static from hell

[swarfmacdaddy]

I have been routing Corian for a long time now but cant get used to the static chips everywhere when im done. There is a thick coating on my mill,the walls,the ceiling,and me.The only way to get it off is with 180 lbs of air. This still dont work so hot as the chips are still charged and wont sweep and hardly vacuum.I have seen Exairs antistatic guns and curtains at a very hefty price. One thing they all have in common is a venturi nozzle, the front half of which is non conductive plastic, and a power supply in the range of 5kvrms@ 5milliamperes this power is then applied to a "emmiter tip" in the plastic part of the nozzle which is a very sharp needle like thing constructed from brass or carbon or stainless steel, They claim it puts out an equal amount of negativly charged and positivley charged ions that can drop shipping peanuts right off a glass window on a dry cold day. Any thoughts on how to build one Without dropping $800 I have been looking at ion air generators people make with two glass plates with screen sandwiched between and hooked up to a big cap and a flyback transformer or the transformer from a neon sigh. ANYONE!!!!!???? Thanks in advance guys

[swarfmacdaddy]

Oh yea! Almost forgot,dont even say grounding wire. I have grounded the mill, the router, the spindle, the Corian,the end mill. Im getting ready to shove 6 feet of #5 rebar up my *ss The ground thing is a total waste of time. Dont those ion air generators give off high (unhealthy) levels of ozone? I think those type only generate negative ions.

[rustyolddo]

Well being that you apparently in CA, the land of people who never sweat. What about something simple like a humidifier? Or possibly something on the lines of a swamp cooler aka evaporative cooler? Some fans to keep the moist air moving. Be simple enough to test with a fan and an irrigation mister nozzle.

[swarfmacdaddy]

I thought about that but remembered its just as bad in the winter when its raining.

[rustyolddo]

Then the next suggestion I'd have is there are a few companies that feature inexpensive electronic kits and there are a few sites with plans as well for Ion Generators. Small affairs, basically a voltage multiplier with a pointed probe. You could lash one together for $20 and see if it works before laying out $$ for the real thing.

I know Negative Ion Generators were a short lived rage, they worked & cleaned the air but the problem was they made all the dirt stick to the walls. Over time you get a sooty build up in your home.
As for your application, I would assume it would help. There are also anti static sprays you could try.

You might be able to pick up something used from an auction in the Silicon Valley area or Ebay in the way of ion generators. Electronics mfrs use them in their production areas.

Is a normal dust collection system, ie vacuum not practical?

[sendkeys]

IF you're dealing with large scale ion generators you should look into the ozone they generate as it is toxic and could make you sick in a inclosed room. Might be as simple as venting the room. goodluck

[swarfmacdaddy]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think you put me on the right track. Ill get two kits from kitsrus so i can mess with the positive and negative ion ratio to see what works best. I already have a cold air gun pointing at my endmill so ill just arrange the emmiter pins around the nozzle. And ill put a fume hood over my mill with the highest cfms fan i can find. Ill post when its done. cant go too far wrong for $40 bucks!

[rustyolddo]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think you put me on the right track. Ill get two kits from kitsrus so i can mess with the positive and negative ion ratio to see what works best. I already have a cold air gun pointing at my endmill so ill just arrange the emmiter pins around the nozzle. And ill put a fume hood over my mill with the highest cfms fan i can find. Ill post when its done. cant go too far wrong for $40 bucks!

Yup, that's the spirit!

[trevis1st]

Just out of curiosity what was the solution?