Lathe, chip conveyor questions

I'm just trying to learn a bit more about chip conveyors, mostly on lathes since I never had to deal with those yet, I didn't find good videos/pics on the net.

How much fines makes it past them and into the coolant tank normally?(I don't do cast/brass/bronze thankfully) but I assume to clean/maintain them and the tank you have to pull a 8-10' long conveyor, from the end? I've seen no useful details in any sales brochures about that. What's the real space requirements?
Do they also drip much oil/coolant on the floor on the discharge end, or much of it going out with the chips?

I'm trying to figure out my space/shop layout, and if I should just skip that option entirely and put the $$$$ elsewhere. A couple models have rear discharge options, but more $$$$, though better access for where I want to put this thing. I don't really make tons of chips(ok a few tons/year), and some are definitely stringy, mostly stainless.I also need to be able to do fairly easy/quick material change overs, without much chip contamination between material types.
Any other issues or plus sides with conveyors I need to know? I don't expect to be running unattended stuff much, no barfeed.

For those of you with lathes without conveyor, I assume there's just a drip tray/screen that it all falls on above the coolant tank, just scoop them out?(from then end?)

On my mill I just have an auger that pushes them in a drip tray, but tiny fine chips is about all I make on it and they go through the tray holes and end up in the tank anyhow and I scoop them out of there once in a while, pita, kinda doubt a conveyor would be any better there. I need to fab something better this year.

anyhow, thanks for any info about these things.

I would ask the experts like Mayfran.

I have detailed up foundations that have all manner of conveyors, I can
tell you the Hass screw was the worst, and got removed.

However, the hollow screw in the actual machining area (VF-6 milling copper,
making little chips, no stringers) was not a problem. It was the next
screw feeding into a angled cone to get it up off the floor, into a container.

The lathe ones I have seen maintanance repairing are the mayfran type, they ussually
pull them out of the pit once a year, and call in a sucker truck, as fines
do seem to settle underneath.

Grinders, that deal with grit, all seem to flow the coolant in large volume
out the back by gravity, thru a open trough (a sluice) into a bed of fabric.

I was in one shop that did cast iron, they had a very expensive system of high power
coolant pumps to have a continuous "plume" underneath the multiple machines.
curved concrete tunnel, if you fell in, you'd probably end up in the massive
coolant tank in under 5 seconds. Looked like a water slide, only more water.

I would like to think that most conveyors these days will roll out the front of the machine - in the coolant tank.

Carry-off is up to your opperation. Are you peeling lots of material and need the conveyor to run fast all the time?
Or maybe your machine has an M code to turn it on and off and you can move it 2' and shut it off to dry each cycle?
Or maybe your machine would have a rheostat drive, and you can just turn the speed down? Beware, with slow speed comes low trq, and they can and will get stuck sometimes.

How much doo they drip? Well, they should only drip from the discharge area, so as long as your bin is at least that big, it shouldn't be an issue.

The best bet for cleaning them out between materials is to run about 5 rags all wadded up through it. Feed in through the discharge end and let'm go. The fines will build up in the bottom and come up and around every so often in clumps. The rags (or a rats nest if you have one handy when you want it) will force this action and bring the fines up. You'll never git it all.

My Tornos came in w/o a conveyor. What a pain...
I found a used one on ebay near Toronto (for a different machine) and fetched it. Took it to a chum and had him cut it down to fit. Works great!


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

If you end up not getting a conveyor, you'll kick yourself for it.
Shoveling out chips many times a day isn't fun, and it slows down productivity.

I got a conveyor on my new Takisawa (killer lathe, BTW). Most of my work on it is aluminum. BUT - it is miles ahead of the screw on my Haas HL-2 (which really isn't all that bad). I don't run a screw on my SL-10 (got it used, left it off, wasn't enough space for chute when installed), just scoop the ships out. I try to make sure they are broken up and scoop easily. I use a big scoop like they use in the peanut bins.
Get the conveyor!
Check with the supplier to make sure it's optimized for your application.

Without a doubt, get a standard, steel-belt type conveyor for any CNC lathe!
Out the side, or out the back is your choice. (All mine are standard, and come out the right side.)

A couple things I have done to "optimize" conveyor usage at the Cathouse:

1.) I have the motor contactors activated using the same "ON" circuit as the coolant pump, so we don't have to worry about cutting the conveyor on/off...say at lunchtime for example. The conveyors run when the coolant runs, and I like it!

A lot of conveyors come with FWD/REV switch, in case it gets jammed up. We've only had to deal with that a time or two in 21 years. Running the conveyor continuously when the coolant is on minimizes clogs....as most backups will occur because someone forgets to turn the conveyor on.

2.) I have a 1/4" pipe nipple screwed into the chip totes, with a length of air hose draining into a bucket, so most of the coolant that is dragged out by the conveyor and chips is re-captured.

It's nice to not have to think about the chip conveyors...

ToolCat

Get the chip conveyor......worth it's weight in gold if you take time to figure lost production from not having one. For general purpose uses, a standard belt conveyor is fine. If all you do is aluminum, then a scraper is usually a better choice (but not always).