Aluminium Scrap and Oil Issue

[daniep]

Hi,

I am machining AL 6061 on my Tsugami sliding head machine. While machining we are facing issues with the scrap. The aluminum chips are really long and all our oil (Blaser Blasomill GT22) stays on the long aluminium chips. We just finished our 208 Lt oil within 12-14 days of operation.

How do we recover the oil? As of now we are keeping the scrap in a big tank and keeping it for a couple of days to see if the oil would settle at the bottom of the tank. But that isn't showing any good results either.

Any suggestions here would be of great help.

 

[Milland]

There are companies that make and cell coolant centrifuges for separation of coolant/oil and chips. If your operation uses enough oil to make it economically sensible to use a centrifuge, then you should consider getting one.

Here's one manufacturer: Please Wait... | Cloudflare

Some people have made their own "shop made" devices, it depends on how you value time vs. direct expenditure.

One other thing - depending on your cutting parameters, you may find that increasing feed rates for all "non-finishing" cut operations helps. By increasing chip thickness, you lower the surface area to mass of the chips, therefore tending to lower coolant/oil loss. Not to mention the direct benefits of lowered cutting time.

 

[DanASM]

We use Chip Wringers.

Barrett 1100-E Fluid Extractor Chip Wringer | eBay

I have one like this. Barrett is the old version. Kinespin is the new company.

Chip Spinner, Wringer, Centrifuge.

I switched over to another thinner cutting oil for AL to get it to drain through the chips better. I liked the results, but am dealing with a rash that I have never before had to deal with, I suspect is from this cutting oil.

 

[CITIZEN F16]

We use Chip Wringers.

Barrett 1100-E Fluid Extractor Chip Wringer | eBay

I have one like this. Barrett is the old version. Kinespin is the new company.

Chip Spinner, Wringer, Centrifuge.

I switched over to another thinner cutting oil for AL to get it to drain through the chips better. I liked the results, but am dealing with a rash that I have never before had to deal with, I suspect is from this cutting oil.

When I turned 40 I magically became allergic to cutting oil or anything with a high percentage of petroleum in it.
If I get any oil of any type on my skin I have to wash it off quickly.

 

[Shawnrs]

Hi,

I am machining AL 6061 on my Tsugami sliding head machine. While machining we are facing issues with the scrap. The aluminum chips are really long and all our oil (Blaser Blasomill GT22) stays on the long aluminium chips. We just finished our 208 Lt oil within 12-14 days of operation.

How do we recover the oil? As of now we are keeping the scrap in a big tank and keeping it for a couple of days to see if the oil would settle at the bottom of the tank. But that isn't showing any good results either.

Any suggestions here would be of great help.

Why are you using oil on 6061?

 

[mhajicek]

Why are you using oil on 6061?

If the machine is setup for oil, you use oil.

There are also machines that compress the chips into a puck, that will squeeze out much of the oil / coolant.

 

[CITIZEN F16]

Why are you using oil on 6061?

If the machine has a revolving bushing assembly that doesn't have sealed bearings, water soluble coolant will severely shorten bearing life.

 

[Kitsyfluff]

In the future you might want to look into ways to break those chips better so you can diminish the source of the problem. Is this from a mill, lathe, or just 'this and that'? Try and get some/better chip breakers on your endmills/inserts/whatever tool so this doesn't keep happening. Stringy chips in 6061 come from not feeding hard or deep enough. (usually one or the other, sometimes both.)

For example when I'm rough turning, I try to keep the DOC above .050" and feed .010"/rev or so, otherwise I get birdnests. Finish turning I keep it above .010" with a feed around .005"-.008" and that really helps break the chip.

 

[chip_maker]

Material quality also has a lot to do with how the chips break.

What mill is the material from?

 

[Jeff_M_PA]

In a past life, I was in the recycling business. We recycled mostly plastic and rubber, and our processes included shredding, granulating, and pulverizing (and eventually extrusion compounding). Customer wanted us to pulverize aluminum to, I think, 10 mesh. We used a hammermill. Scrap aluminum was chips that came from a ladder factory (before that was all off-shored). Started to show up coated with oil, caused us a lot of problems (stink, smoke, residue). We complained, he insisted it was no different than previous (BS, but hey, we needed the work, and he was my secretary's brother). Bottom line, we burned a 17,000 ft2 building to the ground because we were dumbasses and continued to do it. Didn't put us out of business, but damn close. Man, life is so much better now. Live & learn, if you're lucky.

Jeff

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Hi,

I am machining AL 6061 on my Tsugami sliding head machine. While machining we are facing issues with the scrap. The aluminum chips are really long and all our oil (Blaser Blasomill GT22) stays on the long aluminium chips. We just finished our 208 Lt oil within 12-14 days of operation.

How do we recover the oil? As of now we are keeping the scrap in a big tank and keeping it for a couple of days to see if the oil would settle at the bottom of the tank. But that isn't showing any good results either.

Any suggestions here would be of great help.

Dad used a chip wringer and gallons of oil would flow from it.