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I use 2-gallon white buckets from Lowe’s – I typically empty the bucket on the dust deputy before switching between materials. I generally keep my aluminum chips separate, not sure if I can use them for something or recycle but I have a bucket of them building up. Very little of anything makes it into the shop vac so I usually just dump it in the trash and wipe out whatever residue is left with a shop towel.
As for the V-wheels, definitely a valid concern. Before I built this z-axis upgrade I could only really get fine powdery flakes of aluminum. They would stick to the wheels and get in the tracks but they were so thin I didn’t think it would harm much. Now with being able to cut the same step-over but more than 5x deeper it’s throwing actual chips. I do have some PVC foam chip guards but I didn’t have them installed for the video. I also have a dust shoe but that would have made the cutting action difficult to see. If I’m cutting without the shoe and/or guards usually I will brush and blow out the chips between cuts.
@PhilJohnson@ReubenEmmanuelBailey Consider that I’m cutting with a water-based mist spray so that should cut down on the flammability. The specific spray I’m using is a homebrew (water, dish soap, mineral oil, and some mild detergents) and is a little sticky when it dries which makes clean-up a little bit of a pain but helps ensure there are no fine particles kicked up in the air.
For milling of the production parts I got a jug of Kool Mist 77 concentrate which is a “real” coolant / lubricant so I may switch that out in my next demo video.
I am shooting for the end of the month to have the first units ready to ship. Aside from building them I am also setting up e-commerce, figuring out packaging / shipping, etc. so I have quite a bit to do. I think the e-commerce service I signed up for supports pre-orders so I may make that available sooner – that would help with planning and materials purchasing.
Chips traveling inside your dust collector in dry air can create spark if not grounded.
Sawdust alone will create explosion but combined with aluminum dust it will essentially create something very close to Thermite that is all kinds of not fun.
Add some lacquer in air or some flammable cutting oil for even more excitement !
This combo was actually used in early rocket engines for a reason.
You can toss some into fire pit if you want but don’t be surprised if you win some Darwin awards.
Let’s not lose our marbles here with the thermite comparison. The difference in exothermic reaction between these compounds is in the magnitude of hundreds.
From everything I have seen there has never been a documented case of spark igniting the sawdust in the ducting of the average hobbyist dust collection system. More likely is a chance of a spark being picked up and making it to the collection bag where it smolders and eventually lights the dust collector up taking the shop with it. and aluminum is non sparking so it has about as much chance of causing things to go boom as Hillary has of still winning the election.
The level of suspended dust in atmosphere required to sustain combustion enough to accelerate to explosive levels would have you running for fresh air because you would not be able to see what you are doing. Generally a level not seen most shops.
The fire pit trick is awesome! but like Phil said it has to be airborne to burn. and then it needs a source of ignition (the bonfire) . Aluminum chips are also much less likely to ignite than aluminum powder as well. I am pretty sure thermite uses compacted powder rather than chips.
I wish I could find the article that addressed this. Within it, it was mentioned that stock removal of something like 3/4" of wood from a 2x6 with a belt sander per minute, or some such very large number, would be needed to be removed and then BE SUSPENDED IN THE AIR to achieve an explosive mixture in the average hobbyist shop. Most commercial shops can’t reach that level.
I am careful to not pick up ferrous metals with my dust collector, they could strike the impeller causing a spark and then start a smolder fire in the bag. That one actually worries me…
I actually started typing out what JkWestphal was summarizing, but decided against it for fear of an all-out notification s-storm I’d have to endure. To my knowledge all the incidents of fire with dust collection are in large rooftop steel industrial units.
Jezzz guys I better step away before someone calls inventables on me …
Everyone can google on their own potential of dust explosions in dust collection systems on their own.
I seen with my own eyes 2 inch spark from my dust collector system pipe before I grounded it and it was plenty if I had some combustive material in vicinity of it to ignite it.
That made me rethink how I deal with dust just not to increase chances of starting fires.
I’mnot saying that it’s impossible to start a fire with a static spark, if a strong enough spark were to connect with a flammable enough substance, say a laquer thinner soaked rag or a finely ground collection of dust of questionable make up for example, then yes, a fire could possibly break out.
A propane company I worked for had grill cylinder filling plants that would release a very small amount of LP when disconnecting from each can. but the could not figure out where the occasional “Popping” sound was coming from until a security camera caught an image of a spark jumping from a worker’s sleeve near the elbow and igniting the free floating gas near the filler stand.
His movment and the flow of liquid in the hose caused static to build up on his person and when he got close enough to a ground point an arc would jump. After that we either had towear a ground strap on our heel or static disapating shoes.
The opposite of what is commonly available and they are hard to find in a small town. I still have a “zap-strap” and do use it from time to time.
But dust explosions are another matter. as I stated earlier, having enough suspended to support runaway combustion,ie; explode, is virtually impossible in most situations and to have it light up in the ducts is even less likely.
Having a grounded DC system certainly cant hurt and can offer some peace of mind for some, as well as benefits related to electronic systems like the x-carve. I run a ground near mine, but not because i am concerned with things going boom.
With all of that, I will now, for my part end the hijack of this thread. Back to your regularly scheduled z axis design.
@RichWood yes I’ve been keeping busy getting everything sorted out. I just face milled a dozen blanks for the frame plates and I’m going to try to get the process for milling the rough blanks for the bracket parts done. I am probably going to be using my X-Carve to mill foam inserts for the packaging so I need to do the CAD/CAM for that too.
One thing I wanted to mention in general – I’m currently targeting a $140 + shipping price point. I am including the thrust bearing and preload spring for the belt-drive, and I am going to have the aluminum parts black anodized. I am also looking at getting the linear rods nickel-plated for corrosion resistance. I am using carbon-steel rods which are extremely hard and strong (60 HRC / 125k psi tensile I think) but are slightly rust-prone if exposed to water. The assembly is going to have a much better finish than I ever intended or expected
I am also almost ready to make a prototype of the direct-drive assembly but I am waiting on some bearings to arrive.
I still have to finish setting up my e-commerce system and I am waiting on a few more parts / tools to arrive. I am still shooting for end of month to have the standard (10", no direct-drive) kits ready. I do need to check with the plating company and see how long it will take to anodize / nickel plate the parts so that may add a delay but I’ll still get the web store up so people can place orders.
Very cool. Having limited time to tinker, this sounds awesome as the stock z is the most problematic part of my x carve. Will the direct drive require a larger stepper than the nema 23?
@EvanDudzik the direct drive will be available as an add-on so it can be upgraded later.
@RichWood the direct drive is designed for NEMA 23 motors only. I am using a custom shaft coupling to accommodate the bearings (lower thrust bearing and upper tapered needle roller bearing) so it would be necessary to make multiple coupling designs for each motor size. There is a very wide range of NEMA 23 stepper sizes available from little pancake-type motors to some really powerful ones and you can get one with plenty of torque for fairly cheap ($20-30 on Amazon)
In all honesty I think the direct drive is kind of overkill and I think the belt drive with the addition of the thrust bearing and preload spring will be a huge improvement for most users, but I will offer it since there is demand for it. I suppose there will always be those who want to push the limits of the machine, and it may offer greater retract speed etc. for those who are using leadscrew or ballscrew conversions on the X and Y axes. I could be wrong though, and once I get a direct drive prototype running I can do some tests pushing hard and retracting with 1/4" drill bits in metal.
@BobJewell I do not have a Suckit dust boot but it appears it may fit with some modification to the Suckit mounting brackets. Specifically there are some parts in the front upper and lower brackets which overlap the front of the X carriage which would have to be trimmed back by about 39mm / 1.5" on each side. I can’t say for certain as I have not been able to locate publicly available CAD models for it.
Could you measure the mounting brackets and see if trimming 1.5" from the inner portion of each one would significantly interfere with the mounting mechanism?
