Upgrades! New spindle, coolant

Post date: Nov 23, 2017 2:28:01 AM

Time for some upgrades. I got sick of being stuck with 1/4" tooling (lots of fun cutters- dovetail, keyseat, etc.- seem to start at 3/8" shank), so I got a spindle that takes ER16 collets. Now I can go up to 3/8" tooling!

3/8" tooling vs 1/4" (left); spindle installed (right)

It's also got a much nicer electrical connection than the previous one- proper strain relief and everything!

Old, poor strain relief (left), new and much better (right)

Finally, and this will likely warrant its own post later on, but I've got a coolant system in the works:

Hook up a compressor on the left, it gets regulated down to some 30~40 PSI, pressurizes the coolant reservoir, and then air and coolant are mixed and go out the Loc-Line. A quick test indicates it works pretty well, and even 30 PSI generates quite the airstream. The design is based on plans from the Internet- it's not really a mister, but instead spits out a stream of air with droplets of coolant.