Blowing chips

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Rando
Posts: 757
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:24 pm
Location: Boise, ID
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Blowing chips

Post by Rando »

All:

Okay, another one I thought I'd share.

Re-cutting chips, especially in aluminum, is to be avoided. But, who's gonna run flood-cooling on a shark, right? So, I needed something. When I was using the DeWalt D618 router, there was a powerful downdraft, but it didn't really hit the cutting area to remove just-cut material. So, Rando went to work....and settled on:

Tubing! (Yeah, I don't know why vinyl tubing plays a starring role in these things), fed by the output of a small shop-vac. Then, arrange the whole thing and attach it under the router carriage. Pix!

What I most wanted was three streams of air I could direct easily, but wouldn't interfere with cutting "in nearly all situations". What I used was 1/2" vinyl tubing with nylon T and 90 degree fittings. The T-fittings provide the air outlets, and the tubing ties it all together. I used rubber-covered tie-down clamps like you might use for heavier electrical cords. All the T-fittings rotate in place, allowing you to direct the air as needed.
20150414_163837[1].jpg
This picture helps show how it works. The air comes in from the upper-right, than then down and under. The first of the tees, which is ALWAYS the strongest because it's first in line, I blocked off with some polyethylene tape (leaves less residue, is tougher than duct or electical tape, and is okay with the heat from the warmed-up shopvac output) and held it in place with a small hose clamp. Better safe than a clump of tape blown into the work, right? I blocked that one off because it seemed like it was overpowering the other two and not letting them do their work.

Next the air goes around the back, to another T, and then toward the front again for the final T. The back one is left fully open, and blows away the just-cut chips. The one on the left, has a little extension nozzle so the air is directed just to the front of the bit, to help blow away chips sitting in a slot, for example. In the original version that only had the rear nozzle, the air was separated by the bit, and so no real air got to the "front side" of the bit. As I said, all the nozzles can be rotated, and there's "some" room for adding attachments like I did.

This has worked amazingly well for me, hope you find it useful too.

Regards,

Thom
=====================================================
ThomR.com Creative tools and photographic art
A proud member of the Pacific Northwest CNC Club (now on Facebook)

gad5264
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:54 pm
Location: Columbus, Ohio

Re: Blowing chips

Post by gad5264 »

Necessity, the mother of all invention. Great job.
Grant gad5264
Go BUCKEYES

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