Steel window manufacturer Crittall has adopted the FX series of compact oil mist collection systems from Filtermist within the busy machining department of its production plant in Witham, Essex.

When making the transition to CNC machining from older punching and stamping technology, the company encountered the problem of coolant mist and fumes from the machine tools.

“We rapidly found that the factory was starting to mist up, making for an unpleasant workplace environment,” explains production director Darren Joyce. “Additionally, there was far too much coolant on our parts, which was creating even more fumes during downstream welding operations.”

He continues: “We wanted to revise the way we work with coolant and cutting fluid. One of the biggest challenges was moving away from the paper-type filters used on our type of machine tools. We needed to find something that would take the oil out of the air and deliver a cleaner working environment.”

Alluding to how the company started working with Filtermist, Joyce recalls: “We did a lot of investigation and spoke to several machine tool manufacturers, which brought us to Filtermist. Filtermist manufactures what is effectively a drum that centrifugally spins and removes oil from the air. We’ve now installed them in all of our CNC machining centres. Although the Filtermist FX5002 unit is successful in spinning oil out of the air, we’ve taken it a step further. With modification, we’re now recycling the oil and using it on our flood-based coolant machines, extending the service life of the oil.”

Crittall has gone from not knowing Filtermist to having 12 of its FX5002 units installed on its machining centres in less than a year.

More information www.filtermist.co.uk