Any interest in a run of water cooled platen chillers?

[Nathan the Machinist]

A couple members here have requested I do a run of water cooled platen attachments, however it would be cost prohibitive to setup and run just a couple. However, if more than just a couple people would want one I could piggyback a run onto an aluminum job I have coming up that would use the same materials and cutters. If that were that case I estimate a water cooled platen attachment could be made for $40.

So, the purpose of this thread is to gauge interest in a run of something like that. It isn't an order thread or anything of that nature. All I'm looking for is an idea of whether or not anyone would want something like this. I'm envisioning a machined aluminum block that you'd put behind your platen with internal waterlines and a couple of 1/8" pipe threads where you'd plumb in something like an aquarium pump or even just a couple of water buckets that you'd set up to siphon through the platen.

If you feel you would likely want something like this made please indicate your possible interest in this thread.

Thank you for your input,
Nathan

 

[Patrice Lemée]

No idea if it makes sense or not but I would definitely try one at that price range.:thumbup:

 

[TooQuiet]

Not sure on this one, but how about.....


Ever thought of making a KMG tool rest that tilts to adjust the angle? I love my 36" platen by the way. Thanks

 

[jdm61]

Yes, but we would get even more excited about the horizontal platen with the same cooling setup.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I'd be interested in trying it.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Yes, but we would get even more excited about the horizontal platen with the same cooling setup.

Can you elaborate on the horizontal platen? I don't know what you mean.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I would be interested.

It would be great if the bolt pattern was such that your radiused platens could be bolted to them.

 

[AVigil]

At that price put me down for one!

 

[Adam Reese]

I was grinding the other day and noticed how hot the platen got, and was thinking about making one of these. I envisioned it exactly like you said, a block of aluminum on the back side of the platen with water running through it. Mine was going to be pretty crude, and I have seen some of the stuff you put out, so for around $40 I would definitely buy one!!

I was wondering though, do you think if your water was to cold, there would be any condensation problems which in turn could wet the belt?

-Adam

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

I would be interested.

It would be great if the bolt pattern was such that your radiused platens could be bolted to them.

I figured I'd use through holes that match up to the KMG pattern so it would get sandwiched in there.

I was grinding the other day and noticed how hot the platen got, and was thinking about making one of these. I envisioned it exactly like you said, a block of aluminum on the back side of the platen with water running through it. Mine was going to be pretty crude, and I have seen some of the stuff you put out, so for around $40 I would definitely buy one!!

I was wondering though, do you think if your water was to cold, there would be any condensation problems which in turn could wet the belt?

-Adam

Oh yeah, I wasn't going to just drill a hole in a block of aluminum and pipe water though it. That would work, but it would require a high flow rate for very good heat extraction. This is a problem with injection mold tooling. You pump cold water through a hot mold and it comes out the other end still cold. The specifics of the fluid dynamics (which include fluid velocity, shape of the bore, viscosity of the fluid, Reynolds number etc) are above my pay rate but the gist of it is gun drilled coolant paths require high velocity to achieve the turbulent flow needed for good heat transfer. Coolant in laminar flow is a poor heat pump. So my plan was to cut wandering flow paths from one end to the other and back and seal it up using an o-ring as a gasket compressed in an o-ring gland. That sounds complicated, but it really isn't, and it will allow little pumps to achieve good heat extraction.

Yeah, I expect if it is humid in your shop and the water is cold you'll get condensation.

 

[Mark Behnke]

I'm in.

 

[quint]

I was grinding the other day and noticed how hot the platen got, and was thinking about making one of these. I envisioned it exactly like you said, a block of aluminum on the back side of the platen with water running through it. Mine was going to be pretty crude, and I have seen some of the stuff you put out, so for around $40 I would definitely buy one!!

I was wondering though, do you think if your water was to cold, there would be any condensation problems which in turn could wet the belt?

-Adam

Unless you get your water below ambient you wont have any condensation.




I am curious as I use to use various types of water cooling and such on my computers back when I did a bunch of various overclocking and such would this be a type of setup with a small pump and a radiator basically a closed loop that would cool the platen. Interesting idea. Now I wonder if someone could figure out the amount of heat you would have to move and whether or not a simple finned heat sinc with a fan blowing on it would be sufficient. Probably not but who knows.

 

[Bama]

I'm in I'd buy one

 

[Adam Reese]

Oh yeah, I wasn't going to just drill a hole in a block of aluminum and pipe water though it. That would work, but it would require a high flow rate for very good heat extraction. This is a problem with injection mold tooling. You pump cold water through a hot mold and it comes out the other end still cold. The specifics of the fluid dynamics (which include fluid velocity, shape of the bore, viscosity of the fluid, Reynolds number etc) are above my pay rate but the gist of it is gun drilled coolant paths require high velocity to achieve the turbulent flow needed for good heat transfer. Coolant in laminar flow is a poor heat pump. So my plan was to cut wandering flow paths from one end to the other and back and seal it up using an o-ring as a gasket compressed in an o-ring gland. That sounds complicated, but it really isn't, and it will allow little pumps to achieve good heat extraction.

Yeah, I expect if it is humid in your shop and the water is cold you'll get condensation.

And this my friend, is why I said I would buy one from you. This whole paragraph was above my head.

 

[J. Hoffman]

I'd be in for one.

 

[joe sangster]

I would be in for one

 

[Kevin Cross]

I would get at least one from you.
Kevin

 

[AWSmith]

I would be interested in one, along with a hardened steel platen for a KMG.

 

[jdm61]

Like the Felhoelter one that we were looking at a while back. With that said, you have already set yourself up to radius the ends of your platens anyway where they would make a nice plunge cut, so it might not require something quite so complex. it would really depend on how much heat you could draw away from the steel platen I guess. If it could be run for short stretches without the upper idler wheel, then that might work.

Can you elaborate on the horizontal platen? I don't know what you mean.

 

[jdm61]

I was grinding the other day and noticed how hot the platen got, and was thinking about making one of these. I envisioned it exactly like you said, a block of aluminum on the back side of the platen with water running through it. Mine was going to be pretty crude, and I have seen some of the stuff you put out, so for around $40 I would definitely buy one!!

I was wondering though, do you think if your water was to cold, there would be any condensation problems which in turn could wet the belt?

-Adam

Adam, in pervious discussions, most people who use a setup like this said that it works best if you also "mist" or otherwise wet the belt, so you might want to think about using belts that can be used wet. I believe than one person said that they use the Hermes blue-gray AO belts which, in my limited experience, are the one Hermes product that I would actually buy.