Suckit SM hindering tool change with Easy ATC (from rapidchange)

Hello everyone!

I’ve been posting a bit often lately, but I’ve also been having a few problems with the whole ATC setup, and hope someone can offer some insight. I am sincerely grateful to anyone that might be able to give any guidance.

I’ve been having some mixed feelings about the Suckit SM. The Easy ATC has been working fine now that I have it dialed in, and I feel pretty good about it. The problems start when I run an actual cut project with tools changes. What I’ve found is that often there is a measurable amount of dust and chips left in the bristles of the Suckit SM when I am using the longer bristle skirt (haven’t used the shorter one yet). I feel fro proper dust evacuation I need the longer skirt so that the bottom of the skirt is aligned (same height) as the bottom of the bit. When a tool change is scheduled I’ve had issues where the dust that had accumulated in the bristles falls into the tool changer, and causes errors. Has anyone else experienced this? I know from experience in many other areas that often a tiny adjustment can help fix issues that seem insurmountable - and I am hoping this might be one of those cases. I’m running my suction from a shopvac with a dust separator, and the suction is “ok”, but not overwhelming. Despite this, I find the bristles being pulled inward (most likely from contact with the cutter perhaps?) over the course of a cut. They have not shown any visible wear, and aren’t twisting around the cutter… they just tend inward a bit. This ALSO seems to be contributing to problems during tool changes as the bristles sometimes get down into the tool changer itself, instead of nicely staying outside. At this point I’m seeing solutions as shortening the bristles slightly AND/OR adjusting my overall mounting height of the suckit SM on the spindle itself, but I wanted to check if anyone else is having issues with theirs. Thank you everyone. [bows and exits stage left]

Someone mentioned using crazy glue to bond the bristles to make them more stiff in an earlier post. You may want to check it out

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Thanks Ken. I appreciate that. I didn’t see the post, but I’ll look for it.

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I did one more modification, I feathered the end of the bristles with scissors. I had an issue where the suction was so strong to the table the bristle ring was pulling off when the spindle lifted for a tool change. This seems to have fixed that issue by reducing the suction to the table just enough

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Thank you all for the tips. These are all great suggestions, and I’m going to try them out as soon as I get my ATC fixed. (I managed to have a failure to load tool… and I hit the estop to sort things, but forgot to re-zero the Zaxis, so when it tried to pull out of the tool holder it literally took the top 5mm with it.) Live and learn I suppose! Thanks again everyone.

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