[Hamzter]

Hi All,

I've got fed up of sweeping up after my machine (CNC'd Sieg SX3) so I'm in the process of building an enclosure for it. The structure will be 30x30 aluminium extrusion, with a vertical sliding door (supported on gas struts) on the front and a hinged door on the left, bolted to the wall on two sides.

Attachment 385292

The only thing I'm stuck on is what material to make the windows out of, it's basically got to be acrylic or polycarbonate, but I can't decide between the two, any suggestions? Polycarbonate is much more resistant to impacts, but acrylic is more resistant to scratches. I am a bit concerned about acrylic not being able to take an impact should a part liberate itself from the vice, especially being so large (front window is ~1200x900mm).

Also, any recommendation on thickness? I'm aiming to fit seals around all the gaps to try and cut down some of the noise, the extrusion can support up to 6mm panels, not sure if that's overkill or not though.

Thanks in advance for any advice

G

[Fastest1]

Good luck on trying to keep extrusions from leaking like a sieve.
Draw up your design, go to a local sheet metal fabricator (AC duct maker).
Make all panels have a lip overlapping the lower panels inside the enclosure. If you need windows, cut openings and use a sealer to put Lexan or similar plastic windows in.
It will be cheaper than 80/20 in the long run. It wont leak if designed well.
Also place the mill above the floor, keep the floor slanted towards the drain. Preferably a large opening with a swarf drawer underneath to filter the swarf out prior to entering the collection tank.


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[maxspongebob]

Hamzter, that looks interesting. I made a similar enclosure, but mine has swinging doors on front and no top. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...are-posts.html

You probably want to use LEXAN. Just last week, I was using an edge finder on my mill and accidentally had the RPM at 4K. Wow did that thing go flying with some force. It made a divit in the LEXAN, but did not penetrate or crack. Also, I used 80/20 for the frame so it already had a slot for the panels to slide into. Then to hold the panel in place so it didn't rattle, I pushed a 1/8 " vinyl tube into the slot between the frame and the panel. Works great.

I use a mist system, so I don't have to worry about leaks as much but it would be relatively easy to seal it all up.

BTW, the expensive part about using 80/20 is the brackets. Since I can make my own, that is what I did. I made all the corners out of .062 aluminum sheet. Also, I spaced all the holes at 2" to give it more support. It is rock solid, even with the doors open.


Bob

[genixia]

Polycarbonate all the way. (LEXAN is a trademarked brand of it.) 6mm is not overkill. You can caulk it into the extrusion to reduce the leak issue.

[Hamzter]

6mm polycarbonate/lexan it is then! Might see about putting some screen protector material in the main firing line which I can replace when it gets too beaten up.

Very nice build spongbob, I especially like the tray swarf collection. I'm running a knockoff fogbuster setup too, so coolant leakage isn't a huge concern. The windows themselves will have plastic trim around the edges that sits in the grooves, the remaining gaps will probably get a dose of caulk/silicone, I've found in the past you don't need much of a hole to nullify a lot of sound insulation! Also that hole in the top for the power draw bar will get some kinda box built around it.

A sheet steel enclosure would be nice, probably a good bit cheaper, but doesn't have the flexibility of extrusions, can't chop and change a steel setup, so I'll stick with the extrusion plan for the time being. Worst case I'll build it in steel and reuse the extrusion for other projects.

Thanks for the advice peeps, I'll report back when construction is complete.

[CL_MotoTech]

I used Lexan on mine. I had a 1/8" drill bit go through it once, it tottaly shattered the 6mm glass. After that, I am still very happy to have the glass rather than nothing at all.

I built my enclosure frame out of wood. It's lined with fiberglass reinforced plastic (like you might see in a shower) and has a galvanized steel bottom. The steel bottom was created using two steel oil drip pans (commonly found at the autoparts store), they were spliced together in the middle. It doesn't leak, not even a drop. The seams are caulked (silicon). The door swings up over the mill and enclosure so that chips fall into the enclosure. The door has three windows, one is stationary, the other two slide over top of the stationary window. This provides access to the mill without having to open the door, though the door is counterweighted and opens and closes nearly effortlessly. It's all very low tech, but it works very well. I have full fairly high pressure coolant.

My design was a necessity in the beginning because my mill was in a basement and access was through a 30 inch wide stairwell. Getting a steel fabrication enclosure in there wasn't going to work. I have since moved into a 20'x20' garage.

If you want pictures, just for the sake of exploring other ideas, let me know I can provide them.

[CS900]

I used Lexan on mine. I had a 1/8" drill bit go through it once, it tottaly shattered the 6mm glass. After that, I am still very happy to have the glass rather than nothing at all.

I built my enclosure frame out of wood. It's lined with fiberglass reinforced plastic (like you might see in a shower) and has a galvanized steel bottom. The steel bottom was created using two steel oil drip pans (commonly found at the autoparts store), they were spliced together in the middle. It doesn't leak, not even a drop. The seams are caulked (silicon). The door swings up over the mill and enclosure so that chips fall into the enclosure. The door has three windows, one is stationary, the other two slide over top of the stationary window. This provides access to the mill without having to open the door, though the door is counterweighted and opens and closes nearly effortlessly. It's all very low tech, but it works very well. I have full fairly high pressure coolant.

My design was a necessity in the beginning because my mill was in a basement and access was through a 30 inch wide stairwell. Getting a steel fabrication enclosure in there wasn't going to work. I have since moved into a 20'x20' garage.

If you want pictures, just for the sake of exploring other ideas, let me know I can provide them.

fyi, I also had the door frame issue and still went with a sheetmetal enclosure. Takes a few more pieces to get it done, but it bolts together and can fit thru a standard doorframe. All the seams have a lip that overlaps the joints. Hopefully will keep the coolant in!

[CL_MotoTech]

I didn't want to spend a bunch of money and time on something that I didn't like or didn't work, so I went the cheap route. My design is fairly mature at this point, I have a few more adjustments I am going to make to it. Once I get those proven out, I will almost certainly build something more permanent. I do know that I don't like working through a little hole in the front, so the entire front opens on mine. I'll probably build the tray on my box break and MIG weld the seams, I will however likely stick to the FRP sides. The glossy white is great for light, it tends to be very easy to clean, and avoiding paint/powder coat is always a plus. One less thing to maintain. Being able to remove panels from side to side is a great feature as well, so the less welding the better. A month or two back I had a 48" plank of oak of my mill, I just took one side off and carried on.

[Hamzter]

Finished putting it all together at last, makes a hell of difference to swarf control!

Attachment 392160 Attachment 392162 Attachment 392164

Attachment 392166 Attachment 392168

Still have to make a box to cover the opening for the power draw bar, that's just for noise control though so I'm not in a huge rush to do that.

The gas struts do a great job of holding the door, though I underspec'd the force slightly as it can't quite overcome stiction in the sliders when it's near the top, meaning I have to give it a little nudge sometimes. Also, the gas struts have a sort of 'soft stop' feature, when they get to near full extension they restrict how fast they'll extend to stop them topping out hard, this is midly annoying however as it takes an extra 1-2 seconds for the door to fully open, until then it's in prime head banging territory! I might go with a different gas strut in the future, but they do the job for the time being.

The side door is especially useful, not only for long parts but also for quickly reaching into the enclosure while the machine is running, much less likely to be showered with swarf!

Overall I'm very happy with how it's worked out, thanks for the advice