To be on topic
Energy efficient tools would be a nice addition
To follow with this issue. My bill says I pay 0.0865 cents per kilowatt. If you take the total bill divided by kw used = 0.19667 cents per kilowatt.
They claim we are charged a correct rate BUT! they tag fees on top and call it something else and its not. Silly used cars sales.
As of today the current news reads they are going to a flat fee "about 30%" for any customer the goes over 500 kwh a month and the fee doubles if you go over 1000kw a month. They said so people with large homes will see up to 60% increase. And as I stated above I cant get below those numbers. They also stated they would lower the rates to commercial properties so business will not struggle so much lol they just are not going to increase those rates for now
Its all good we have clean air now and 1000's of homeless people living along every river bottom in every city.
The 1100 is adequate for what I do. The stand, however, is not. I use flood coolant and the stand leaks like sieve, does not drain the coolant back to the tank very well, the coolant tank is too small, and the chips can pile up in a hurry further hindering drain-back.
I'd be happy if Tormach made a better engineered stand with sloping pans, 10-15 gallon tank, 1/4hp pump, and a chip auger. I know that would be $$ but I would probably pay it.
I have been slowly getting mine setup. One of the first things I noted was that the filter screen is above the pan. That means even for small jobs coolant will back up a little before it flows out. I was thinking about changing that to a couple clip rails below the pan to slide into. This would make for much better flow.
Where are the leaks in your stand? The bolt holes I guess could be an issue if the pan fills up. If its just seeping from spray at the seams, well DAP sealant does a great job. Much better than most silicones. I have used DAP to seal stuff indoors and out for close to 20 years now.
I had hoped the tank size would be adequate to run all day, (I don't know about that giant pillow or even were to put it though.) Its a little larger than the tank on my high speed mills and they will run all day for the type of work I do. Usually I can get two days before I have to add coolant, but I found that the nozzles chip clog less and the coolant handles better overall if the tanks are above half full at all times. I also have to clean the filter screens on those atleast every day. If I am removing a lot of material roughing I may need to clean them two or three times a day. I think the smaller primary filter screen for the Tormach may have to be cleaned more often depending on what type of work I am doing.
On my bigger mill (KMB1) the chips just build up on the table. The table drains are adequate, but barely. I put a T instead of an elbow on them for the drain hoses and they seem to flow better.
Chip management is always a bugger.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Bob,
The cheapest, simplest and most effective upgrade to the stock coolant system is to add an overflow container. I drilled a hole on the side of the tank as close to the top as I could and installed a 3/8 barb fitting and then run a hose to a bucket. Now I can "overfill" the tank without it overflowing and running all over the floor.
I use one of these: https://www.mcmaster.com/#5372k118/=1ckepx9. If the tank stays full the coolant flow is adequate, once the level drops a little it becomes mostly worthless.
If you have a lathe or.. eh-hem a mill... you can make your own barb fittings pretty easily. Brass is expensive, but aluminum rod stock can be pretty cheap if you buy full bars from your local metal vendor. If I am at the store anyway, or making an order for other things I'll buy barbs, but often when I am elbows deep in a project I'll just make them. I keep a little brass and a little more aluminum on hand anyway.
You know a two tank system is one of the methods of settling out fines that can chip clog nozzles right? I have a two tank system on my lightest currently in service mill now. Coolant drains into a filter screen in tank one, goes under a baffle, and then rises up to an overflow that flows into tank two where the coolant pump is. That machine also has the smallest coolant reservoir (the amount in tank two) so I have to run small nozzles at regulated flow to not run out of coolant in process on that machine, but even with the smaller nozzles I hardly ever have a chip clog. I mostly use that machine for engraving, but I do use it to run a job once in a while when I have an idea that's burning a hole in my brain, and the other machines are busy.
P.S. There is no need for your overflow tank fitting to be high into the main tank if your goal is just more volume. If the hose barbs are fitted lower you have more useable volume because then the overflow tank can flow back in your main tank. You don't want it at the bottom because the flow in the hose could get clogged by fines, but an inch or two off the bottom should work ok. The benefit is you can use something like a five gallon bucket outside the machine for your volume, and mark it at the same level as optimum for the machine. Then you can add coolant to the bucket where you con see it easily. The levels will then automatically equalize and almost all the volume in your system will be useable volume. That does nothing for fine chip management, but it definitely will increase the time intervals for adding coolant to the system.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
In the SF Bay area, if you have a family with electric habits (using computers, watching TV,) you'll be in the $0.40/kWh bracket.I pay $.122 /kwh plus a $32/month service fee in USD.
Oh, and a 1200 sqft house with a single-car garage is over a million dollars. I could move enough stuff to fit a PCNC 440, but a 1100 would just not fit...
(No wonder all the parts-and-dies shops are closing up and moving out of the area :-( )
Good reasons to not live in SF area.
Truth! Once the kids have flown out (not too far off) that may indeed change.
The Tormach "2200" already exist for the features everyone wants can be had from industrial machines such as Haas, Mori, Matsura, ect. You can find a used Brother mill cheaper than a fully loaded 1100 and still be miles ahead.