Full enclosure for Knee mill
Hi
I just finished up my enclosure and thought I would share a few pics.
I have an Aliant knee mill that over the years I've cobbed together a sort of splash guard enclosure. I recently acquired a BP mill and figured I would take a crack at a full enclosure. The main thing I gleaned from years of mopping up coolant was you have to have a catch pan under the base of the machine. Now you can pump the coolant from there if it's on the ground or you can elevate the whole machine and have it drain into a sump. Since I have high ceilings I chose the latter. Elevating it also allows me to get under it with a fork lift.
Here is a screen grab of the initial design
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...psef0f5c9f.png
It's kind of based on the Deckel FP2
I used 2 pieces of 3"x3" 1/4" wall square tube stacked like cribbing to raise the machine up 6".
Here is a grab of the finished design
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8996bc7c.jpg
The monitor and keyboard swivel on bearings so you can swing it into position for jogging and setup.
The surround is 3/16" polycarbonate that I bend in my sheet metal brake. I like using polycarbonate because it gives me full field of view and the bending really speeds up fabrication. All 4 sides and the top are enclosed. The motor and head poke out. The final product ended up being a little shorter than the design.
Here is the finished product:
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...psa8eaf645.jpg
You can see how nice the polycarbonate is. It lets a ton of light in and I can glance over from any other machine and see whats going on. The doors are sliders and lift right off so you hose them off for cleaning.
There is a splash trough on the front with a neoprene sheet on the front that just hangs. Works better than I expected.
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe1bb7d2.jpg
The doors open as wide as the table so you have full access. Overall the footprint is only a few inches wider and deeper than the actual machine travel distances.
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...psa70487f3.jpg
It became a total time vampire and there were times when I was regretting starting it but this made it all worthwhile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-c...ature=youtu.be
Happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks for looking.
Derek
Re: Full enclosure for Knee mill
Well done. What did you use for sealant? I have tried similar, but the Koolit coolant I use makes mush out of silicone.
What coolant do you use? How often are you replacing it?
I would like to copy your design, as it totally encapsulates the work area, other than the ceiling.
Do you foresee any problems with the motors with coolant splash as they are exposed?
Just noticed you built covers for the motors.
Re: Full enclosure for Knee mill
Quote:
Originally Posted by
G59
Well done. What did you use for sealant? I have tried similar, but the Koolit coolant I use makes mush out of silicone.
What coolant do you use? How often are you replacing it?
I would like to copy your design, as it totally encapsulates the work area, other than the ceiling.
Do you foresee any problems with the motors with coolant splash as they are exposed?
Just noticed you built covers for the motors.
Hi
Thanks.
FYI the top is enclosed as well. The polycarbonate that is the backsplash has a bend at the top and then it comes forward.
There is no sealant. I designed it so the overlaps form pans if that makes sense. The side angled pans have a 1" flange on each side and the front and rear pans sit inside them. I suppose if you had an ungodly amount of chips built up along that edge you would get some seepage but so far so good. The bottom pan I made with a box brake so only the 4 corners are welded.
My landlord sells me coolant at his cost and he buys it multiple 55 gal drums at a time so that's what I use. I do know it's not synthetic. I seem to loose enough in the chips so that I'm always adding not changing.
