# Swarf Control



## 1hand (Dec 14, 2009)

Hello all.
Today at work I was installing so new flashing on a conveyor. The flashing material is a very plyable rubber. Since I've installed the Kool Mist system on the X3 it takes me twice as long to clean up the swarf. This stuff is every where. So I brought home some of the scraps and made this up.














Here I clamped up a piece of long stock to show how plyable the rubber is.





Here I use a small magnet with a hook to hold the rubber on the mill head. This piece moves up and down with the head so the dovetail behind it is always protected.

Matt


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## vlmarshall (Dec 14, 2009)

Excellent! :bow: I was JUST talking about mill enclosures with some miscreant I know.


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## zeeprogrammer (Dec 14, 2009)

When I got my mill, I screwed up...I mounted it on some cookie sheets...thinking..."I'm a smart little boy"...the cookie sheets would catch the coolant. I hadn't thought about the table though...so everything I squirt on just goes to the end of table and leaks out onto the bench top.

I guess that's why some jerks call me a miscreant. ;D

In any case...let us know how it works out. I've been thinking of getting some rubber sheeting.


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## 1hand (Dec 14, 2009)

You guys must have and inside thing going on........LOL


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## MikeR C (Dec 15, 2009)

Ha, you think that makes a mess. I have a RongFoo converted to CNC and I drilled the ends of the table and ran hoses to a bucket on the floor with a coolant pump to flood the bit. I attached a tube to the head to spray onto the bit and started a job that took 24 hours. Every hour or so, while I was awake  , I would check on it. I had attached shields to stop it from spraying off the table and all was working fine until the tube shifted up and put the coolant onto the bottom of the spindle and slung it over the shield, onto the floor, all six gallons of it...


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## Artie (Dec 15, 2009)

Vernon and Zee.... you guys kill me.... your humour is almost Aussie like.... and 1hand great idea...let us know how it works out in practise...

Cheers

Artie


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## 1hand (Dec 15, 2009)

Here it is with the mist at 55psi and taking a .030 cut in 6061. Oh how I love when a plan comes together. ;D




Matt


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## 1hand (Feb 11, 2010)

Well found another add-on to the system.

Swarf Control Phase II












Added a nice magnetic shield to the front of the table. Works like a dream.
Matt


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## BigBore (Feb 12, 2010)

Are you sure those are just "scraps"? Looks like enough to build a shed! ;D

Maybe you just "borrowed" some?

Seriously, nice idea and execution.

Ed


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## Deanofid (Feb 12, 2010)

Good use of that stuff, Matt. Looks like it would work well for us guys that don't use coolant, too. Anything that keeps the chips under control is a good idea!

Dean


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## Blogwitch (Feb 12, 2010)

Matt,

Just a little note about your spraymist system. TURN IT DOWN.

I have just made my own, and it works great on about 20 PSI. I adjust it by spraying onto a flat plate and there should only be the tiniest amount of coolant coming out. By having it so high, you are finding the problems with it, swarf and oil everywhere, plus within no time, your shop will start to get fogged up and damp. If you find you are starting to cough, open up the doors and turn off the spraymist, that will be the airbourne coolant irritating your lungs. After an hours use on mine, there are only a few drops of oil to be mopped up with a cloth, maybe none sometimes, as the fine swarf soaks it up. Plus no airbourne mist.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2265.0

After reading the bottom of your post about the guard. I made something similar a while ago, to control the flood coolant when I use it on my mill. I have just got another hundred of those magnets for doing all sorts of jobs around the shop.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2196.0

For long range high impact swarf, I use cheapo wind down roller blinds fixed to the ceiling. Great when you are flycutting. 
You can see this one fixed up, it protects all my tooling on the wall. I also have one between my surface grinder and polishing station, I don't want grinding dust to end up on my mops.







Blogs


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## 1hand (Feb 12, 2010)

BigBore  said:
			
		

> Are you sure those are just "scraps"? Looks like enough to build a shed! ;D
> 
> Maybe you just "borrowed" some?
> 
> ...



Ed, 

Our conveyors are over 100' long, so 3' piece is considered scrap.


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## BigBore (Feb 12, 2010)

Wowzers, that's impressive. Should have taken more. Thm:

Ed


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## 1hand (Feb 12, 2010)

Blogs,

Love the window blind shield you have there. I may implement that for my collet racks and bolt bins, as for they are close to where I grind and polish.

As for the pressure on the mist system, I thought more was better. I'll try reducing the pressure and monitor the results.

How did you end up with a hundred magnets? 

Thanks, Matt


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## Blogwitch (Feb 12, 2010)

Matt,

It is no bullsh about the spraymist. When I am parting off on the lathe, even with a very low pressure and mist, as the bits drop off, they are cold and can be handled straight away, whereas normally you have to leave them a few minutes before you can get near them.

The blinds weren't my idea, but my mentors. We have a friend in the blinds business, and he made me 3 of them within two hours of giving him a call, they are a custom length, they go floor to ceiling, I chose the colour for obvious reasons. They really do work, the chips just hit them and because they absorb all the energy, the chips just fall to the floor directly underneath. They can be bought very cheaply, and if they come to just say a foot below the level of the cutter, they should work just as well. Unfortunately, over the last few months, I have got very lazy, and I keep forgetting to roll them down. I must get back into the habit of using them again.

I am still waiting for a mate to drop me even more magnets off. I bought a hundred about a month ago for very little money. I am now thinking up ways they can be put to use, for use around the lathe, file and wire brush handles, stick 'em where they are needed without them falling off the machine. I am just making a small mobile maglight for my new drilling machine, that will have a few in the base so it can be used almost anywhere I am doing precision things, the ideas are endless.

All the little bits done, even simple ones, adds up to to making life a lot easier in the shop.


John


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## Mosey (Feb 22, 2010)

and when men go to sea, they sit to pee.

I love the blinds for swarf control. My cat likes to hide out in the basement (where my shop is) and she likes to eat aluminum chips. (must be the coolant taste) My wife said either the chips or me have to go. So, I hung a plastic film curtain behind the mill to the floor. Now the cat is afraid to go around the curtain, so, she can't eat any chips.
I get to stay. I'm going to try the shades.


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## bucketboy (Mar 2, 2010)

Talking of swarf control, I notice that some lathes come equipped with a cover spring over the lead screw, has any one tried to fit something similar on their lathe, if so what did you use and how effective is it :-\

Bb


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## Blogwitch (Mar 2, 2010)

Actually, I had mine removed by the lathe supplier before delivery, because it locks up at the end of it's stroke, even with the topslide fully fwds, I couldn't get anywhere near the faceplate with the cutting tool with it fitted. These pictures show the lathe I refused to use, because of such things as that, and they swapped it out once I was happy with the new one. 

If you keep your machine cleaned down, there is no reason for it to be there, except to satisfy H&S big brother, which is the reason they are fitted by the manufacturer. I had hell of a legal battle with them to get mine removed before delivery. Only by saying the lathe was unfit for purpose did they change their minds.

Blogs


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## bucketboy (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks mate, 

good point well made 

Bb


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## Maryak (Mar 2, 2010)

Yep,

My leadscrew cover received a bouyancy test as did the chuck guard and it's associated cut out switch. 

In trying to protect people from themselves some mods are in themselves more hazardous than hazards they are trying to avoid. 

(Wow, almost but not quite gobbledegook. : ???)

Best Regards
Bob


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## Blogwitch (Mar 3, 2010)

I went one better Bob.

I insisted they fit a correct sized chuck guard on, and they fitted a wonderful commercial unit that is perfect for the job. Now why couldn't they have done that in the first place? 

The first is original, the second the new one.

Blogs


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