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Compressed air on the lathe or mill

90% of my Aluminum shavings are picked through my cyclonic system (either during or after the fact depending on the machine), goes to recyclers (I create a lot, because I machine a lot). To clean the machines I use brush and then compressed air which unfortunately is necessary evil even though chips go everywhere.

I use floor mats to keep the chips in the shop and it has greatly helped, now very few make it into the house. Every now and then lift and clean out under mats) Added benefit, floor has a bit of bounce which is good for the operators joints (namely me).

 
Degen said:
90% of my Aluminum shavings are picked through my cyclonic system (either during or after the fact depending on the machine), goes to recyclers (I create a lot, because I machine a lot). To clean the machines I use brush and then compressed air which unfortunately is necessary evil even though chips go everywhere.

I use floor mats to keep the chips in the shop and it has greatly helped, now very few make it into the house. Every now and then lift and clean out under mats) Added benefit, floor has a bit of bounce which is good for the operators joints (namely me).

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Degen said:
Thanks for the note !!
Those mats should work great for the aluminum chips, I am going to look into a small Clean-Up Magnet for metal cuttings.
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About the only time I used compressed air is cleaning out a blind hole and then I cover the hole with a rag before pulling the trigger. I don't usually make huge piles of chips so I also have a piece of rag covering the ways to catch most of the chips and that gets emptied into the bucket when done for the day.
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YotaBota said:
About the only time I used compressed air is cleaning out a blind hole and then I cover the hole with a rag before pulling the trigger. I don't usually make huge piles of chips so I also have a piece of rag covering the ways to catch most of the chips and that gets emptied into the bucket when done for the day.
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Ha ha ha, if I only produced so little so would I. When I machine up about 300lbs of Aluminum there is just a little bit of scarf left.
 
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Mike, I don't know, that rag kind of creeps me out. I'm not a safety nazi or one to tell others what to do to and occasionally I break the rules, but if it grabs in the chuck while a hand is nearby....just being selfish, I'd feel like crap I hadn't said soemthing. :) Sometimes you have to protect the lathe. I use cheap paper towel and magnets when polishing (that is the worst op on lathe imo, you can see the abrasive dust falling off the emery cloth), better, but still risky.
 
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We are hobbyists guys . . .
Safety First !! . . . be careful out there.

There is lots of cardboard in the garage and it is easy to fold into the proper geometry.
Less chance of it getting wrapped up in any spinning equipment.
Also, Chips slide right off it into a disposal bin !!
 
Mostly I used brushes , usually my shop vac is my go too , I keep my machines fairly clean , once in a while when it gets to the point where I need to do a major clean up I'll carefully use air too.

The messiest material I've worked with is bronze ,three or four years ago I made a large pilot / guide tool for rebuilding track frames on the large Crawler cranes I was working on at the time . I used bronze , there was lots of it lying around , new and scrap . I used this big old bushing out of a walking beam on a huge trailer we had rebuilt previously to make the tool . It was a big part and took a couple of hours to make , there was this grainy bronze swarf all over my shop when I was done , three or so years later I'm still finding some.
 
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Thanks for the concern and safety reminder. "rag" probably wasn't the best choice of words, it's actually a piece of the bottom of the BBQ cover that is a stiffish plastic coated cloth so it stays low. Without the cover I find myself doing as much cleaning as machining, it might be over protective of the ways but I want this machine to out last me.
 
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