Mill Flood Coolant Collar

Eventually, I will get enough enclosure on my mill that I'll want to step up to flood cooling. In the meantime, I'll be using a coolant mister, but I wanted to start an Idea Notebook to collect plenty of grist for my mill (so to speak) when I do get ready to design a collar.

A spindle coolant collar is a very handy thing indeed. Firstly, it provides a convenient way for the coolant nozzles to track the activity of the mill in a more elegant and permanent way than the magnetic versions that are available. This ensures that once the nozzles are lined up properly, they'll do the right thing wherever the spindle wanders. Second, there are numerous reports that the darned things can also help cool down your spindle bearings, which seems like a darned thoughtful thing to be doing as well to me. I figure making one of these will be an ideal CNC project once I get my IH Mill converted over to CNC.

There are designs by talented machinists pictured below.

The Widgitmaster's Coolant Collar...

Thomas Powell's Coolant Collar...