Tag: CNC

Cold Gun Provides Cooling For CNC Router

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment
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This CNC needs a way to cool the drill and blow away chips created during machining

Precision control with CNC’s means we can achieve a near-identical output in product dimensions and quality.  And, it also means we can create an identical problem every time the machine is used.

Case in point, the CNC shown above is used to machine a 5mm piece of aluminum, but was plagued with problems preventing it from performing to its full potential.  The problem, was that when the machine would plunge into the aluminum, the plunging speed would produce excessive heat leading to a deterioration in performance and quality.  The temporary solution for such a condition is to slow down the machining speeds, but this reduces the efficiency and throughput of the machine.

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A Cold Gun can install directly onto this machine, providing cooling and light chip removal as needed

The real solution for this type of condition is to provide some sort of cooling for the drill head, and if possible, a means to remove the chips and debris from the machining area as well.  Fortunately, both of these are possible through the use of a Cold Gun Aircoolant System.

A Cold Gun in this application will provide cold air at temperatures below freezing to cool the drill, and the airflow from the Cold Gun will simultaneously clear the small chips and debris from the machining area.  And, these improvements to the application keep the workspace completely dry.  There’s no need to add a coolant collection system or to create additional work through cleaning coolant from the machined pieces once they’re complete.

If you have an application in need of a dry-cooling solution, or if you’d like to explore the possibility of removing liquid cooling from your CNC, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.  We’ll be happy to help.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

Line Vac Cleans Up a CNC Sawing Application

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A machine shop facility contacted me about an issue they were having with metal chips. Their operation used CNC saw machines to cut metal products of various types and sizes to specific lengths.  They used belt conveyors that were fitting inside the CNC machines to remove the excess chips to a recycle bin.  The cut pieces were then ejected from the CNC machine for the next operation.  The issue was when they would cut tubing.  For the solid pieces, the conveyors inside the CNC machines would work great to remove the chips.  But with hollow stock, the inside of the tube would catch majority of the chips.  So, when the part was ejected, chips would accumulate on the outside of the CNC saw machine.

To solve this problem, I recommended a model 151150 Threaded Heavy Duty Line Vac with a model 9034 solenoid. The reason for the Heavy Duty Line Vac is because it is made of a hardened alloy that is resistant to the abrasion of the metal chips.  The 1 ½” NPT threaded ends made it easy to attach rigid pipe to both ends.  The vacuum end would remove the chips from inside the tube, and the transfer end would send the chips to the recycle bin.  Also, with the controls on the CNC machine, the user could send a signal to the solenoid valve to only operate during cutting operations.  (An added benefit to save on compressed air.)  In his setup, we attached the Heavy Duty Line Vac to the CNC saw machine.  It would ride along with the motion of the saw.  As the saw was cutting, the Heavy Duty Line Vac vacuumed the chips from inside of the tube.  As the saw blade retracted, the Heavy Duty Line Vac would retract as well.  This opened the area for the part to be ejected except now there were no chips accumulating outside of the machine.

Heavy Duty Line Vac
Heavy Duty Line Vac

Keeping work areas clean and recovering debris as it is produced results in a more efficient process and a safer environment. If you every need to bounce some ideas for solving problems like with the customer above, you can always contact an Application Engineer to see if we can help you resolve the issue.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
1-800-903-9247
Twitter: @EXAIR_JB

Stories from the past

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

When I was fresh out of college with very little idea of what I wanted in a career or a job, I landed a job in the machine tool industry.  This was for a small company that was a master distributor of CNC metal-cutting machines.  The job title I had was, Product Specialist.  This job encompassed everything from unloading the machine from the truck, inspecting the machine, adding options / customizing the machine if needed, testing, packaging, and shipping the machine.  I would then go to the customers site, install, test again, train the staff there and then provide on-site and over-the-phone technical support and warranty work.  As the business evolved, the requirements grew and more responsibilities were added.

One of the best parts of the job was trade shows.   It was always hectic, but to see something come together in a small amount of time and see the finished product always made you feel good.   The largest show I would travel to was IMTS, which just happens to be going on in another month.  This is the largest machine technology show in the states.  I would always be running a machine cutting some kind of trinket or sample part.  The main piece I was cutting my first year there was a light bulb out of aluminum.

As my knowledge of the machinery grew, I came to realize the part wasn’t that complicated but it still amazes me to this day.

A lot of our products here at EXAIR do the same thing to people who have never encountered them.  They are absolutely amazed by the Cold Gun’s ability to drop your compressed air temperature by 50° F while having no internal moving parts and only using compressed air.  Just today, I had a customer come in for a demonstration and couldn’t believe he had been struggling with a heat problem for so many years when we were right down the highway from him.

So if you have an application that is impeding your process, or if you have an interesting use for some of our products don’t hesitate to contact us.  Maybe even stop over at our Facebook page and drop us a note or some pictures.  You might be surprised at what you get in return.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF