PSA: Found a killer chip clearing trick at a shop in Toledo

I was visiting a small job shop in Toledo last week and noticed the operator had a custom air nozzle hooked up to a 90 psi line aimed right at the toolpath. He told me it cleared chips way better than the standard setup and saved him from stopped cutting to blow them off. Has anyone else tried rigging up a dedicated air blast like that on their machine?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamie_smith18d ago

ryan_ellis, you mentioning being "sold now" reminded me of my buddy Mike at a shop outside Detroit. He jury-rigged an old windshield washer nozzle from a junkyard Ford onto a mag base and aimed it at his drill point. Saved him from having to stop and poke at the chips after every single hole on a long run of aluminum plates. He said it was the best two bucks he ever spent, even if it looked like something from a Mad Max movie. Definitely not as clean as that Toledo setup, but it worked for him until the nozzle got packed with swarf.

ryan_ellis18d ago

Didn't think a simple air blast would make that big a difference but I'm sold now.