Oil SKimmers , non-commercial

Hard to believe some of the prices for Oil Skimmers.
Yeah, some have carbide scrapers and urethane belts, but other than that, what?

Has anyone built one for their own use that doesn't cost an arm and a leg ?

This would be for a 14x40 lathe that doesn't see everyday use, but still I get a film in the coolant tank that I'd like to get rid of.

TIA
gatz

Get a ladle and skim it manually.

I have seen a few shop made skimmers and they all were pos they would grab oil and coolant, now granted they were built using junk that was lying around.

carlherrnstein said:

Get a ladle and skim it manually.

.

Click to expand...

THIS.


OR,
you could do it this way....

2 RPM 120 Volt AC Gearmotor | AC Gearmotors | AC Gearmotors | Electric Motors | www.surpluscenter.com

Can you turn an adapter to the pulley? You need a top and bottom pulley.
Bottom should be steel.

L100 Pulleys for 1

Need a urethane belt...

Truly Endless Belts Polyurathane

Use a record album for the disc...I suggest "I'm your captain" from GFRR.

Over and over and over and over.....

Why not simply float one of those oil skimming pads on the coolant surface ?
They may be expensive, but your usage is very low.

Steady hands and a shop vac

Gatz: Got a couple of tricks that may help. The simplest is cotton rags in the coolant return area. We used to lay cotton rags in the return trough to allow the coolant to pass thru the rags. The cotton would absorb the oil and allow the coolant to pass on thru. just replace rags as needed. Another thing to help keep coolant viable is a bubbler line in the tanks. This is a copper line (1/4") that is pinched off at one end, drilled with a string of holes (about 1/32) along the length about 6" apart. The other end is hooked to an air regulator with a little pressure on the bubbler line. Only enough pressure to allow it to bubble. This agitation will keep the coolant oxygenated to prevent souring. Hope this helps.
Sarge41

thanks for all the suggestions and help.

I've considered the Motor/Pulleys/Belt arrangement before. Might even have a piece of carbide,or at least HHS for a scraper.
Just need to get at it, eh?

Just a piece of plastic to scrape the oil off the belt.
You are not trying to cut the belt, just wipe off the oil that sticks to it.

Belt skimmer works BETTER than a disk for an occasional use machine, since it is not so fussy about the level of the coolant.
You need a Bigger disk to reach down into a tank if the coolant level drops.