lied. Turned out, I did have some "play time", so I got the new drain in place. It was really easy - unbolt the old drain reservoir, use that to transfer-drill holes in the new flange, bolt up the new flange. I was even able to use the old rubber gasket! I use 16" of 3" ABS pipe to get down to the reservoir. I drilled two rows of 1" holes, 2" apart, all around the perimeter of the bucket - first row 2" from the bottom, second row 3-1/2" from the bottom. I cut the filter element to 9" x 27", and just jammed it in the bucket, and forced it against the outside. It's stiff enough that it stays in place quite securely. Then I just dropped the pump inside. I failed to account for the large outlet fitting on the pump, making this bucket a bit too small - the pump is pretty much a "press fit" into the bucket. I'll get a larger one next time I go into town.

But, it all works a treat! Even with two 3/8" hoses with 1/4" nozzles, there is still plenty of flow and pressure, and the return path is vastly improved. Before, with only a single nozzle, it took just a few minutes running to get the coolant level in the reservoir down to just an inch or two, and the coolant would start coming out the nozzles "foamy", due to air. Now, even with two nozzles running wide open, the level in the tank drops about 4", then stabilizes. There is FAR less pooling in the tray, and what pooling there is, is due to the presence of chips slowing down the return flow. But, overall, this is another huge improvement.

Regards,
Ray L.

Attachment 181042

Attachment 181043

Attachment 181044

Attachment 181045

Nice! Looks like you've been busy (chip piles)

Nice job Ray!

The new drain works pretty well, and has almost put an end to the leaks - just a few drips in several hours running yesterday, even with both nozzles wide-open.

Regards,
Ray L.

BTW - Started using a new coolant yesterday. I have been using KoolMist 77, first as mist coolant (FogBuster), and for the last couple of years as flood coolant. I like it in that it is pretty benign - doesn't cause any irritation, doesn't smell, doesn't leave much in the way of residue. But as a cutting fluid, it leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the way of lubricity. So, yesterday I switched to Rustlick WS-5050. So far, I'm very happy with it. Being a soluble oil, it is a bit messier, but definitely does a far better job of lubricating. And - a major improvement over KoolMist - I can use a refractometer to measure the concentration, making maintenance easy. KoolMist, regardless of concentration, reads like plain water. Cost is slightly more than KoolMist, but not enough to matter, and Rustlick can be used at lower concentrations, so overall cost would well be lower.

Regards,
Ray L.

Made another change today - I got two 5 gallon buckets, drilled a couple hundred 1/8" holes in the bottom of one, and probably 50 or more 3/8" holes in the bottom of the other. In the bottom of the bucket with the large holes, I put several layers of furnace filter wrapped in window screen, to act as a filter, then put the small hole bucket inside the large hole bucket, and put them both in the coolant reservoir. So, the chip tray drain now dumps into the bucket with the small holes, which catches all the chips. The coolant, and very few, small, chips, drain into the large hole bucket, through the layers of filter, and out through the large holes. Flow rate through all this is excellent, the chips nearly all end up in the small hole bucket. When that bucket is full, I simply lift it out and dump it, then put it back. The coolant in the reservoir stays clean, and chip-free.

Regards,
Ray L.

Here's the next "upgrade": The Y axis bellows make it difficult to clear chips underneath them, and enough chips tend to accumulate there to block return flow to the coolant drain. But, removing the bellows is a PITA, due to poor access to the two screws that attach them to the two brackets on the front of the machine base. Today I detached the bellows, drilled two holes in the metal front plate, and installed two bolts and nuts in the holes. I then drilled matching holes in the front panel of the chip tray, and re-attached the bellows using those holes, so the bellows are now fastened to the chip tray rather than the factory brackets, and they are attached by two "thumb-nuts" right on the front of the chip tray. I can now detach, and re-attach the bellows in seconds, and have clear access to the area underneath them for easy clearing of chips.

BTW - There is MORE then enough room to replace the front bellows with a set of telescoping metal way covers, so that is definitely on my ToDo list for the near future. I'd like to do the same for the rear, but it will be more difficult, as there is so little space back there when the table is fully back. But, I think there is enough room to pull it off, if done properly.

For now, I left the stock brackets in place, to support the bellow between the front of the machine base and the front panel of the chip tray. But, I will shortly remove those, and toss them, and instead attach two piece of angle iron to the front plate on the bellows, so they too are removed with the bellows, thus eliminating all obstructions to cleaning.

Attachment 181753

Attachment 181754

Attachment 181755

The latest coolant mod is also working very nicely. The double-bucket setup does a great job of filtering, without impeding flow. Removing and dumping chips is very quick and easy.

I've also done something that will no doubt horrify the purists - I've raised the LH side of the machine by about 1/2 turn on the adjustable feet, to encourage better coolant flow from the left side of the chip tray back to the drain. This has helped considerably in reducing coolant pooling on the left side, and in getting the coolant back to the reservoir more quickly.

Regards,
Ray L.

I was planning to attach the bellows to my enclosure as well. If I would only take the time to build an enclosure! Good thinking with the thumbscrews.