Cleaning CNC Table

[badboat]

I'm in the process of cutting 17 slabs of vetrazzo, and it has left some staining on my table (gray to black in color) I've tried scrubing it off with a number of cleaners and a brush, tried a pressure washer also with no luck. Any suggestions?

[scott m]

Scotch brite pad on a buffer..........

[badboat]

Thanks Scott I'll give it a try in the am.

[DavidL]

Rid-O-Rust stain remover. Find a company that services wells and pumps and they can ususally get it for you. You want the concentrated cleaner for removing stains on metal buildings.

[scott m]

I think his aluminum is basically anodized from the lime in the slabs......Some kind of chemical reaction anyway.

[DavidL]

Badboat - How did you make out?

Dave

[badboat]

Dave,
Rid o rust said it would turn my table brown and to try barkeepers friend helper with a scotch brite pad. I did a small area and rinsed it and it looked good. But after I cut two more tops and removed them the area where I had cleaned turned all black . I talked to Robbie Tidwell at NW and they are testing a few things and should let me know in a week or so. He said I could possibly get this cutting absolute black as well. Will let you if anything works.

[DavidL]

I used Rid-O-Rust to remove brown staining on my table. That rinsed on the table, brushed with a push broom and followed by a pressure washing (30 minute total job) made it sparkle - aluminum bed, Intermac. However, it may be a different reaction based on what is happening with your table.

I have a local cabinet company wanting us to do work with the vetrazzo product as well. I am kind of shying away for the moment. Our bigger concern is outdoor applications, unless we can find the coefficient of expansion information between the glass and the concrete binder it will be a no go for us. We have seen this be a problem in the past down in S. Florida with a similar product.

Dave

[derek]

Hi guys when I was working @ Diamut (CNC tooling) we tested in Intermac an antique brush fine grit (230).
They are the same used on line edgers, they come with a snail lock so you might look for an adapeter too.
Those are normally pretty cheap too and are in several sizes (100, 130, maybe 150). We got one custom made diam.200.Of course the bigger it is the faster will be the process. Unfortunately I don't remember working parameters, but I guess it has to used with a very little removal.
I hope this could help. Ciao

[t-mobile]

[derek]

something like this:

[dustinbraudway]

Derek, so you are saying put the brushes on the CNC and clean the table with them?

[DavidL]

No way in hell would I put antiquing brushes to it. The brushes Intermac recommends (and has a program for) are Nylon so as not to remove the aluminum or score the bed at all. I made a hoopty one and ran it for a while, much faster to put your cleaning agent on the bed, rub it in with a push broom and then hit it with a power washer.

Dave

[Anthony Florio]

we use those brushes to clean our table on a grinder by hand, they work well

[james d]

Me personally would not use a mechanical means unless cutting table with cnc and proper
wheel it just seems it would be very easy to get carried away fast on aluminum.remember it's
aluminum! just my thoughts

[Mark Lauzon]

I have used a floor buffer with a scotch brite style pad on the bottom, you can rent the gear at HD. Sometimes with aluminum bed you can get disimilar metal corrsion. (the wierd white stuff) When I worked on helicopters you would see it from time to time.

[coolhandchris]

Could you put a sacrificial anode on the table somewhere?
I guess it wouldn't work if it is not being submerged?

[Ger Vanderbas]

Me personally would not use a mechanical means unless cutting table with cnc and proper
wheel it just seems it would be very easy to get carried away fast on aluminum.remember it's
aluminum! just my thoughts

You are right about that James. I wonder if this issue wouldn't be better addressed with some kind of pretreatment.

[DavidL]

In a previous life I worked for a company that built fire trucks out of aluminum. We never found a pretreatment that would last in regards to dissimilar metals or acids (vetrazo). If you applied a clear coat you will eventually chip it. Once chipped it begins to flake off. The sacrificial anode works sometime but in regards to dissimilar metals the best solution we found was silicone as a barrier. We often drove stainless screws into aluminum, all holes were required to have silicone applied prior to the fastener (screw, rivet, latch).

[scott m]

I wonder if you could use alodine on the table. We used to use that on airplane aluminum to reduce corrosion. I don't see why this wouldn't work. It would stain the table a little yellow, but I bet it would stop most of the corrosion. IN addition this is not a topical solution. It is similar to anodizing but not quite as effective.

[scott m]

WHen I think about it, I have no idea why this is not done on CNC tables. ANyone else have experience with this.
You could simply clean the table, etch it with the acid with a paint roller. Clean and dry then apply the alondine with the paint roller. Rinse off and it would probably not corrode for 6 months.

http://www.eaa1000.av.org/technicl/corr ... lodine.htm a little info from an aviation site.

[Steven Hauser]

I can clean it.

It just isn't cheap, that is why I don't suggest it. Further, I'd be damn careful with those brushes and working manually. I envision recalibration. nightmare.

[DavidL]

Steven Nailed it!

For us doing 5 axis work on the machine, mainly beveling, the z height of the bed and the cup height are critical in getting your bevel width correct. For profile work it is important but isn't going to show up as much, as often. You will first question if your tool setups are correct. Then you'll chase those for a while depending on where your piece is positioned on the bed. We had a lot of fun with this when we first setup our beveling (fun = sucks = 16 hour days for 4 days).

Dave