Smart cooling system and full function wireless CNC pendant for Tormach mills
The system is fully compatible with all Tormach milling machines with flood and/or mist cooling. If your g-code is generated from Autodesk's Fusion with our free Fusion360 post-processor, then support is automatically added for Fusion's air and flood+mist cooling modes.
The various system components are as follows
Controller
The controller connects to your PathPilot controller via a USB 'C' cable. Add your own Bluetooth connected Android device and that's all you need for a fully functional, wireless CNC pendant. As well as the usual jog and feed override functions, there are also 16 user defined buttons which can store a line of g-code to be executed as though typed at the MDI. These commands can include calls to g-code subroutines stored in files on your PathPilot controller, so can perform arbitrarily complex functions. Want a single button that executes one of our 4th axis probing routines? Not a problem.
The controller also has an input for 24V power either from inside the mill or from an external power supply and has outputs to control up to 4 independently aimable, scanning nozzles and 4 programmable, switching outputs, each capable of delivering 24V@0.5A to switch pumps and valves for your coolant functions. Connection to the nozzles is via standard R/C servo leads and extensions are available from many sources. The switching outputs are in the form of an 8 way screw terminal connector block.
Which outputs and which nozzles are used with each coolant mode (air, mist, flood and mist + flood supported from Fusion 360) is user programmable and the position, scan size and scan frequency of the coolant nozzles may be independently configured for each tool (10k max tools). When your g-code program or PathPilot UI selects a coolant mode, the correct nozzles are automatically enabled and aimed as per the settings for the current tool. Any nozzles not required for the coolant mode are automatically 'parked'.
Single nozzle unit
The single nozzle provides one steerable nozzle with its own 3-wire connector to go to the controller. You can connect up to 4 of these nozzles or combine them with a dual nozzle to a maximum of 4 nozzles in total. The coolant port is tapped M10 x 1.0 and fitted with quick push connector suitable for 8mm OD tubing and the output is threaded M10 x 1.25 and is fitted with a 50mm long, 4mm diameter nozzle. The nozzle itself is based on a ball joint and can be angled as required..
Single nozzle air + spray coolant input
This option is essentially the same as the standard. single nozzle, but there is a needle valve adjustable input for additional, liquid coolant. The air input remains the same M10 x 1.0 with an 8mm push in connector for air. The spray coolant should be supplied under modest pressure (30-40psi at most) and this is easiest done by using one of the controller's outputs to control a pneumatic valve supplying the air to the coolant tank. The mist coolant input is supplied with a 4mm OD push in fitting, screwed into an M5 x 0.8 port.
If you already have a Fogbuster system on your mill, then the 2 tubes that normally go to the Fogbuster nozzle can simply be transferred to the inputs of this nozzle and that's the installation done! For this configuration, we supply 1.5mm nozzle inserts to get the correct air blast effect to clear chips.
Dual nozzle unit
The dual nozzle unit provides, as you'd expect, a pair of independently configurable nozzles. The nozzles are 4mm internal diameter and are fed from M10 x 1.25 threaded ports for excellent flow. The inlet ports threaded M10 x 1.0 and are fitted with quick push connectors for 8mm diameter tube. One of the nozzles is supplied with the metered liquid coolant input. Configured like this, one of the nozzles can be used for either air or spray coolant while the other is used to supply flood.
Mounting ring
The mounting rings are designed to fit directly over the mill's nose. The ring consists of 4 x 90 degree quadrants, each of which has a flat section drilled for M4 bolts to attach to an extension arm to mount the nozzle unit (extension arms supplied with the nozzle units). The rings are designed to fit any of Tormach's 440, 770 or 1100 mills and can be made to custom size if required.
Complete kits
Each complete kit consists of 1 x controller, 1 x nozzle unit and 1 x mounting ring. The kits are available with any of the nozzle options and represent a useful saving over buying the components individually.