Chip conveyor on VMC question?

gundog · Apr 10, 2019

Is it normal to get a lot of chips in the coolant tank? I am machining aluminum only in this machine and although the cart gets filled it is filling the area under the conveyor as well. It seems a lot of chips stick to the conveyor and end up dropping in the tank. I am thinking of adding a wiper brush to help remove the chips from sticking to the conveyor and dropping in the tank.

ifixcnc · Apr 10, 2019

A lot of different conveyors are available. Depending on the particular chip you are producing, they can work well, or not. The high end machine's have some nice options, like the Mayfran Consep for example.

Mooner · Apr 10, 2019

gundog said:
Is it normal to get a lot of chips in the coolant tank? I am machining aluminum only in this machine and although the cart gets filled it is filling the area under the conveyor as well. It seems a lot of chips stick to the conveyor and end up dropping in the tank. I am thinking of adding a wiper brush to help remove the chips from sticking to the conveyor and dropping in the tank.

I posted almost the same question a while ago:
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...issues-q-342022/?highlight=Filtering+conveyor

Unless you have a filtering conveyor, the answer is yes...

I have since replaced my conveyor with an LNS filtering conveyor model. Holy cow, major improvement... Went from having to empty out the coolant tank every two weeks to not ever having to worry about it. Any chips larger than 250 microns are caught before they get into the tank.

The filtering conveyors are quite a bit more expensive though... There are a few different kinds as well - mine has wipers on the back of the belt that scrape metal screens inside the tank below coolant level. Others are “drum type” or have fibrous filter belts. Looks at LNS and Mayfran models.

gundog · Apr 10, 2019

I just snapped this picture the far baffle is in front of the main coolant pump it was completely full and restricting flow to the pump that is how I knew it was full.

gundog · Apr 10, 2019

Mooner said:
I posted almost the same question a while ago:
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...issues-q-342022/?highlight=Filtering+conveyor

Unless you have a filtering conveyor, the answer is yes...

I have since replaced my conveyor with an LNS filtering conveyor model. Holy cow, major improvement... Went from having to empty out the coolant tank every two weeks to not ever having to worry about it. Any chips larger than 250 microns are caught before they get into the tank.

The filtering conveyors are quite a bit more expensive though... There are a few different kinds as well - mine has wipers on the back of the belt that scrape metal screens inside the tank below coolant level. Others are “drum type” or have fibrous filter belts. Looks at LNS and Mayfran models.

Thanks this is my first VMC and I was not sure what to expect. I am cleaning out the coolant tank every time I dump the bin cart that holds half a 55 gallon drum of chips. I wouls say the conveyor is getting 70% of the aluminum chips. The 2 pumps have 2 screens before each pump and the chips so far are not creating a pump problem until they fill the baffle area before the pump before the first screen.

Vancbiker · Apr 10, 2019

Your machine came with a "general purpose" conveyor because it is kind of a general purpose machine. They will get chips out of the machine, with some materials being handled better than others. Also the actual chip size and shape will have a big impact on how well it works. You might experiment a bit with cutting conditions to see if there is a better chip type for your conveyor to handle.

3t3d · Apr 10, 2019

Get a Jorgensen scraper conveyor.
About $5K

They handle the super fine chips, and the 6's and 9's VERY well.
Mind boggling better than the slat conveyor you have, and for a better price.

I tried several things getting the slat conveyor like you have to shed the chips.
The only thing that got the chips off was an air blast... VERY expensive to run!

So I rigged an M code to tun the conveyor, and the air on for a few seconds per part, and back off again.

guest · Apr 10, 2019

gundog said:
...I am thinking of adding a wiper brush to help remove the chips from sticking to the conveyor and dropping in the tank.

I've got a brush on my mill conveyor, it sort of works. They get beat up pretty quick.

Jorgensen sells a spray cleaner for chip conveyors.

Conveyor Belt Cleaners - The ChipBlocker(R) - Jorgensen Conveyors, Inc. : Jorgensen Conveyors, Inc.

SIM · Apr 10, 2019

I run it for 30 sec every few minutes hoping to have coolant run off on its way up the chute.

Then the barrel it drops into I drilled a bunch of holes and place on a shallow pan with a raised rack so whatever coolant makes it way into the barrel drips out before we dump in the morning.

Mooner · Apr 10, 2019

gundog said:
Thanks this is my first VMC and I was not sure what to expect. I am cleaning out the coolant tank every time I dump the bin cart that holds half a 55 gallon drum of chips. I wouls say the conveyor is getting 70% of the aluminum chips. The 2 pumps have 2 screens before each pump and the chips so far are not creating a pump problem until they fill the baffle area before the pump before the first screen.

That’s exactly what I was seeing... My first machine too...

If you ever come up north (Auburn), feel free to come take a look...

mbertke · Mar 24, 2021

guest said:
I've got a brush on my mill conveyor, it sort of works. They get beat up pretty quick.

Jorgensen sells a spray cleaner for chip conveyors.

Conveyor Belt Cleaners - The ChipBlocker(R) - Jorgensen Conveyors, Inc. : Jorgensen Conveyors, Inc.

Is there a non-powered/non-driven solution for removing chips from a hinged belt? The setup we have uses abrasive nylon brushes which is only collecting the chips. Also, does not do well with long, stringy chips. The nylon brushes rotate from physical contact with the belt.

DouglasJRizzo · Mar 24, 2021

I worked for a major MTB and one of the demo machines had an aluminum specific conveyor from (I think) LNS. It had washers in it and a chip tray to catch the fines.

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