Haas Mini Mill - HEPA

Hi all,

I'm about to purchase a Haas Mini Mill for my university-based research lab. The mill will be used for a specific experiment, and then afterwards for occasional jig/fixture making to support other research. The experiment we're planning will require HEPA filtration, but it will be a very short run-time (under 10 hours of cutting, very small amount of material to be removed. The workpieces will be about 10cm2 in size), after which the HEPA filtration will be unnecessary.

I asked the (super helpful) Haas rep about HEPA filtration, and he recommended an add-on mist collector unit which can be fitted with a HEPA filter. While the quoted price wasn't terrible, I do have to stick to a strict budget for the project and this pushes us over.

I'm wondering how feasible it would be to rig up a regular HEPA vacuum close to the spindle for the same purpose? If this was going to be a recurring issue, or we were cutting large volume material, I wouldn't mess with jerry-rigging something. But, I also would prefer not to spend limited grant funding on something that won't see any further use a couple of months from now.

Just wondering if anyone's done something similar, and if there would be any issues with that plan?

Thanks in advance,

Lee

I'm sure you could rig something up with a few shopvacs, some in line filters, etc.

Better yet would be a industrial woodshop bag vaccum, could easily resell. They pull quite a large volume.

But, depending on where this machine will be/be used, you very well may want that collector. I. Have a new mini in my basement, and when being run hard with high pressure coolant, it gets hummid.


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If it's due to cutting hazardous material, I'd think a powerful shop vac close to the spindle would work way better than a mist collector. The mist collector doesn't have a very strong suction and you'd still get dust all over in the machine, which would be a royal pain to clean up.

What is Haas quoting for a mistbuster system?

There is a new (open box) on ebay for about $750 including shipping... (no affiliation)

edit: I misread what OP was looking for.

Mist collector isn't going to hepa anything.

Are you cutting dry?

You can rig up a nosepiece type deal and attach that to a dust collector. Dust collectors for wood routers can be had for a few hundred. Festool makes fancy ones that do Hepa example. Here's the nosepiece I made for my router. Works well: video

Awesome, thanks guys
I'm going to go the HEPA shop-vac route, and rig it up close to the spindle.

I'm going to be cutting mostly dry to start with. Part of the experiment will include some.coolant cutting, but very unlikely to be enough that a mist collector is needed.

Thanks again!

Lee

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You may find more information if you search for graphite milling enclosures for EDM electrodes. That is a very common application of controlling harmful dust... I don't have any specific professional knowledge other than a cursory understanding from what I've seen over the years, but I'm sure we have some experts.

Or just buy a graphite machining center as they usually are designed around a downdraft setup and filtration system that is larger than the actual machine. There are a few that appear like fair buys on ebay.

Hardplates said:

Or just buy a graphite machining center

Click to expand...

If a Haas MiniMill is stretching the budget I don't think that's an option, unless he's lucky enough to find a good used one that doesn't need a lot of work.

mhajicek said:

If a Haas MiniMill is stretching the budget I don't think that's an option, unless he's lucky enough to find a good used one that doesn't need a lot of work.

Click to expand...

OKK MODEL DGM 400 3-AXIS CNC HIGH SPEED GRAPHITE MACHINING CENTER | eBay

I would take that ^^^^ first any day regardless of what I was machining.

Wow, that's an awesome deal and would likely be perfect
But, I have to purchase new for the lab
If it was going in my garage, that would be first choice though!

Lee

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Though mine is not HEPA, this is my setup to minimize mist over-spray and pick up swarf.