ABS chip clearing

[T.G.]

I got a shark just for milling ABS and ABS does not lend itself to normal woodworking-type dust collection methods. What method is used by plastics companies? Would it hurt to just build a cabinet and let' er rip, then vacuum after each run? Any ideas appreciated. Maybe a strong fan just blowing the chip away.
Ty

[Consultingwoodworker]

Two things: first, pretty much no commercial CNC has great dust collection. I've worked with many models and many brands and they pretty much all leave crap behind. About the best you can hope for is to keep airborne dust under control.

Second, cutting ABS properly SHOULD be great for sucking up in the vacuum, since you should be seeing lovely lightweight square chips. Unfortunately, you are also generating lots of static during the cutting, so the chips tend to stick to EVERYTHING.

I ran a job in ABS just last week. The chips were sticking to the Y axis screw, but being shaken off as it turned, only to stick right back on! Looked like a cloud of flies on a dead carcass.

Enclose it and vacuum up between runs, nothing else is going to work.

Ralph

[norseman]

While working in a plastics machine shop years ago we always used a direct stream of air on the bit via an air compressor. You can set it up where this stream blows toward a vacuum funnel (something like this:http://www.rockler.com/tabletop-dust-fitting).



It keeps the bit cool as well as keeps the chips out of what you are cutting eliminating the hot chips from melting back to the material being cut.