Static buildup enquiry

[marbles]

Hi there,

I’m machining a lot of solid surface at the moment and I’ve noticed a lot more static charge building up. I’m getting some quite large arcs during vacuuming, the vacuum ON/OFF switch in particular.

How can reduce this static build up?

Many thanks

[Muzzer]

Interesting problem. I assume you are machining plastic? Not something I do much of but perhaps there are known / effective countermeasures. At the machine level, I expect they would amount to adding various grounding connections to nearby conductive surfaces but that's only a guess.

There seem to be various additives that are added to plastic to reduce buildup (can you buy antistatic versions of your materials?). I know that carbon fill in plastic can improve the conductivity but that's only any use if you are making black parts. I also see references to "ionising blowers" and "ionising guns" etc which sound like a more high tech (expensive) approach.

[JohnHaine]

Long a problem with vinyl records. Google for Zerostat guns.