Some years ago, a shop I worked in had a machining centre with rubber way guards. It had a mechanism somewhat like a roll up window blind on one end that retracted the rubber sheet as the machine moved. I would add that the machine moved at some very high speeds as well. Keep up the vids, some pretty good stuff...................
G'day Mark. Great Way Modifications. I have recently purchased a Hafco HM-54GV Mill, which I am in the process of setting up. Mine has a lower consatine cover on the Y axis at the lower rear. What I have found is when milling, the chips etc fly all over the the Z ways & on the Horizontal spindle, so this Modification of yours could come in really handy. Thanks for your great videos. Ted
Mark I did something similar on my Bridgeport Clone. I used roofing rubber from Home Depot. I basically just replaced what the factory had on it but someone removed. Depending on how much milling you do before you clean the cover off the chips naturally will be laying on top of the vinyl and as you crank the Y in the chips will bunch up . Doesn't take long to build up a lot of chips when milling aluminum. Great idea you have with the nylon. My suggestion when milling plastics with dovetails is to use an end mill first to remove the bulk and then follow up with the dovetail end mill. Thanks for bringing us along.
I have a roll of Harbor Freight tool drawer liner that’s been sitting on my bench for a many weeks waiting to be made into a way cover. Thanks for the reminder that I need to stop procrastinating.
@@WinkysWorkshop I have a similar problem on my little homemade lathe and there's a small thin mouse pad sitting on my bench that I intend to do something similar with, I must get around to doing it. 👍
I bought some cheap yoga mats at wally world and they make great toolbox liners. They are less expensive and better quality than most toolbox liners and a little thicker to boot.
Good project, maybe consider having the smooth surface up, easier to brush the fine swarf off. Plus a mini version on the back of your new vice. I did that after seeing Curtis from Cutting Edge Engineering put one on his vice. My mill came with concertina bellows way covers they are a pain to keep clean!
I was going to put the smooth side up but the material was hard to bend in that direction and much easier in the other. I'm not sure why... and it may have worked anyway but I was worried it would bunch up behind the table. The air hose seems to move the chips okay but you are right, smooth would be better.
When i saw the opening scenes i thought you might hook the rubber to the poly. And have it pull the rubber down across a steel roller against the column. My vice is an 8 in Palmgren on a rotary base. Its also made for coolant, but it has the back 1/2 in or so cut off because its far too long. I moved it to the far right of my table, and to the front slot, gaining a lot of travel back. And my 8 in rotary table is on the far left, on the center slot, and there is room for both. If your mill holds up to that much material removal and dont cook the spindle, i will be doing mine this summer, at least 1hp. I love everything about mine except the loose x nut, and the power. They are nuts on the price of a new one, and its a real complex item to reproduce, let alone find a leadscrew. i may have to make one, but if I do it will become a 16 thread instead of 8. Great job!
I thought of using a narrow roller blind (from a window) - these are cheap from our "Bunnings" stores here in Australia and easily replaceable. You can get them in 60cm, 2' widths too.
Hello Winky, you could try a low edge baking tray between bottom of vice and table, just a suggestion. Good work as usual, thanks for sharing, we all love em. Cheers from me. 😃👍👍👍👍👍
That would have worked well with the first vise, the second I just plugged the hole. I suspect the coolant that hits the guard now will be minimal now.
I have some large sheets of (2 blue, 2 black) 1" thk plastic (3ft x 5ft) that were given to me. The surface is flat and smooth, and they are new and were left over from installing bathroom dividers. At the time, I thought it might make a good table top on a bench to put under the lathe. They said they cut it with circular saws, but I picture those chips will be everywhere. Too bad you're not closer, I think you would make something out of it.
Good idea, the Y axis (away and toward the operator movement) rides on ways (a cast iron smooth bearing surface). Without this cover the metal chips and coolant get on the ways. The chips sometimes get stuck between the two sliding surfaces and damage them and the coolant will make the ways rust. The coolant has rust inhibitors but over a long period of time it will cause damage.
I was using some aluminum sheeting for a while but it did not catch it all. Last time I used the mill with coolant I misplaced the aluminum and in minutes I had coolant all over the floor... The new way cover along with the new vise really did the trick.
If you want to know how the oil resistance of your rubber mat, just take a pice of the offcut and put it in a bowl of oil. After a week, if it is still the same it is oil resistant.
Thanks. Sometime precision is not needed. In the case of the plastic slide it needed to fit loose. In fact the angle of the dove tail was even wrong. I assumed most machines used the same angle but it makes sense that the knee would ne more extreme based on the weight and angle of the load.
Some years ago, a shop I worked in had a machining centre with rubber way guards. It had a mechanism somewhat like a roll up window blind on one end that retracted the rubber sheet as the machine moved. I would add that the machine moved at some very high speeds as well. Keep up the vids, some pretty good stuff...................
I thought about doing it like that also. Thanks
G'day Mark. Great Way Modifications. I have recently purchased a Hafco HM-54GV Mill, which I am in the process of setting up. Mine has a lower consatine cover on the Y axis at the lower rear. What I have found is when milling, the chips etc fly all over the the Z ways & on the Horizontal spindle, so this Modification of yours could come in really handy. Thanks for your great videos.
Ted
Thanks, so far its worked very well.
That is a great idea to fix the problem Mark, well done.
Thanks, clean up will be a lot easier now.
Mark I did something similar on my Bridgeport Clone. I used roofing rubber from Home Depot. I basically just replaced what the factory had on it but someone removed. Depending on how much milling you do before you clean the cover off the chips naturally will be laying on top of the vinyl and as you crank the Y in the chips will bunch up . Doesn't take long to build up a lot of chips when milling aluminum. Great idea you have with the nylon. My suggestion when milling plastics with dovetails is to use an end mill first to remove the bulk and then follow up with the dovetail end mill. Thanks for bringing us along.
Probably right on the dovetail mill. I clean up my mill every time I use it. It might be the next day but it gets cleaned. :o)
I have a roll of Harbor Freight tool drawer liner that’s been sitting on my bench for a many weeks waiting to be made into a way cover. Thanks for the reminder that I need to stop procrastinating.
That is awesome! I looked at lowes and all they had was a foam material
Winky - I like your way protector . I like the spring design . Excellent Video. -- Jim
Thank you!
Another nice design. Love your creativity.
Thank you so much 😊
Necessity, the mother of invention 👍
Yep and the ways needed to be covered. Thanks
@@WinkysWorkshop I have a similar problem on my little homemade lathe and there's a small thin mouse pad sitting on my bench that I intend to do something similar with, I must get around to doing it. 👍
Looks like a good idea. I might have to try something like this on my little Atlas mill. Thanks for sharing.
Go for it! Thanks
Hola, tengo tengo la Index 55, gracias por tus videos, me han servido de mucha ayuda
Glad I could help
Good idea,Mark and good CNC vice.Thank you.
Glad you liked it! thanks
Nice out of the box thinking, looks like a winner !
Thanks Dean, it seems to work well so far.
Another good source of free rubber sheeting is off an old treadmill. I have used them cut to size to line my toolboxes.
Yes that would work great!
I bought some cheap yoga mats at wally world and they make great toolbox liners. They are less expensive and better quality than most toolbox liners and a little thicker to boot.
You're a clever man Winky.
Thanks... I've been thinking about this ever since I restored the mill. I'm slowly clever... Ha
Good project, maybe consider having the smooth surface up, easier to brush the fine swarf off. Plus a mini version on the back of your new vice. I did that after seeing Curtis from Cutting Edge Engineering put one on his vice. My mill came with concertina bellows way covers they are a pain to keep clean!
I was going to put the smooth side up but the material was hard to bend in that direction and much easier in the other. I'm not sure why... and it may have worked anyway but I was worried it would bunch up behind the table. The air hose seems to move the chips okay but you are right, smooth would be better.
When i saw the opening scenes i thought you might hook the rubber to the poly. And have it pull the rubber down across a steel roller against the column. My vice is an 8 in Palmgren on a rotary base. Its also made for coolant, but it has the back 1/2 in or so cut off because its far too long. I moved it to the far right of my table, and to the front slot, gaining a lot of travel back. And my 8 in rotary table is on the far left, on the center slot, and there is room for both. If your mill holds up to that much material removal and dont cook the spindle, i will be doing mine this summer, at least 1hp. I love everything about mine except the loose x nut, and the power. They are nuts on the price of a new one, and its a real complex item to reproduce, let alone find a leadscrew. i may have to make one, but if I do it will become a 16 thread instead of 8. Great job!
16 TPI is slow for a mill table. My wells index is 5 TPI. I like 10 TPI the best. I have no idea why they went with 5 TPI.
@@WinkysWorkshop slow machines live longer. i forgot mine is 5tpi. Maybe i will go to 10
@@cyclebuster my RF 30 drill mill was 10 TPI. The first few times I milled with the wells index I shattered a few carbide mills.
I thought of using a narrow roller blind (from a window) - these are cheap from our "Bunnings" stores here in Australia and easily replaceable. You can get them in 60cm, 2' widths too.
I thought the same but I was a bit concerned with the strength.
Hello Winky, you could try a low edge baking tray between bottom of vice and table, just a suggestion. Good work as usual, thanks for sharing, we all love em. Cheers from me. 😃👍👍👍👍👍
That would have worked well with the first vise, the second I just plugged the hole. I suspect the coolant that hits the guard now will be minimal now.
Yeah that is what I was referring too, but now you have another vice. Cheers 😀@@WinkysWorkshop
I have some large sheets of (2 blue, 2 black) 1" thk plastic (3ft x 5ft) that were given to me. The surface is flat and smooth, and they are new and were left over from installing bathroom dividers. At the time, I thought it might make a good table top on a bench to put under the lathe. They said they cut it with circular saws, but I picture those chips will be everywhere. Too bad you're not closer, I think you would make something out of it.
Yeah that's probably some useful stuff. You need to hang on to it.
Looks great, but could you explain why its needed?
Good idea, the Y axis (away and toward the operator movement) rides on ways (a cast iron smooth bearing surface). Without this cover the metal chips and coolant get on the ways. The chips sometimes get stuck between the two sliding surfaces and damage them and the coolant will make the ways rust. The coolant has rust inhibitors but over a long period of time it will cause damage.
You had me wondering - "How's he going to keep the coolant off the floor?" - Well done and it looks good.
I was using some aluminum sheeting for a while but it did not catch it all. Last time I used the mill with coolant I misplaced the aluminum and in minutes I had coolant all over the floor... The new way cover along with the new vise really did the trick.
If you want to know how the oil resistance of your rubber mat, just take a pice of the offcut and put it in a bowl of oil. After a week, if it is still the same it is oil resistant.
Good idea, although at this point I'll just wait and see.
👍👍😎👍👍
Thanks
Nice project.
Thanks!
Great fix!! Speaking of vices, That blue vice on that green machine looks horrible!! C'mon man,, 🤣🤣🤣
Haha.... yeah, I do need to paint it for sure.
As always, good work, although not the most precise. I still like it.
Thanks. Sometime precision is not needed. In the case of the plastic slide it needed to fit loose. In fact the angle of the dove tail was even wrong. I assumed most machines used the same angle but it makes sense that the knee would ne more extreme based on the weight and angle of the load.
Nice job! But get that hole plugged a.s.a.p.. thanks Mark. Les in UK 🇬🇧
Done... I installed a set screw with pipe thread sealer. Thanks