Seen some very nice enclosures posted "all over the place" on cnc zone and elsewhere. Some with low sides for mist coolant (i assume) and others with high sides... some as high as 4'!

I'm in the process of making one for my ih cnc conversion... Lets see some pics of yours! I'll post some as i get mine together.

Colin

ok... so there hasn't exctly been the response i had hoped for...

here's one. i can't remember who this machine belongs to, but they are a member here. nicely done!

http://loadedagain.smugmug.com/photos/93069049-O.jpg

that is a sweet enclosure. Come on any others.
Randy
PS I have the wooden bench from the website so not very nice.

i love that enclosure. I think i may remodle mine after that one.

i love that enclosure. I think i may remodle mine after that one.


remodle? how 'bout some pics of the current one?

Does anyone know how flood coolant was collected in the pictured enclosure?

Thanks!

-Jeff

hey there loadadagain, the enclosure above is mine, it can get noisy, and it can dance too, but it does ok, i'm waiting for funds to buy the lexan to finish the closing. its not done yet ! Thanks for the ego boost too .... I needed it !

Hey Cruiser;
Is that a lathemaster??? If so, what size ball screw do you have in the Z plane? (if you don't mind sharing)!
Nice enclosure. Wish I had that much room in the shop to do the rolls royce model you are designing!
Bill
:wave:

No Bill, This is Aaron's photo mill, He built it, pic'd it on website, I own it ! Its great and i'm sure it has enough capacity and promise to do much and more. I just wish i could afford the lexan to close it and had the coolant going. It gets messy makin chips the way it is right now. I get Happy when i run my mill, just like when i ride my MC or fly my RC's !

Cruiser, that is a realy professional looking enclosure. Is the actual surround made of steel or wood? Also, couldn't you get by with using 1/8" acrylic instead of Lexan? Would be a lot less expense and if I remember correctly plexi is more resistent to abbrasion (wipping chips off) than Lexan. Of course plexi is not as impact resistent but of course chips have little mass. Some people simply use plastic sheeting :) Maybe you had something else in mind to necessitate the Lexan though. Anyway, nice enclosure.

Wildcat, the enclosure is 18 gauge sheet, cheeper than anything else and adds some sturdy, but it resounds like a bass drum too .. i'm going with lexan, we use it on all the windows for the machines at work, easier to saw and drill, plexy is near 3 times the cost and will blow out if not cautious drilling and sawing. i'll use 1/4" or 5mm , don't wanna go less than .200 thick. As to the enclosure i need to add some support from the main frame to the legs right at the feet, she likes to dance if ya push an end mill too far. i had to know and did the push. for the most part it is sound and stable and will suit my needs well, as you can see i added the table in front bout 1/8" lower than mill table, don't get in the way and comes in handy puting on the heavy vise or whatever, and support for elbows is really handy. I've come up with a few other idea's for the mill, next will be for the coolant manifold on spindle then the clamp will come off the box, the quil feed is already off as it is useless anyway and the crank got in the way one time too many already. I'll show it off if'n i can get it programmed and cut, the stock is waitin. wish i had the coolant and lexan already ! It'll get there .....

http://www.minitech.com/hardware/enclosures/DSC00013.jpg


Nice enclosure, looks like built with t-slot extr al and some glass for a taig...

I plan on using this as my design, maybe not the angles front, but witht the accordian doors...

here's the site (i hav no affiliation to them...)

http://www.minitech.com/hardware/enclosures/enclosure_system_cl.htm

There cost is prolly bout 1000 for this, I can build a larger one for an x2 for bout $350 for myself....

ANy other cool designs people?! Post em:rainfro:

Not built yet, but here's my design.... Just need a cnc plasma cutter and a box and pan brake and I'll be ready to go :rolleyes:

Thats a great design effort and a nice looking enclosure! It looks like its for a mid sized mill like an X2? Also looks like you have 2 clamshell style doors...Wonder what something like tha'll cost if sent to a manuacturer vs home built....

Keep us informed to ur progress and costs etc

It's designed around the IH square column mill and will accomodate full travel on all axis (it's bigger than it looks!). The clamshell doors allow for easy loading or for extra long work pieces. I've finished the base but lack the tools to make all the sheet metal parts and have not had much luck with local machine shops.

Heres my enclosure so far, bifold doors, acrylic and tslot extrusions, 1/2 in thick poly base...

Here are some pics of my ih mill.Been running for about a year and no problems.

Nice looking enclosure, dnelso. Any more info on it, such as measurements?

Best,

BW

I think i have a solid works drawing that we did some fea on.I will see if i can dig it up.

I'll try to post an updated photo of my enclosure this morning. its not quite done but the finishing touches won't effect the appearance much. I clicked this pic the other nite when i got the limits on line with the combo board and lit up everything to see if i had any noise issues to resolve. "NO NOISE!"

Hey Cruiser - sweet looking enclosure!

Yeah that is really top notch , Good work MAN !!

Here's another version of an enclosure for the IH mill, obviously not 100% finished, but close. Also my rendition of the IH hockey puck feet.

The mill also mounts 1/4" rubber vibration isolators. Cleanout is falicitated by two gasketed cleanout ports on each side of the mill. The plumbing is in place for full flood cooling plus a short quick disconnect hose for washing down.

I still have to install the plexiglas on the top and front. Dito for the electrical for the front mill power, lights and coolant switches. Since I acquired a manual on shot lube system on ebay, the manual pump will be mounted on the exterior; the mill already has the lube system installed.

nicely done bohica. what is the main frame made of? would love to see it once the mill is in place.

Loadedagain,

The main frame is 3x3x1/4 angle and 4x1/4 flat making a box. The mount pads are 4x5x1 flat. the rest of it is 1x1 angle and 16 ga. steel.

Nice enclosure I work with Lexan a lot and would agree with you using it .I have been racking my brains (or lac of) to try to come up with a Aluminum frame type with domed Lex an I have vacuum forming machines and have been experimenting on different designs using .030 to .060 Lex an My Forming machine can do 1/4' but like you said ouch on the price. My Idea is to have the enclosure mounted to the table with holes and a dome top ,front side and one underneath that collects the shavings into a collector .The sides would have extrusions The main concept for me by having extrusions and domes is to cut down on the over all size of the in enclosure giving me more work space.If it doesn't pan out anyone in the market for some sky lights? lol

There have been a lot of very nice enclosures posted here. Of course an enclosure does not have to be real fancy. Below is one built from 2x4s and plastic sheeting mainly just to keep the chips and mist confined. I may cover the top if it turns out the mist travels much. The electronics are housed in a Craftsman side cabinet. Someday I will build a more permanent enclosure of steel but until then this will work. I put a couple other pics in the gallery as well.

http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_3934.jpg

just a silly question i guess, but i've been looking over the IH enclosure that was built on the site, as well some of the others here. how do you guys deal with chips in teh coolant? do you let the chips get into the coolant or do you use screens to wisk the coolant away while letting the chips rest, if the screens are used then how do you clean the chips off them after the fact.

just a silly question i guess, but i've been looking over the IH enclosure that was built on the site, as well some of the others here. how do you guys deal with chips in teh coolant? do you let the chips get into the coolant or do you use screens to wisk the coolant away while letting the chips rest, if the screens are used then how do you clean the chips off them after the fact.

My enclosure and mill is a lot smaller than the IH, but here is what I *should* have done.

At the drain, have a mesh screen (Maybe a mesh kitchen strainer upside down?) and then a fiber filter underneath. And then you have the small, lame, mesh basket in the coolant unit as a backup.

I let the chips accumulate in the enclosure, and then scoop them up the next morning when they are as drained and dry as they are going to get.

If you have the room, having a screen/fiber filter pan underneath the drain would probably be good.

-Jeff

i built a little cup for the drain and filled it with steel wool. filters out most of the chips. the rest can be scooped out of the coolant sump.

It's designed around the IH square column mill and will accomodate full travel on all axis (it's bigger than it looks!). The clamshell doors allow for easy loading or for extra long work pieces. I've finished the base but lack the tools to make all the sheet metal parts and have not had much luck with local machine shops.

Sorry to jump into the thread in the middle, however I'd suggest that you talk to a local laser cutter. Usually they have both cutting and braking equipment for people such as yourself who need the formed parts but don't have the equipment. Just send them the flat pattern files and a drawing of the finished parts you want and they'll brake it up for ya. Get a few quotes from different shop's, usually they are all pretty close [ I usually get w/in 1-2% on larger orders] but its worth checking.

It's what I'd do :)

Jerry [well, if I didn't have all the braking/shearing equipment at my disposal @ work :D]

Another handy coolant chip cleaner is a sump tank. Metal chips are heavier than the fluid so if you use a tank (bleach bottle or something) with the outlet a few inches above the bottom of the tank, much of the metal will sink to the bottom instead of going out the outlet.

Just make sure the sump is easily movable so you can disconnect and dump out the chips!

My solution is to screen the base of the IH mill so the larger chips cannot flow under the mill and down the drain which is under the mill. In order to screen out the fines that do pass through, the drain empties into the coolant tank through a 12x12 filter made from 3/4 thick biofilter material (used for ponds). This should eliminate virtually all of the metal from the cutting fluid.

My solution is to screen the base of the IH mill so the larger chips cannot flow under the mill and down the drain which is under the mill. In order to screen out the fines that do pass through, the drain empties into the coolant tank through a 12x12 filter made from 3/4 thick biofilter material (used for ponds). This should eliminate virtually all of the metal from the cutting fluid.

I am definately going to screen under my mill on the next revision of my enclosure - currently I just have a chip basket at the end of all my 1 1/2" waste water piping and nasty long drill swarf is forming its own fantastic chip filters within the pipes and preventing the table from draining properly!

how about some photos of this stuff. is it really that hard to post photos?

Runner4404spd,

Sorry, will post pic when I get it installed (shortly, I hope). Still building. But it is just simple 2 layer screen, 1/4 galvanized overlain with window screen, either bonded or screwed to mill base.

right now i'm debating about building a stand similar to what is on the IH website, with a crossover to something similar to what is on the tormach website. the tormach one seems to all for better draining with the slanted sides. i would love to make mine out of steel but i think funding will prohibit this and it will have to be wood. i will cover it in a fiberglass resin so the top stays fully water proof. any tips on getting the machine level when its in the cabinet? especially building it from wood, i would think that it would be necessary to get the base fairly close, so its not tweaked.

Cost is, of course, a relative factor. My steel enclosure cost about $500, and that included $100 for polyurethane paint. Overall, I thought this to be within reason. It certainly helps that my wife thinks tools are really neat; I get tools for every occasion. Eat your hearts out.

Cost is, of course, a relative factor. My steel enclosure cost about $500, and that included $100 for polyurethane paint. Overall, I thought this to be within reason. It certainly helps that my wife thinks tools are really neat; I get tools for every occasion. Eat your hearts out.

Bohica, do you have a large bending brake that you used to make your enclosure, did you have it done, or do you just have a technique for bending the sheet metal?

Very nice work. I want to build a pan similar to yours and then use aluminum extrusions to take the walls up high enough to catch the rest of the coolant.

best,

BW

No, don't have a brake that size. I had a local steel supplier shear and bend the necessary parts. There were only 4 pieces than were bent with a 1" lip and 2 plain flat pieces, all out of 16ga steel. The cost of this was about $190.

When mounted, the table will be about 12" below the walls. I will have a plexiglass top, hinged over the table area for access. This should keep the coolant contained. But this is one of those things that I will only find out once the mill is in operation.

how about some photos of this stuff. is it really that hard to post photos?

i agree , i have to read somethin 40 times before i can remember it, pictures are so much easier

i have a bench i built out of 2"square stk and lag bolted it to the cement wall of the basement and left the ends open to use for future tools to mount too, tire changer for the
dirt bike and such crazy ideas like that.

it doesn't look like much but is "very",understated, strong
and plan to put a catch tray or cabinet on it for the mill.

the bench i was talkin about,,
do you think that without a completly enclosed cabinet that
the fumes might be too much , my set up is in the cellar thats why i ask? i am thinking on putting a venting fan in the cellar window once up and ready , don't know if it
will be needed.
you guys have some nice setups!

dnelso is that a touch screen?

Nope just a flat screen