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Job Shop Air Blast PSI

Winsten

Plastic
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Hey all!

I did a quick search and didn’t find any guidance buried under all the fancy CNC stuff.

I got a decent amount of encouragement from this forum when installing my “toy lathe”, as Doug called it, in my garage.

I rolled my earnings from that machine into purchasing a Kiwa colt VMC. I run it on a rotary, in a small rental unit. I am limited to a compressor of 3HP due to 110V electrical infrastructure. I use compressed air to cool the tool and clear chips (bronze, aluminum, delrin, and steels). I do not run liquid coolant because I have bouts where the machine will be idle for a month at a time. I don’t want it to stink or attract pests. I’m now getting a decent amount of work, but my compressor is cycling a lot. It is not continuous duty rated.

I bought a cheap regulator and was wondering if I metered down from 90 psi (which I can tell is overkill), what an adequate setting would be for balancing air consumption and efficacy. I was thinking 45-50 but was wondering what the experienced hands thought? I use the air manually/intermittently.

Thanks
 
Get a new compressor and run it off the rotary? I'm with that guy ^ Low air pressure (and volume) is a pain in the arse.
In your opinion, should I pull from one leg for a single phase compressor of higher power or invest in a 3 phase compressor? I’m unsure of the effects on the rotary. I bought a prefab from Croman.
 
If you have a bubbler and decent coolant, one month stretches without running won't cause a problem.
Yep, we have a bubbler in each of our mills. Cheap ones from the local pet supply store, they run 24/7 and our coolant stopped stinking.
 
If you have a bubbler and decent coolant, one month stretches without running won't cause a problem.
Good tip, thank you!

At work they sometimes use these tablets, I heard chlorine but that sounds terrible for the machinery. Anyone know anything about those?
 
For clearing chips, it's going to depend alot on what geometry your doing. If you're doing alot of deep slots you'll have trouble even with a ton of air. If its all outside ops, won't take much at all. For cooling I'd imagine its pretty linear with air pressure, more air = more cool. Although it won't be doing a ton regardless.
 
Yep, we have a bubbler in each of our mills. Cheap ones from the local pet supply store, they run 24/7 and our coolant stopped stinking.
We do the same. One has been on my Mazak lathe for 5 years. The cheap airline is hard and crumbly, but no issues.

The mill is 2.5 years old and had a spectacular failure last week. Apparently my guy that takes care of the chip pan has been running the cheap pump power cord over for 2.5 years. With the chip pan with 100 gallons of coolant + chips + pan itself. He ran it over and then reported "fireworks" from the 120 volt line shorting out. Duh!
 
Do not run the compressor on the RPC. The starting current will pull down the generated leg voltage and cause brownouts.

Use liquid coolant. A month is fine to sit or add a bubbler if you want.

Use air when the job requires it, like slots and pockets in steel.

3HP is not enough air for airblast IMO. 100 PSI through three 3/16" nozzles is about right to me.
 
Trimsol- I've never seen it get stinky, no additives, no bubblers. Had it in a broken machine for over 6 months unused, no issues when it started up. 8-12% concentration. Give that air compressor & your tooling a break. Has a weird medical kind of smell, but its consistent, no rashes or skin complaints either.
 
Trimsol- I've never seen it get stinky, no additives, no bubblers. Had it in a broken machine for over 6 months unused, no issues when it started up. 8-12% concentration. Give that air compressor & your tooling a break. Has a weird medical kind of smell, but its consistent, no rashes or skin complaints either.

Trim E206 doesn't rot either.
 
Trim MicroSol 690XT is what we use here. With bubblers, no stink. Same stuff has been in my lathe since 2017 and it continually is happy to make stainless parts. That five year old stuff doesn't stink, but it does have a bit of smell to it.

We run 5% normally. Went up to 12% in the mill recently for some deep thread formed holes in aluminum. No stink, but it is harder on the hands and took some paint off the two year old mill.
 
Do not run the compressor on the RPC. The starting current will pull down the generated leg voltage and cause brownouts.

Use liquid coolant. A month is fine to sit or add a bubbler if you want.

Use air when the job requires it, like slots and pockets in steel.

3HP is not enough air for airblast IMO. 100 PSI through three 3/16" nozzles is about right to me.

This was something I was somewhat fearful of. The rotary supplies the machine, and I’d hate to somehow frag the control or PSU with inconsistent input power.
 








 
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