One application I have recently received was from a customer that is machining a plastic material and the chips were clinging to the part, the inside of the machine, and his operators during change out.  He first tried a regular blow off gun with some results but the chips seemed to cling to whatever they were blown towards.  He then installed a Super Air Knife in hopes to create a sheet of air that will not permit the chips to cling.  While this did work for the majority of his chips there were still those that were getting blown up and being held to surfaces with a static charge.  This was a concern because if the chips were not evacuated from the machining area then it would reduce his tool life and also cause possible part defects. 

When discussing the application it was apparent that there was a static cling issue.  Rather than having to take out the Super Air Knife that was already in place we were able to retrofit his existing air knife with the correct length Ion Bar and power supply to create the Super Ion Air Knife he needed. 

Once the Ion Bar and power supply were installed the static elimination began with the flip of a switch on the power supply.  Not only was he blowing all the chips off the part but, he was also helping clean the path of the cutter which increased the tool life.  The cutter housing was also getting cleared of chips that were statically charged, and the Ion Knife was helping to evacuate all the chips into his auger and allowing for a cleaner machining area.  This in turn helped the operators reduce the amount of chips clinging to them when changing the parts in and out of the machine.

All in all, the customer was very pleased that the amount of work that went into retrofitting his Super Air Knife with the Ion Bar was quick and quite simple.

A retrofit like this is also possible if you have an Ion Bar that seems to need some air assist in order to perform better in your application.  Just contact any of our Application Engineers here at EXAIR Corp. and we will be glad to help with any issues you have.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
brianfarno@EXAIR.com