Milling machine coolant tray

[Dave J]

Hi,
Well I finally got around to finishing off the coolant tray with the help of my grandson (little David) as he is here for the week.

Now to use the famous words of Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee

Thats not a coolant tray



This is a coolant tray.








I had a sheet of 1200 x 3600 x 0.9mm thick aluminum sheet I was given from my nephew a few years back that I had always planned to make this but have only just got around to it.
After planning it out I cut it all up and found it used the lot all but a small off cut.





The main tray is 1200mm long x 760 odd wide and 150mm deep. Being 1200mm wide it just fits in my folder and the wings as I call them are 430mm either side which makes it 2 meter over all in length.



I wanted it all out of aluminum so I can use my magnetic pick up tool as I mainly mill steel, the only steel parts are these corner brackets which hold the main tray corners together, and also the bolts for the wing hinges. I could have went with aluminum but thought steel would be better and they are right on the edge so they should not bother the magnet when cleaning up.
The other single piece is for where it bolts to the column, but had already fitted the other one then remembered to take pictures.



I made the wings because I need to get to the back of the machine to change speeds and maintenance etc, so they are easily folded up out of the way and it also saves room in the shed when it's not in use.

I made the drains either side as the factory tank in the base is a total pain to clean out.




I am going to make an aluminum tank up once I find an old boat tank, but the plastic tub will do for now. The tank fits under the mill base and so will the new tank.


The drain tubes to attach the tubing where just machined out of solid round with the bent flat bar welded on after which suits the shape of the drain.



Sealing it all up with the black crap was a mission on it's own, I forget how many rags I went through. In this picture it shows some quick and simple jacking screws to push out while clamps on the other side squeezed in.


The telescopic support is made from 12 and 16mm tube with 25 x 6mm flat bar joining them together. The 6mm flat bar fits perfectly into the 12mm channel which is attached under the wings and it locks them there and saves them sliding back in unless you lift the wing up.









To get the angle to go around the corner I had to cut the aluminum every 15mm and it went around fine, this was all sealed with the black goo like the rest.



The cap behind the knee screw is just a tight push on fit and has a rubber seal around the screw tube and also at the back where it sits against the column. I was going to fit a vertical piece there as well, but think it will be fine and will see how it goes.

With the drain covers I was going to look for some material online, but just ended up drilling them myself after griding them up at 15mm spacings.
I still need to make a little knob at the front of each one to get them out easy for cleaning.



Just some other random pictures






The next project is fitting the taper attachment I just picked up on ebay for my 12 x 36 lathe. I will post photos of the install and making the new telescopic screw for it when I am done.

Dave

[EdK]

Wow, nice job Dave! I like the hinged wing design.

Ed

[Mayhem]

Excellent work there Dave

[TomG]

Nice job Dave, that should keep your floor dry. I like the wing extensions as well, out of the way when not being used.

Tom

[Dave J]

Thanks Guys.
Tom I am hoping it will keep the floor dry, I still need to add the ones off the column and around the table in preparation for CNC.

After looking at the pictures again I realized that I need to add some detailed pictures.

The hinge I used is 1/2 aluminum tube with a press fit solid aluminum rod inside which was drilled out to 6mm to suit the 6mm bolt.





These stops where a pain to make as they where rebated and the back ones needed to be longer and also have the correct angle because of the tray being different at the back.







It also has plenty of tray in front on the vise, even with the 280-290mm Y travel extension I did.
I could come out more with the tray but didn't want it to be a shin buster or limit me working on the mill.





Dave

[Dave J]

With the wings I drew many many pictures of different designs. I thought of pull out like a draw but because of the shape of the tray and the size of the sides of the tray it wouldn't work. I drew up plans for having 25mm square tube mounted to the base of the mill as a support, but the ark wouldn't fit in to have enough support or it wouldn't fold out of the way enough.

The way it turned out is great because the whole lot can be taken outside to be decreased which was my plan all along after cleaning out the filthy coolant in the base of the mil.

It was pure luck that I ended up with square tube as supports as I was going to use round until I got to the aluminum supplier and said you don't have anything under 25mm square that slides in each other do you, preferably around 12-16mm. He replied we have some balustrade square but it has round edges and I have never tried it together. We walked out the back and we both tried it and it fitted perfectly and the round was on the outside of the outer tube which didn't effect me at all, so I took a length of each home.


Dave

[DaveH]

That is very smart Dave
Do you have a bending machine, just wondering how you bent it all up.
And who drilled all those holes in the drain pans?

DaveH

[Micktoon]

Wow , that is some construction Dave , it looks really impressive and factory made look to it. The folding wing idea is good move too, I hope it manages to catch everything you hoped.
Job well done

Cheers Mick

[doubleboost]

Very nice
Well shown as well
John

[monkers]

amazing work!!!! WOW...thank you for sharing the pics