Why not make your own skimmer

[JpBinc]

Hello everyone

Ok I have looked all over the web and can not find anyone that has made their own tramp oil skimmer. Let alone any type of plans. Why not? It seems to me this would be easy. A small geared motor, a belt or disk, and a roller.. Am I missing something here??? Why aren't people making their own.. I would think the $150.00 to $450.00 price would be incentive... I just modified my X3 for a 3 axis ballscrew, way oiler and find myself with a tramp oil problem. I have a fully adjustable system now but still find oil in the sump. I would like to hear some ideas on how to build/design a diy tramp oil skimmer. Any ideas or thoughts....
Thanks Jpbinc

[dertsap]

a bbq rotisserie motor would work perfect for the disc type of skimmer , i've put some thought to it in the past but never did it
http://img.directindustry.com/images...mer-382048.jpg

[JpBinc]

Yeh
I thought of that also. There are a lot of those in the thrift stores. I'm not so sure what to use for the oil pickup material( for the belt or disc). Or even how critical it is. I have read some post that say that coolant and oil is wiped off the belt/disc and that is a problem since my sump is only 5 gal or less. I wonder if it has to do with the size/ length of the media being used or just a adjustment issue.
Thanks for the replie...

[JpBinc]

By the way what part of canada are you from?? I grew up on the Minn canadian border, on Lake of the Woods... But ended up in Arizona.. Go figure

[dertsap]

originally Iroquois Falls Ont , a hole in the woods that most never heard of
now i'm in the warmer climate just outside out Vancouver

what may work well for the disc type would be an old 33 or 45 rpm album , the grooves would catch the oil and the oil would stick well to it ,
now you've got me thinking as far as a belt goes , i'll get back on that one

[JpBinc]

Wow, might work, and you could play backround music at the same time if you did it right.
I know some old time audio purest that would say, using vintage records to remove the crap from your sump is just wrong. The way I see it the speed of the media and the media used, are the important factors. To fast and you will be picking up coolant, to slow and it would not pick up the oil. So I think that a speed control like a dimmer or simple router speed control might be needed to dial it in to the sweet spot. Something like this http://www.grizzlyindustrial.com/pro...l-15-Amp/G3703.
I like the disc design for the ease of fabing it up. But I wonder if it wouldn't be better to use the belt design. Because the surface speed of the disc would vary with it's diameter. Fast at the outer edge and slower at the inner edge. I mean there could be a difference in the thickness of the oil if you changed the way oil that you used. Do you think this would be a problem. Does anyone know if off the shelf skimmers have a speed control on them.

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by JpBinc I know some old time audio purest that would say, using vintage records to remove the crap from your sump is just wrong. .

i'm sure even the purests would be happy to see you use an old liza minelli album

from my experience the disc is the best for the simple fact there is much more contact surface , one thing that needs to be concidered is what happens if the setup falls into the coolant tank while being plugged in , i think that most of the professional setups are wet proof

ive never seen speed control on them but your dimmer switch idea would probably work under the circumstances

[Bear]

Hi
I made 1 out of an old microwave turntable motor.
Disk type. Works good.
Bear.

[Kipper]

I just leave it....it stops the water in the coolant evaporating.

[Eurisko]

I'd go with the rotating disk.

Belt systems are not as efficient. The belts are prone to slipping, fraying and breaking.

A disk system would be easy to do. Any plastic disk rotating at about 30 rpms would do nicely. Add a couple of spring-tensioned rubber pads to squeeze the oil from the disk. The oil flows down a trough into a container.

Keep it simple.