[datac]

Having read thru just about everything written about the G0704's on the zone..... and after gazing at all the various photos of various chip trays, I have to ask why it seems that all chip trays are supposed to be lowest in the middle right under the machine ?

I arrive at this question because I HATE... I truly DESPISE the insane crappy, leaky OE chip tray on the NM200 Novakon I have at work. Nothing is worse than cleaning up, under and around the base of the mill on this NM. Even with the table jogged as far out of the way as possible, you still can not get to the drain hole straight on. Then there are the numerous nooks and crannies. Do these so called "designers" ever THINK about what they are building ?

I'm doing a G0704 at the moment, and MY tray is going to be tapered from higher on the left, to lower on the right. The machine itself will be supported by vertical stands or legs that run from left to right such that they level the machine with the base, but also allow me to wash down UNDER the mill easily with little to nothing for chips to catch on. Radiused edges on those legs as well as all other edges will keep rags from catching during final clean up, and the tray will be one piece with none of the zigs, zags and crannies this NM200 has. Still up in the air is whether or not I use the OE G0704's rather narrow base cabinet or not.

At the right side of my tray, there will be a 3" radiused bottom lowered trough running from front to back, where probably from the back, a small chip auger whose auger drags on the bottom can be easily slid in or out for quick final cleaning with a simple rubber spatula. I'll have to figure out where the optimum spot needs to be for the actual coolant return hole(s) in that mix.

Finally, I plan to paint the tray with real paint.... not something that smells like dead animals when you drill into it. Lol. (what on earth do they put in that imported paint?)

I scratched out a quick drawing of a potential shape for you to get a better idea on what I am intending.

What could possible be wrong with this plan ?

[Kenny Duval]

I suspect there is no real reason for the middle to be the lowest part of the plan. I did mine that way to accommodate the flood coolant and chip collection into a location that was easily serviceable. I also wanted to hold the mill up high enough above the center to not trap any moisture under it.

[rythmnbls]

Beautiful job on the mill housing / chip tray. Is that a RAM in the background ?

Steve.

[Kenny Duval]

Yep...a 2004 SRT-10. The cheaper to insure Viper with the large trunk option.

[rythmnbls]

The cheaper to insure Viper with the large trunk option.

LOL, color me jealous, I have a low mileage '03 2 door with the 5.7 and always thought it was a bit sporty, the V10 is a big step up in HP and torque. Must be a lot of fun to drive.

P.S.
My apologies to Datac for the thread hijack.

Steve.

[datac]

Your tray is intuitive.... the only center drain one I've seen with any merit.

Smooth interior and easy to clean. The machine standoffs are what I too was thinking so the machine is well off the pan so you can get under it to clean up.

No apologies necessary for me........ Drooling is drooling, Machines, Tools, Shops OR Cars !

You won't see my "hot rod" in my garage.... It's 22' long, 11' high and 90" wide..... doesn't fit !

But I could have an awesome shop INSIDE of it.

[Kenny Duval]

It works pretty well. The tray is fiberglass. The only penetrations through the tray are the bolts that hold the mill and the 2' channel the cabling and hose run through. The sink drains most use didn't make any sense to me. Chips go into the top drawer and it drains back to the coolant tank. Simple.

[datac]

Is the tray completely fiberglass where you made a mold/plug or did you layer mat over wood ?

I did not think of using glass but it makes sense actually. One could get a very nice molded look. I could line the auger area with a half section of stainless steel exhaust tubing easily. I plan to use water based coolants, so there shouldn't be a problem there as long as it is done right.

Thanks for the additional concept option !

[Kenny Duval]

I did mine over a plug.



I cut the holes for the post. Bonded the pan to the stand and then glassed in the tops of the posts.

[datac]

Nice !

I can see this as an excellent way to go. A person can easily create very smooth radius internal corners compared to creating in steel. And like you have proven, molding in internal protrusions for any need is easy enough. Do you know about how thick you ended up, and whether you feel it was enough or not ?

[Kenny Duval]

I went with 5 layers of the wowen matt available at any Lowe's or Home Depot.

[toddbeau]

Attachment 280018

I did mine out of sheet metal. The mill is suspended over it and with a 4x6 hole it's easy to wash it all down in to the chip pan.

[LeeWay]

I like all the work so far in this thread. Nice stuff. I have toyed with and even started building an enclosure for my little home made mill in the past. That got stalled out when I bought a Torus.
It's chip tray needed work to be usable. I did install a sink drain in it and it would still clog at times without judicious housekeeping. I never felt too happy about it, but it was a step above what is under my home made mill.
The Torus is no longer with us and I bought the Novakon Pulsar as a replacement.
Now that is a tray. I think the new ones under the Torus Pro are the same. I would urge you to take a look at those before designing this one. It is pretty similar to the last picture of Toddbeau and the one by Kenny. The mill sits on supports. There is a large opening under the entire mill base. It drains directly into a fine mess screen drawer and then into another screen on top of the coolant tank. The key to it's effectiveness is a separate wash down pump. Housekeeping takes only a minute or two every day. Zero leaks. Clean machine. I absolutely love it. I don't get excited about a lot of things, but Novakon's new tray design is a game changer. Oh and they are powder coated too. No need for an auger.

It's great when you need to change a vise or tooling plate or maybe inspect the machine to have it all clean and dry to start with. I cannot convey the aggravation I have with my old mill because of remnant chips in the tray and on the mill when I have to work on it.
Here is a recent image of the inside of my mill after installing a new vise. Now I did have to clean out the T slots, but the tray was this clean to start with.

[datac]

Well, the contributions here have me rethinking a low center pan, especially seeing the clearance under toddbeau's, and the aspect of the four tapered sides. I do wonder what the tube dimensions and thickness are under that mill, and whether it will be rigid when the full Z axis is installed. At first glance, it looks like if one pushed the top of the mill left or right, the cross bars might flex ?

And perhaps my thought of an auger is overkill for the size of the machine.

Indeed the newer Novakon tray sure beats the older one. I would have liked to see a little more space underneath the mill, but compared to the NM, its really nice. Too bad they had to make it in pieces..... one piece would have been the ticket. Not sure I like to even see the joints as it reminds me of the NM-200 nightmare.

[LeeWay]

The front and rear of the mill on the new Novakon stands is only about 1/2" clearance, but the sides have a couple inches. Plenty of room for the largest chips and curls to go into. The wings on the stand makes sense on at least the Pulsar sized machine. Makes for a lot smaller crate. The pulsar is shipped mounted on the stand. Even the new wing design is much better than the old one. It looks similar, but is better thought out. I did add a bead of silicone when assembling the wings and added a bit more afterward. I have no leaks. Pretty painless.

[toddbeau]

The supports are 1.5" square with a .25" wall, the bosses were welded in and both were milled flat where the base sits. The frame is filled with sand and old coal slag from the basting cabinet.

Wash down is super nice since it only takes a minute to wash it down. I used a 3 way valve to switch between flood and wash down.
Attachment 280052

I also had clogged up drains, but I reversed the screen to allow chips to build up and let coolant cascade over.

[bgriggs]

I have been thinking about making a chip tray out of Sintra PVC. The advantages would be that it could be assembled with PVC Cement. Does any one have any thoughts on this? Do you think it would hold up to coolant?

Bill

[LeeWay]

I intended to make one out of thin sheet fiberglass, but never got that far.
I did use the fiberglass around for the enclosure panels.
No signs of anything. Looks as good as the day I installed it.
I don't care for PVC. The only good things about it are ease of use and cost. It may or may not hold up to coolant.
I know polycarbonate does not last long with Kollmist 77.

[Fastest1]

I did mine out of sheet metal. The mill is suspended over it and with a 4x6 hole it's easy to wash it all down in to the chip pan.

I always liked designs like that. Small drains and or screens suck., especially on a lathe (yes I know it is a mill pan). Thumbs up from me.