Was wondering what your opinions are on the use of compressed air for blowing swarf off the lathe or mill while cutting and for clean up after the job is done. I see a lot of U Tubers blasting away on CNC and conventional machines, i haven't myself as air isn't located near my lathe, and the guy that taught me back in the dark ages was against compressed air for cleaning.
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Compressed air on the lathe or mill
- Thread starter 6.5 Fan
- Start date
You'll probably get opposing views on this, but I'm not in favour of it for general clean up. If you are managing twenty students or 20 BDMF's (brain dead mother...) banning it is probably a good rule to make to esure not harm comes from it. What's to stop them form directing the stream into a labyrinth seal or between plain bearing ways/dovetails etc? A certain percentage will try to.
otoh, using care in my own shop, I'm ok with limited and judicious use.. I'll blow coolant and chips out of a vice, or a bore clean for measurement for example, but would NOT clean the machine that way. Too great a risk the air blowing crud in where it doesn't belong.
otoh, using care in my own shop, I'm ok with limited and judicious use.. I'll blow coolant and chips out of a vice, or a bore clean for measurement for example, but would NOT clean the machine that way. Too great a risk the air blowing crud in where it doesn't belong.
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DPittman
Ultra Member
Yup you'll get opinions from both sides of this one and they will all have merit. I'm not afraid of using air at all but of course you have to use some common sense. I actually think to get chips into devastating places would take some deliberate stupidity. The one exception I can think of there is with open electrical components ie. motor, controller boards etc.
@6.5 Fan totally agree with you on not using compressed air. When I first started into producing swarf our big dog who more-or-less followed me everywhere picked up a piece of swarf in one of her pads which bled like mad. Several visits to the vet and a $900.00 bill convinced me to STOP using compressed air. Since then I've use my large variable speed shop vac with dust cyclone and a brush, have never looked back. Just saying!
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Dusty you are 100% correct on pets and metal shops. I actually think it is cruel to let them in there unless it is super clean.
For those of us who remember “Monster Garage” from about 20 years ago, Jesse James always had his dogs running around the shop when grinding, welding, etc. It really bugged me. I loved the content and premise of the show, but people who put animals at risk just turn me off. (Turns out he had a couple more character flaws, but that’s a different thread).
My friend had similar vet bills for the same reason. And I have had a piece of wire wheel stuck in my foot for about 15 years. I would die inside knowing I did that to my little fur buddy.
I understand this is a lesson learned for many of us, myself included. But when people continue to do it repeatedly, the gloves come off.
Great advice Dusty.
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It's not just pets that get hurt, had a buddy down in the basement work shop to do a small milling job for him. I wear my crocks in the house so i'm good, he came down in sock feet, winter boots are not indoor friendly. Wasn't long before he started complaining about a sharp pain in the foot, nice classic curl of steel from the mill cutter. Now i tell guys to bring indoor shoes if they want to watch, i only sweep the floor when i'm done for the day.
I use a brush and vacuum after machining, and compressed air while machining on the mill to get rid of swarf. But if you use compressed air, keep the pressures low, you just want to move it out of the way. High air pressures will create thousands of lethal projectiles sending them everywhere.
Home Depot sells chip brushes in the paint aisle. They are cheap. Good for chips, not good for paint. I stand by my statements above, but i do mostly use a shop vac and chip brush. That said, sometimes a little shot of compressed air can get things moving, like blowing off threads or cooling a workpiece, or a place the vacuum won't reach.
Usually the best deal I find for 1" to 2" paint brushes is at our local dollar store. As the bristles tend to wear I downgrade them to my parts wash up gear. Just saying!
Agreed. As do I Dusty.
I heard once that if you run the older (cleaned) brushes against a belt or disc sander it frays the tips and they pick up the fine stuff better.
I've never tried this, but strongly suspect you would need to take care and angle the brush downward—well away from the table/rest (if you can't lower it). Otherwise, the bristles could get pulled in-between the rest and the spinning disc/belt. That sounds bad.
What I do do at times is cut the bristles down to 3/4" away from the ferrule on some brushes. This makes the bristles stiffer for thicker chips, and works better in my parts tanks for cleanup as well.
For me I don't use a garbage bag with my variable speed Shop Vac although I do connect (each and every time) my medium sized dust cyclone mounted on a separate container on castors. My Shop Vac and dust cyclone has a 2" hose system and I seldom have 'curly Q' swarf hang ups inside same. Generally I dump my cyclone container once a year not that it really needs that.
Purchased my dust cyclone eons ago when they were dirt cheep. Costs for plastic items just keeps going up along with everything else these days, greedy beggars. One happy camper!
Another senior moment (brain fart) posted this in the wrong thread.
Purchased my dust cyclone eons ago when they were dirt cheep. Costs for plastic items just keeps going up along with everything else these days, greedy beggars. One happy camper!
Another senior moment (brain fart) posted this in the wrong thread.
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JohnW
(John)
I had set up a regulated (10-20psi) air outlet near by lathe and mill in my previous shop that I found very useful. Enough to clear some chips away but usually not enough to embed them in my eyes.
I haven't gotten around to that in the current shop. I really should. It is really hard to control an air gun being fed with 170PSI air, so I don't do it much.
I haven't gotten around to that in the current shop. I really should. It is really hard to control an air gun being fed with 170PSI air, so I don't do it much.
One of my first purchases for my basement shop was good shop vac to pickup chips and dirt.
My STANLEY Model has also accidentally taken the odd screw and T-nut . . . LOL.
Compressed are tends to blow crap into wiper seals and other hard to see places.
Get a small paint brush and a dust pan and you will avoid splatter.
My STANLEY Model has also accidentally taken the odd screw and T-nut . . . LOL.
Compressed are tends to blow crap into wiper seals and other hard to see places.
Get a small paint brush and a dust pan and you will avoid splatter.