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Way Covers

jcdammeyer

jcdammeyer

John
Premium Member
I'm thinking of ordering this from AliExpress
ChipGuard.jpg
to cover the naked front part of the Y Axis on my mill.
YAxisNakedWays.jpg

The back end of the Y axis is already covered and it's pretty obvious how chip laden it gets and is at times hard to vacuum out but it does protect the ways so seems a good idea to protect the front too.
YAxisCoveredWays.jpg

Now the Z axis ways are not covered. I see photos of Bridgeports with some sort of heavy thick rubber fastened at the top. Not sure how it's fastened at the bottom.
On my mill the table only goes as high as that rubber stop.
ZAxisNakedWays.jpg.
Suggestions as to what to use for Z axis?
 
David said:
My mill has an accordion-style box cover for the Z. What's neat is that the metal bits at each end are cut out to match the dovetails and keep it in place.
Kinda like this. Have a look at the first picture in the reviews to get the idea.
Click to expand...
I thought about that type for the vertical but the problem is that even without the linear scale on the back of the X axis there's only 33mm clearance. Down to 15mm clearance with the scale in place.

Distance with the knee all the way down is about 560mm while all the way up about 300mm. So some sort of oil/solvent proof sheet of material would be the best fit.
 
jcdammeyer said:
So some sort of oil/solvent proof sheet of material would be the best fit.
Click to expand...
I am using belt from treadmill. It is quite tough but flexible. I think it is enough resistant to oil and to solvents to replace it once in two or three years. I am affixing it to the mill with magnets - yes, I know, it is attracting swarf... somebody has to be attractive in this worksop?
 
I have a picture of what I did on my old MD-001 mill. It was a nesting set of covers that was attached to the Y saddle, and to the column at the same time, so it gave a bit more room for Y as it was effectively folding up and out of the way for Y axis, but in my case left alot of Z exposed with the head moved up. Z could have used and accordion or simple draped cover for that part, but in reality I could barely get the head that low ever, due to tool length and usually using a vice.
1755821948918.png
 
I ordered some, the moment hot chips touched it, it was ruined. Waste of time. At least for my covers. Ended up buying some neoprene of suitable thickness, 1/8"
YMMV
gluck
 
@jcdammeyer - I have not covered my Y or Z yet either. Same issues. I have been thinking of plain rubber and just let it buckle wherever it wants.

It's that or thick canvas like @thestelster has on his.

A question - I assume that's a Z calibration device sitting on your table cover. How does that work on a cover that moves?
 
Because I’m really cheap.

SWMBO hates the chlorine taste in our domestic water and always wants super-cold water to drink. So we got a water cooler, and were buying bottled water in 19 litre bottles. Paying for water annoys me, so I installed a cartridge filter under our kitchen sink. Taste/odor cartridges are good for about a month, and remove all hints of chlorine, at least good enough that SWMBO accepts the results. So I just refill the 19 litre bottles using the filtered tap water.

This leaves me with used filter cartridges. Curiosity had me pull one apart. Instant way covers, a fresh one every month or so, at no extra cost.

IMG_0055.jpeg
IMG_0056.jpeg
 
Susquatch said:
@jcdammeyer - I have not covered my Y or Z yet either. Same issues. I have been thinking of plain rubber and just let it buckle wherever it wants.

It's that or thick canvas like @thestelster has on his.

A question - I assume that's a Z calibration device sitting on your table cover. How does that work on a cover that moves?
Click to expand...
The cover is sized so the vise sits mid table. Unless I'm working with castings or other odd shaped items the vise sits there all the time. The tool height sensor is now permanently bolted in place even though I still haven't solved the error in probed tool zero. It's on the list.

It became too tedious to keep printing entire plates just to try and fit it around the height sensor so instead I printed it with a large hole. And then printed a small black piece that fits around the sensor and in the hole. Came out quite nice. I'll run down and take a picture.
...

There we go. I flip the cable out of the loops. Then lift and twist the panel and slide it out from around the cable. The insert is left in place since there's no easy way to pull it out until the panel is off. Some stuff will likely find it's way between the openings but not enough to worry.

If I want to bolt to the table I'll remove the RH panel and the vise. Depending on how large the casting is. The tool height sensor isn't needed if all the TTS tools have a predefined length. Only really drill bits in a chuck are the variable sized items.

1755830007078.png
 
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