I'm thinking of including high-pressure coolant to my scratch-built CNC mill. All the sources I have looked at are huge & expensive. So, I'm going to try to convert a pressure-washer and coolant tank for the purpose. Any comments?

you need high pressure like 2000 psi? i would think something like this would be more than enough.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200249074_200249074

i think coolant at 2000psi inside would be a mess, even with a good enclosure.
you would definitely have good chip clearing though.

Matt

How about combining compressed air and coolant? That would supply ~120psi, thats quite a high pressure, i think :)

1000-1200 psi is the norm, above 1500 psi requires some new "solutions"

I was actually just thinking about doing that. Using a simple drip line (with a flow-controlling valve), teed into the cooling line after an Air valve. You use the air valve to control airflow, and as air flows through the valve, is pulls fluid out aswell, and partially atomizes it. You could easily alter coolant and airflow so that you can optimize your setup (between coolant costs / tank volume, air compressor capacity / duty cycle, and how well the surrounding area is equiped to withstand or control splashing and running.

I hadn't put that much thought into it. Thanks McDonald! I was just going to hook the coolant pump up to the pressure washers input line and connect the pressure washer hose to a ring manifold to clip on my R8 spindle nose...

I think unless you put a low pressure pump and very fine pre-filter on the coolant going into the pressure washer pump it will soon die from the small metal particles in the fluid.

Also I was under the impression that high pressure coolant was normally delivered through the spindle and through a hole in the tool; you seem to be planning on just spraying it from around the tool. Just spraying from a manifold at 2000 psi is going to create an enormous amount of coolant mist and be a bit dangerous.

I think you need to put a lot more thought into it.

www.chipblaster.com (http://www.chipblaster.com) www.cooljet.com (http://www.cooljet.com) www.highpressuresystems.com (http://www.highpressuresystems.com)
I agree with you about the thru-coolant issue Geof...however, I know of no company that offers a thru-coolant R8 spindle. I'm sure with a hollow drawbar, a manifold that connects to the drawbar with a rotational seal would allow it...how would I go about connecting my air-cylinder for drawbar actuation/tool release, a la Tormach Tooling System for my ATC? Besides, with a full enclosure, which I am planning, and a mist-collection system, I think this would still work...and of course magnets in the collection tank as well as a magnetic filter attachment for the pump inlet, as well as a filter before the pressure washer pump...