Mill Enclosure help.

[Gamble]

Here is my enclosure so far.

I'm at a cross roads with it. Do i continue to weld all the seams so it doesn't leak when I add coolant or do I use something like silicone?
I am trying to avoid warping the bottom plate


Second issue is i have to add a drain for future use. No idea what i should use for a drain and how big etc etc.

Any help or pictures of what you did ? Or suggestions?
thanks

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[CNCMAN172]

Looks like to me you are pretty good at welding. Finish up the job and you will be able to add coolant with no issue. As far as a drain this is also a good idea. You would weld a threaded coupling to the bottom if you drill the right size hole. This find a plug that fits the coupling. You can usually find that stuff in the big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Is the enclosure aluminum or steel?

Russ

[Gamble]

Looks like to me you are pretty good at welding. Finish up the job and you will be able to add coolant with no issue. As far as a drain this is also a good idea. You would weld a threaded coupling to the bottom if you drill the right size hole. This find a plug that fits the coupling. You can usually find that stuff in the big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Is the enclosure aluminum or steel?

Russ

the first one warped on the bottom so i'm trying to avoid that. it would set me back a lot of time and money

It's all aluminum, bottom is .125 and the rest is 1" square tube .063 wall and the walls and top are .080 aluminum

I have some aluminum bungs but not sure if they are too small? I only want to do it once

[Fastest1]

Actually with your welding skills I would install a large square boxed hole (the bigger the better) under the machine with a perforated swarf drawer. Then have the coolant vat under that. In fact if I were to build another I would install the mill on square tubing suspended over the large hole, the hole possibly being bigger than the base dimensions of the mill itself.
Round holes or standard plumbing drain fittings suck. They are too small and get clogged too easily. If I can avoid handling swarf, I do.
I also second the completion of everything via welding. If it can fail, it will. I wouldnt trust silicone in this environment.

[toddbeau]

I did mine like that, If you can modify the pan to put a swarf drawer I would do so and make it a large one. You can get stainless restaurant pans very inexpensively. Mine is 12x14x2 and it fills up pretty fast, I'm going to rework that for a deeper pan.

Don't use silicone, I used silkaflex 1a and so far the coolant hasn't eaten it.

Todd

[Fastest1]

Exactly like Todd's maybe a larger hole but not too much swarf is going to accumulate with that design.


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[toddbeau]

Thanks, I actually cut out the flat bottom part when I repainted the base, like you said the flat part collects it and it piles up fast.

[Gamble]

So just a hole into a removable drawer? I like it but I have to put a hole in my table, but not really wanting to do that. Maybe I may build a table and do the hole later.

So as of yesterday I welded up 60% of the bottom. Hoping to do some more tonight. Just doing beads a few inches long and then force cooling it with compressed air.

I don't think I'm going full flood coolant, but just keep it as a mist option.
Probably going to order the kool mist 77 today because it's $180 on sale

[DJEkim33]

We used to make aluminum drift boats when I was younger. We used the same technique to make my enclosure pan and just like the boats you will always be chasing down leaks. Usually the seam of two welds. To get around it we would use compressed air and a bit of soapy water to see where the bubbles came out. Then weld the small holes on the outside that was getting ground down anyway. It was time consuming and something always popped up down the road. We started to use a mixture of silicone and white fuel (Coleman stove gas) on the inside seam to water proof it. The fuel thins the silicone then evaporates out in a couple days as it sets. This let's you apply the mixture with a brush and really control where you want it. They have silicone available in an aluminum color.

As for drains I used one for a bath tub. I was able to bevel the bottom panel to make the drain recessed. I used a stainless steel pad as a filter under a simple cover over the drain.


Excuse my mess of wires but you can see I have two drains linked into a single return line. The bathtub drains use a 1 1/2"-11.5tpi nut to secure (common sink pipe size). If you had a 1" aluminum bung that would be nice too.

If I had to do it again I would opt for something as described above. No flat bottom to the pan at all. But you are already pretty deep into it and it would probably be expensive to redesign.

You can build a flood system cheaper than buying a mist system and will not need to run constant air to the machine (may not be an issue for you). My flood system cost less than $100. About $60 for a 2100 GPH sump pump, free 15 gallon iodine barrel from a local dairy, $5 for the Chinese loc-lines, $10 for an electric valve and the rest is spent on fittings and hose.

[toddbeau]

Since the bottom is flat could you cut a slot on one side? I would elevate the mill a bit then and slightly tilt the stand. You would be able to wash everything to the drawer then, I wash it down when I'm done, the next day the drawer has drained out and I simply pull it and dump it into a bucket.

[Gamble]

Since the bottom is flat could you cut a slot on one side? I would elevate the mill a bit then and slightly tilt the stand. You would be able to wash everything to the drawer then, I wash it down when I'm done, the next day the drawer has drained out and I simply pull it and dump it into a bucket.

I'll grab a pic later tonight. I bought some aluminum C channel. 1/4" thick by 2" tall so the mill will be 2" off the bottom
More or less so the motor clears the square tube.
Welded the front/back 2 inside seams 95%. Welded the outside front and back.
Tacked the 1/4" C channel in place.
Next I'm going to seam weld the bottom ends so there shouldn't be any leaks.

Going to get more lexan today for the 2 windows.
Test fit the mill, if it's good i'll weld up the C channel a little. Add my LED lights.
Then I can start the door which I have no idea on how i'm doing yet.

if i do a mist setup do I need a drain?

Found a guy that was custom making a badass little fogbuster style so I am waiting on him to finish it up.

Hopefully I can start milling soon

[Gamble]

Here is where I'm at currently. Going to drill holes and mount the mill today. Probably use some left over 1" square tube to build a little base around the center of the mill so it will sit flat. Right now it rocks on the table, either from a lumpy weld or the table which isn't flat (which I know is true)

Then I'll start the door