Considerations for making an Enclosure

[fort]

Hi Fellas

I got my X3 a few weeks ago, and thanks to help from some of you, started making some chips... there in lies the problem. My garage was a wreck afterwards. I have seen some of the enclosures you guys have been posting and started thinking an enclosure would be a good way keep the chips under control.

I have a flat 24" by 48" table the mill is sitting on now. I'm considering a few options for enclosures and want to hear your take on it.

Option 1: Just a big chip tray. It would be about 4" tall and stick out a little in the front to catch chip and keep whatever I can on the table. I was thinking about adding coolant to try to knock flying chips down. Is that a reasonable expectation?

Option 2: A half height box. It would be an enclosure that extened about 18" from the table surface. The though is that it would be able to catch chip better and having just the tray.

Option 3: Full enclosure. It would go completely up and over the top of the mill. I assume this is the be-all end-all enclosure solution but I have concerns about accessibility.

Right now I'm doing only hand milling but would like to get CNC within the next 6 months or so.

Something else to consider is that since my table is flat I would have trouble getting coolant to drain properly. For those that have flat tables, how much trouble is it to keep coolant from puddling up?

Thoughts and considerations would be great. I've been weighing the pros/cons of my options for a few days and can't seem to make up my mind.

[tikka308]

I would really recommend the full enclosure. I opted for that after my research (mostly from fellow benchtop folks) revealed that chips really WILL go everywhere. Even one person with whom I spoke built a full enclosure but left out the ceiling/roof - and regrets it!

I went with an 80/20 setup and spent some money (mostly because it's in my bedroom...) but you could DIY something similar for less money. Check out mine at http://www.nyccnc.com/Herbie/HERBIES..._is_done!.html

[Rodm1954]

You might have to do this in two stages - a tray now and then a full enclosure after you CNC. Obviously you cannot have a full enclosure with a manual mill as you need access to turn the handwheels.
Some of the guys are putting trays and bins on the table top but I am not keen on drilling holes in my table so this was not an option for me.
You could rig up some temporary shields around the table and even cardboard would work for this.
If you are going coolant then I think it is important to have some tilt in the tray so that your fluid runs to your drain.

[cjdavis618]

I know you may not think you need it now, but go ahead and build for use with coolant. As you get more time with the mill, and machinery in general. You will want the better finish and the longer tool life that you get with coolant. If you are going to take the time to build one, you might as well build it for good.


I'm the same way about drilling existing tables. But I am also all about making something harder than it has to be. Most of the time, I get good results though.

I have been working on my sx3's new home and thought it was time to take some pictures. I have a small shop and decided the best place to put it was a corner and build outward. I decided that it would be best to skip the table all together and build a support frame for the mill. Then build a fiberglass "sink" on either side for the coolant to drain. Make a small slope in front of the mill to drain liquid in the front to the sides and all corners will be sealed and smoothed (Silicone) so the coolant and swarf will drain to the bottom pans.

The board that is all around the mill is "Dry Erase" type board that will allow liquid to drain, and even allow me to write things on the board that need to be remembered often. (At least in the areas coolant won't get to.)

I am making the side panels for the enclosure out of 1x2 trim wood and the windows will be 1/8" lexan sheet. All wood will be on the outer side to prevent the wood from rotting and also allow the coolant to drain quickly without obstructions. so there will really be nothing but lexan on the inside of the enclosure. Later on, if It scratches badly, I will replace the lexan with safety glass.

The sides will be able to open and swing outwards from the main door. My front door will be 36x42 and allow plenty of room for me to get into the mill and setup etc., but I want the extra space to work just in case for maintenance, etc.

I still have some sanding and painting to do, but I am gettin pretty close. The drains were "Sink hair Catchers" that I found at home depot and they are simply fiberglassed in. They allow plenty of flow, and catch some really small particles. I will still have a 2 stage filter set up below in the piping though.

Here are the pics.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...e/DSC02772.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...e/DSC02773.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...e/DSC02776.jpg


Edit, The back area behind where the bondo, bondoglass etc is will not be seen. There will be more of the board that goes across the rear of the mill and behind that will be a counter weight system. There will only be a small hole where the cable comes through and the rest will be sealed.

Oh, and don't laugh at my fleece that I used for shaping the fiberglass. It was free.

[JMcDonald]

Why not just fill the drain with a few inches of cutting fluid to act as the reservoir? That way the pump will always have a solid water supply, without needing an extra reservoir. A 24 x 48 trey with 2" of fluid is about 10 gallons which is kindof alot, but it should still last quite a while if you keep topping it off every few days to counteract evaporation and splashing. This at least might be a simple solution and would allow you to simply place the tray's drain in the corner of the bin so you wouldnt have to drill through the table.

And, cjdavis618, that looks great!

[pzzamakr1980]

I went through probably 4 iterations of my enclosure. The first was a fixture plate that was much larger than my travels. This would have worked IF I had made it at least another three inches for the x axis, the other drawback was because I could not enclose enough area for the table to move and allow the head to move around, chips would get all over the column and backsplash of my table. The next iteration was similar to what somebody was already doing here, and that was the big tub on the table. Again, not a bad idea, really cheap in fact, but i had problems with leakage at the drain spout and again still not enough to keep chips from flying out. Finally, I said fcuk this, and am currently in the process of making a full enclosure. I lucked out and got a stainless steel restaurant prep table for 75 dollars. It is 72 * 36 and is more than sturdy enough to hold an X3. It would probably even hold an IH mill because I've seen these table hold ridiculous quantities of food before it gets put away without even a squeak. To make sure it wouldn't move I also drilled through the backsplash and bolted it to the wall. Just in case. I used the levelers to direct the coolant flow to the back left corner by making the table tilt that way.I then went to lowes, got aluminum angle, particle board, a good sealant, and worked away. Here's some pics of the enclosure. I thought I had pics with the particle board and doors in place but apparently not.

Also, a bit of a note, many people have said that MDF or Particle board isnt appropriate because it does not like fluid, but I have never had any problems with it and there is really not that much fluid hitting the walls during milling. It would NOT be appropriate as a base because it would then go to the ****ter. But as walls it works great. One other thing, they sell contact paper that looks like brushed aluminum, it works marvelously to make particle board look classy and also works great to seal out water and chips.

Because these table usually cost about 1200 dollars for this size, and I got it for 75, it did help considerably with the cost. All told, to purchase some extra tools, all the materials, and some miscellaneous screws and bolts, the whole thing cost less than 200 dollars to make. A 40 dollar portion of that was spent on purchasing heavy duty hole saws. The Lenox bi-metal versions will cut through stainless quite nicely with a good bit of lubrication and patience. Forcing it through causes it to cut unevenly depth-wise and then bind and cause the drill to hit you in the face.

[pzzamakr1980]

Heres a pic of the fixture plate setup. I still intend to use the fixture plate because I allows me to clamp parts larger than the table. Notice it does not have any of the shielding in place. I had used hdpe bars milled to fit in the grooves and then slotted on top to hold plexiglass. It was very similar to what widgitmaster had done but with the intention of running flood coolant.