Suds pumps

I've just about got my new (to me) old round top Student ship shape and Bristol fashion with a nice quick change tool post and some tooling from J&L.

I was wondering if a coolant pump would be a good idea, all the original stuff has long since gone from the lathe, so I'm contemplating buying a pump to fit into the tank and all the associated paraphernalia, or one of these self contained units like this one:

e-bay # 360125784957

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I'm also thinking that with a bit of extra plumbing the self contained unit would double up for my miller.

Good or bad? At the moment I'm using a paint brush and a jar of paraffin :-) I actually do very little turning so maybe it's just a waste of money....

Cheers Julian.

Reply to
Julian
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Hi, the method i`ve adapted is a gravity one. A one gallon container on a shelf above my lathe with a tube from it to a bendy nozzle with a tap on it mounted on the lathe. The return is very simple, The coolant drains from the tray into another one gallon container under the bench. When the feed one runs out all I do is swap them around.Simple and it works a treat. Pete

Reply to
pete

I've run my Student for 15 years without ever using coolant. With the right carbide tooling I've never found a need for it. Only if you're trying to maximise throughput in a production environment is it really necessary. I just run a little slower and don't overheat anything. As stated in many previous posts though the tips you need for small machine hobby work are ultra sharp non-ferrous ones even on steel. The slightly rounded edge tips specified for production use on steel need a lot of horsepower and machine rigidity to shove them through the work and they build up a lot of heat. On a Student all they'll do is produce a s**te finish.

I've used other people's machines with coolant and all it does is make an unholy mess everywhere. You can't just hoover up the nice dry swarf afterwards, it splashes you and everything in the vicinity and it's one more thing to get in the bloody way when you're trying to work. Steer clear is my advice.

Reply to
Dave Baker

They work fine on my Bantam Dave. Here's a pic of the finish with a 0.060" depth of cut on some EN19:

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radius is 0.8mm, and the insert is a Sandvik GC4225 grade.

However, only good for more than 0.010" cuts, below that it's 'orrible. For (trying) to shave off a few tenths, then I use a very sharp CCGT from Walter, which works equally as well on the Colchester or Myford.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Neill

The comments on carbide tooling are ok for mild steel work, I find that with any alloy or stainless there is a dramatic improvement when I use oil, the work does not become heated at the tool and so wont work harden, while the machine is in bits, I would re- furb the suds pump and tank and keep it for the lathe, the same comments apply to the mill but you will end up with a self contained system for that as well. Peter

Reply to
petercolman45

Just a comment on this: I have carbide inserts that are a real pain with oil, but perform perfect with coolant. There is no general rule wether oil, coolant or dry is best. You have to try that out.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Mueller

Thanks for the various relies, I'll put the pump on hold for now and experiment with the gallon tin method - that'll cost nothing! And maybe later look out for a pump to fit the Student if I feel the need.

In view of the differing ideas I think I'll wait untill I have more experience and see how things go. I've never used carbide tips before, just tool steel that I ground by eye and used on my little Boxford. I remember from my school days that we always used coolant and assumed that I should be doing the same.

At the moment I have a 20mm square tool holder that takes the 'C' style triangle tips and a 16mm negative rake holder for 'M' style diamond shaped tips. I purchased various tips selected at random, some for finish cuts, others for light/medium machining - so far I've not really detected much difference between them. One thing I have observed is that they seem to like the job spinning faster than before.

Julian.

Reply to
Julian

On or around Sun, 8 Feb 2009 17:48:57 -0000, "Julian" enlightened us thusly:

I've improvised one from an electric car fuel pump, a cheap battery charger and a fat capacitor nicked from something to smooth the output of the charger.

Mind, I did have the pump already.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

I have not tried it yet but I have recently acquired a submersible pond pump which I intend making into a portable unit for both my mills and lathe.

Martin P

"Austin Shackles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
campingstoveman

C style tips are rhombus shape. T style are triangular. V and D are diamond shape. Don`t know what M are.

Reply to
mark

I use a windscreen washer pump driven by a 6V wallbrick, with a 4-pint milk jug as a reservoir. Cost £1 for the pump, the tubing and brick were recycled junk.

Running at 6V rather than 12V makes it a LOT quieter, and I doubt it would run continuously at 12V anyway, windscreen washer pumps are not designed for high duty cycles. Still gives plenty enough flow though.

The only but I miss from an expensive pro setup is the sexy adjustable tube/nozzle, but these are available on ebay for a tenner or so - if I ever want to pay that much for one.

Skint of Trowbridge

Reply to
Peter Fairbrother

C style tips are rhombus shape. T style are triangular. V and D are diamond shape. Don`t know what M are.

Sorry, I'm probably getting muddled here.

I've triangle tips for ''C style clamping system'' (from the J&L book) style TNG. I guess that TNG is T style? I'm beginning to get he picture.... Anyway, they cut through steel well, seemed to have no bother with a bit of EN24T that I had.

Julian.

Reply to
Julian

I'm wondering If I could cobble one up from one of those cheap Clarke parts washers from Machine Mart, they actually come with a little flexible nozzle and pipe.

Julian.

Reply to
Julian

I have a coolant system based round a condensate fridge pump that fits under the lathe and both the lathe and the mill pump drain into it .It has a float aeembly that fires the pump in fills the 25 litre header tank(industrial detergent containor ) at a high level and that is teed off to the mill and the lathe ,both of which have individual valves to off and on.If you adopt this get some cheap lever globe valves from screwfix as the plastic ones on the linck lock pipe may struggle ,then things get a little messy !!! Get in PM me if you require any help ,i may be able to source somer of the bits for you . Cheers Will

Reply to
Chillybilly

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