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Cover for a milling machine table

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Alvin Schlitter30/12/2009 12:05:52
14 forum posts
Hello All;
I was viewing the MIT training videos and I noticed that the instructor had some type of cover covering the Bridgeport milling machine table. It appeared to run up to and maybe even under the vice that was attached to the machine.
My question has two parts:
 
1. What types of material can one use safely on a milling machine table with a mounted vice.
 
2. If one is working on the table directly and not using a vice what type of cover could one use and how would one attach it?
 
The reason for the cover in my mind is to minimize coolant from an applicator bottle getting into the Tee slots and bottom well as well as aiding in keeping the machine clean.


 
 
wheeltapper30/12/2009 12:11:23
avatar
424 forum posts
98 photos
Hi
I use a sheet of thin aluminium cut to shape and bent over front and back.
tinplate will do as well.
If you bend the edges just over 90 degrees the spring will hold it in place.
 
hope this helps.
 
cheers
Roy
 
ps it also keeps all that nasty swarf out of the tee slots.

Edited By wheeltapper on 30/12/2009 12:12:53

Circlip30/12/2009 13:32:29
1723 forum posts
He'll probably come in with a piccy, but Sir John uses a shallow lipped tray with the vise bolted THROUGH it to stop cuttings filling the slots, but you need the coolant to drain rather than sit.
 
  Regards  Ian
chris stephens30/12/2009 15:28:50
1049 forum posts
1 photos
I hesitate to make this suggestion again, ( who remembers the kerfuffle  the last time?   , but thick brown "Kraft" paper makes an excellent mill table cover. It can go under the vice quite easily and will cover the tee slots effectively. One big advantage, at this time of year, is that by soaking the paper in oil, rust can be kept to a minimum. Another advantage over a tin tray , on smaller mills, is that paper is not rigid and will not get in the way at all.

To keep an "elder statesman" happy, for safety when machining Titanium, watch out for any potential but very slight fire risk!  Sorry Mr "C" , but I could not resist a slight, but good humoured dig.
chriStephens

Circlip30/12/2009 15:58:58
1723 forum posts
Got to end the year with a flamin bang avent you??
chris stephens30/12/2009 17:04:48
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Circlip,
But, of course. Got to keep warm somehow.
Wishing you and all the other contributors to this site a happy, prosperous and fulfilling new year.
chriStephens
mgj30/12/2009 17:59:26
1017 forum posts
14 photos
I don't quite see the need for the cover?
 
Milling you want A LOT of coolant to clear the chips, so you need to get the coolant away. If there is a cover there its going to go outside of the table. With the long slots it just collects up and returns to the tank.
 
I know there are specialist coolants and evaporating coolants and all, but we are mostly working with the everyday stuff, often with cutters that are not in the pink, so for a good finish, a realy good forceful flow is very helpful.

Edited By meyrick griffith-jones on 30/12/2009 17:59:52

Steve Garnett30/12/2009 20:21:37
837 forum posts
27 photos
I agree entirely with Meyrick - and I'd add that from a practical perspective, adjustable see-through splash screens rate a lot higher up my book than covers ever would...
chris stephens30/12/2009 21:16:55
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Guys,
I would be prepared to wager the odd fifty pence that the majority of mill users on this site do not use forced coolant and run their mills dry, and therefore covers to stop swarf  filling the Tee slots are kind of useful.
chriStephens
mgj30/12/2009 23:03:20
1017 forum posts
14 photos
Perhaps they do Chris,  but that still don't make it a good idea, unless one likes rapidly worn tools and a poor finish.
 
I'm too mean with my tools to wear them like that. A new endmill is quite expensive, and to set up and sharpen one (tips and flutes) takes a little while, even with a Quorn. So I make very sure they don't run hot.
 
Brass I don't always run coolant (should but I dont) and a quick blitz with a paintbrush clears the table very quickly?
 
Then you want to set up wth a square, so the covers come off, and on and off and on. ..... then you have to make sure the top surface of the vice is square to the bed, so it has to be torqued down?
 
Then you have tenons in the base of a vice or dividing head to engage in the slots to square up....... so off come the covers..... while you move the bolts for this new attachment, then back on...
 
No - too much hassle - two bolts and forced coolant and a paintbrush - or better one of those £2 slot clearing jobs from Axminster.

 
John Stevenson30/12/2009 23:16:27
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5068 forum posts
3 photos
As Circlip says just fold a tin tray up and bolt thru it. problem with mills is that most times the vises hang off over the table and using  decent amount of coolant just fills your boots.
 


 
 
OK this a slighly a larger machine but it shows the principle, this isn't a staged shot  but an actual job.
All those chips are contained, no crap has got into the tee slots or coolant tank / drain and boots still remain dry .
 
I have  trays for all the vises / machines and rotary tables and they save a lot of mess especially as I use flood coolant.
 
 


John S.
 

Edited By David Clark 1 on 04/01/2010 11:51:41

Edited By David Clark 1 on 04/01/2010 11:52:59

Ian Welford30/12/2009 23:19:29
300 forum posts
I found an old toothbrush to clear the T slots works well.
 
Made some easily movable guards using polycarbonate sheeting ( as used in conservatory roofs) and a couple of rare earth magnets set in a block of wood. -
 
Make a saw cut in a block of wood the right width for the sheeting to grip it. Drill a shallow hole into the base of the block and insert a magnet. Sticks well to even an oil table. I like a good healthy flow of coolant ( cos I'm not good at sharpening, enthusiastic yes, but not good! ).
 
The screens deflect coolant and keep it on the mill and off me (  a decision approved by the workshop superintendent, supplier of tea etc). They would not stop anything major so glasses or full face mask are still essential
 
Merry ( HIc   New Year to one and all!
 
Please keep up the good humoured (?) banter. Lets face it , it's the "warm discussions" that keep us all going, and the tea, and tea cakes, and chocolate biscuits,,,,
 
Ian
Steve Garnett30/12/2009 23:47:12
837 forum posts
27 photos
Posted by Ian Welford on 30/12/2009 23:19:29: 
Made some easily movable guards using polycarbonate sheeting ( as used in conservatory roofs) and a couple of rare earth magnets set in a block of wood. 

 That's pretty much the same idea as I used, only I fixed the polycarbonate onto some right-angled bits of scrap shelving uprights - I think they were, anyway - and they generally get clamped down, rather than fixed with magnets. I rather like the wood/magnet idea, so I might well modify them at some stage.

Frank Dolman31/12/2009 02:08:47
106 forum posts

 
       Meyrick, when you say clamps torqued down, do you just mean 'give it
   a judicious bit er welly', or do you measure the torque?
mgj31/12/2009 17:40:25
1017 forum posts
14 photos
If I'm clamping something down direct to the table I give her a scientifically judged bit of welly - actually I'm quite careful not to distort it, (by using a cut down spanner) and only 3 points of contact.
 
But my point was that if you are using sheet metal covers, and as was intimated, one might be clamping onto such a thing, then to get a vice to sit flat to engineering limits, yes you'd have to use a torque wrench, since all things are elastic. That is something that is a bit overmuch trouble for me.
 
I'm not against covers - most of my kit is covered when not in use - and I have some ply thingys to put on the lathe bed when changing chucks to make sure the bed doesn't get damaged. I made sure I spent a fair bit of time an dosh coverng DRO scales. But with  the greatest respect to those who feel covers are useful on a milling table - damned if I can see it.
 
Sheet over the machine at the end of the day - sure. But to leave plates on the bed, under which some coolant will sit, ready to promote bacteriological staining , or to try to keep swarf out of slots which will collect some anyway?
 
Not for me.
 
Mowever, I like the magnet/polycarbonate idea for a vertical splash screen Using tips under a good coolant flow, with 2" facing cutters the overspray can be a bit broad!!!
Alvin Schlitter01/01/2010 12:23:48
14 forum posts
Hello All;
Thank you for the discussion and thoughts. I originally included in my order a flood system but removed it due to the mess that these things can cause. Shielding would help but with them they would lead to restrictions, it seems that for every upgrade there is a price that must be paid!
One last issue not addressed with a flood system it the vaporization of the coolant as well as the atomization of the coolant due to the motion of the cutter. This can of course lead to some health considerations.
 
Anyways these are just my thoughts.
mgj01/01/2010 13:48:44
1017 forum posts
14 photos
Depends on how you flood - the mess. Most commercial systems using the plastic clip together lines just dump a a whole lot of mess everywhere. What one wants is a relatively small amount of coolant directed to the right spot.
 
Right spot means that the coolant holder has to go on the head, not the table - because the head doesn't move WRT to the cutter - and when drillng from the quill it doesn't move WRT to the job.
 
So by using a magnetic or a modified DTI holder on the head, its very easy to get the coolant in exactly the right place, and without having everything flop about while one tries to set it up..
 
Quantities - I use a 2mm vetinerary needle. I get a nice high pressure jet, so its blowing swarf away, and it keeps the cutting point flooded and cool - but there isn't actually all that much coolant in circulation. Its a neat and tidy system which works well
 
Health risks - well perhaps. I tend to keep my face further from the cutter than my hands.
Ian S C02/01/2010 11:43:03
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7468 forum posts
230 photos
I was interested to read in a pamphlet by Seivete(not sure of spelling)about using cutting fluid,enough fluid is pumped onto the work to ensure that the temperature does'nt rise above room temperature.The lathe is of course compleatly enclosed,and fluid is pumped in,in gallons per miniute(can't remember the figures),I think meyrick is more on our scale of things,although I just use a squeeze bottle.Ian S C
mgj02/01/2010 21:46:46
1017 forum posts
14 photos
Alvin - you wanted some details of the coolant system. Regrettably the one for the mill is under construction, so here are some shots of the lathe versions. The only difference is that the mill one is being mounted on the head with a sliding drop rod, so it's height adjustable.
 
Pumps are, for the Myford the Axminster cheapie - which also supplies the Dore Westbury.. And for the ETR lathe, the one that came with the lathe. For ages on the DW mill/Myford, I just used the same basic spout (thin brass tube from a model aero suppliers will be just as good) and a wall mounted gravity feed, and a catching can. So a pump is not essential.
 
Valves - I use one of the little Gas Valves, but I have a spare 1/4" globe valve from my steam fittings box, so I shall use that on the big mill.
This is the standardsetup on the ETR.
 
And reversed feeding through a hollow boring tool
And the Myford.

Edited By meyrick griffith-jones on 02/01/2010 21:47:43

Ian S C02/01/2010 22:55:37
avatar
7468 forum posts
230 photos
Sandvic was the name of the cutting tool company I was looking for,don't know where the other name came from,must have been too late at night.Ian S C
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