Cleaning tools with internal cooling

REQUIREMENTS

When manufacturing or using tools with internal cooling, the cooling channels in particular also have to be cleaned thoroughly, since any residues can impair their functionality. However, the accessibility of the narrow through-holes with conventional cleaning processes poses a considerable challenge in practice.

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Typically, tools are cleaned with brush and cold cleaner. Washing machines are mostly ruled out, since the cutting geometry varies greatly, the milling heads are of different sizes, and they could also not reach the internal channels.

OUR SOLUTION

The tools are normally clamped into a cutting-ring screw fitting. On the opposite side, the gun of the low-pressure hot-water cleaner is connected.

Alternatively, the milling heads can be held by hand and cleaned with a needle nozzle SR-ND (with splash guard, Ø 2.5 mm) or, as in the photos, with a blind-hole nozzle SR-SL (Ø 4.0 mm).

With a pressure of 3 to 7.5 bar or 3 to 14 bar and water heated to 95°C, possibly supplemented with an alkaline cleaner, the cooling channels are efficiently flushed through and out from the inside.

This also works when the cooling channels are clogged not only with cooling lubricant but also with other products. Thus, the milling heads shown in the photos were stuck together with an oily anodising fluid. After cleaning, it was checked by hand whether the surfaces still showed residues of oils or the anodising fluid. This was not the case. (For this reason, at the express wish of the customer, gloves were dispensed with.)

In the specific case, all milling heads including the cooling channels could be cleaned completely and without residue within a few minutes. Previous cleaning methods, in particular the cold wash table and brake cleaner, had not produced even remotely comparable results, although at least two hours per milling head were spent on cleaning.

Milling head with internal cooling – cleaning of the central channel (left) and the side channels (right) with the 1000 SR and nozzle SR-SL

YOUR BENEFITS

• Residue-free and gentle: high temperature and low pressure (7.5–14 bar) wash cooling lubricants and cutting oils even out of the internal channels – without breakage or rejects.
• Enormous time saving: 5–10 minutes per milling head instead of over two hours with conventional methods.
• No introduction of foreign substances: cleaning with the machine’s own cooling lubricant or cutting oil – alternatively with water or deionised water.
• Environmentally friendly: no or only very little chemicals, minimal resource consumption.
• Universal and economical: also for machine and parts cleaning – low investment, low running costs, high quality.

This milling head with internal cooling, too, was absolutely oil-free after cleaning