Question
I have had it with my dust collection on my Multicam 5000. So I need some help and I figured that there are a lot of other people out there that are in the same boat as me. I am hoping that some of the operators and owners of nested based CNC routers that have a better grip on this could share their methods of cleaning off their tables. Mainly what jigs or other items they bought or built to get that process done faster and more efficient. This advice would help increase sheet counts as well as making the shops cleaner. Any ideas are welcome.
Forum Responses
(CNC Forum)
From contributor M:
I also used to have a Multicam. Similar issue, but it is generic to many CNCs, not just Multicam. I also use a second pass even though I have a really nice machine now with very good collection, but with a full upshear at high speed, like 1600 IPM with a two flute. You need to reduce the diameter of the top half of the onion skinning bit (if you go with the full upshear) by a few tenths of a mm so you don't get chipping at the top on the second pass, but it is very effective for removing dust. You also get nearly 100 percent part hold down, especially with small pieces. For the large ones it doesn’t take that much time really.
Look at it this way, you drill in either case, and likely onion skin the small parts anyway. Adding a second pass to large parts for dust removal makes about a 15% difference to overall run times. To me it's worth it.
Another approach is to set up a blower nozzle to ride with the head, and blow air into the groove as you cut. This is actually harder than it sounds, but it works if you get it set up just right. You need a flexible blower attachment. Some manufacturers pulse the air, others use a full stream. Look at the Anderson series, they have it as a standard. Even with a perfect blower, and a nice machine, a lot of dust is going to stay in the groove. Getting it airborne is the key to getting it up the chute.
The real issue with this, in my book, is the time and effort it takes to clean the table so that the next sheet will hold properly. I have one client using a Multicam that has built two tables at the same height as the bed of the machine. At the end of a program run, the entire spoilboard is transferred to one of the tables. A second spoilboard with a fresh sheet on top is placed on the machine and the program started. While the machine is running, the operator can stack up the parts from the previous run and clean off the spoilboard ready to cycle the next sheet.
It does require two people to move the spoilboard and sheets like this since sliding it on and off would tend to disturb the gaskets under the spoilboard. We are looking into using a five foot wide spoilboard with four foot wide sheets and a vacuum lift with the cups spaced to straddle the four foot sheet which would return them to a one man operation.
Contributor L, as for your comment regarding the cutting inserts for the Aerotech System having a unique design, you are absolutely correct. Each bit has a threaded HSK20C (Tapered cylindrical cone, with two flats) connection integrated onto the butt end of the bit.
