Vaccum for a milling machine.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

I am picking a milling machine up tomorrow. I have watched many you tube video's of using them. Usually I see chips everywhere & some using a airline to blow them away. Where to I do not know. Probably all over the floor. I was given a Henry the other week. Which could sit nearby & be plumbed to create a suction near the cutter. Is this something done or is there a reason not to. I do tend to overthink sometimes. Any input.

Steve.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Doubt its worth the bother on a manual machine, small paintbrush to sweep swarf out the way between operations does me and a quick vacuum around the work area once a week or two.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I've just been milling a cast iron slab to make a bevel straight edge.
I can assure you that my old Aquavac (original) has seen plenty of use, though not plumbed into the mill.

Less use near the lathe as the curly swarf clogs the vacuum tube, but well worth having for general workshop use.

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 11/03/2020 20:40:56

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

If you're doing a job where the chips can't get away (sinking a slot for instance) then using the vacuum to get the chips away and prevent re-cutting is useful

[Anonymous]

Small and large brushes for moving swarf when cutting. When cutting a pocket a bendy straw can be useful to blow the swarf out. Bet the **** government didn't think about machinists before they banned bendy straws!

Cleaning up after machining done with brushes and dustpan and brush. The floor gets swept/vacuum'd as needed.

Andrew

[Jeff YoungParticipant @jeffyoung31228]

Don't plan on using the vacuum for anything else. The hose will forever be seeping cutting fluid….

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Good job you dont have a saw bench and planer as the dust gets everywhere.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Ha Ha. I like it. It was just my brain running away with itself. Like you go to look at a new house with the missus. It is a total mess , but you look at it & think yes I could really do something with this. You then leave & the missus says what a dump.

So my thought were a spray mist to one side of the cutter attached to the quill somehow so always pointed at the job. With a low pressure as to not get swarf & cutting fluid everywhere. Then on the opp side a powerful vac like the spare one I have , with a reduced Nozzle, smaller than the 1 1/4" tube to maybe 3/4" to cause a strong vac. Machine, blow, swarf, suck, gone job done. See I told you I overthink every thing. Cannot change a life time habit. Teachers at school gave me a wide berth because I always came up with some better way of teaching. No not going home with a free ice cream. Good idea though. It was only an idea. The guy I am buying it from has a large extraction system throughout his garage. I mean large. But he does woodwork too, so that is probably why. Remember the URN Brew advert in the maternity wing. When the woman says something like meet Fanny. He looks disgusted but after a swig of Urn Brew everything seems ok. Yes my granny was a Fanny he said. Amused me for ages. Need to buy some. Oh & Corona at Aldi going cheap. Wonder why.  

steve.

Edited By Steviegtr on 11/03/2020 22:36:24

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Jeff Young on 11/03/2020 22:17:40:

Don't plan on using the vacuum for anything else. The hose will forever be seeping cutting fluid….

No correct, I was thinking of it living under the bench & dedicated for the job. It is aqua so fluid would not bother it.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 11/03/2020 22:19:24:

Good job you dont have a saw bench and planer as the dust gets everywhere.

Well I've got a universal saw/planer/thicknesser/slotter.

I cover the lathe/mill/shaper etc with old nylon sheers (remember them) and use the vac on the machine to try and catch most of the dust whilst it's working.
Next job is to put weights on anything light, open the garage doors and break out the leaf blower.
It works a treat, including dislodging things I lost months ago.

Bill

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Oh my god a leaf blower. It's not a 32cc 2 stroke is it. If the dust don't kill you the 2 stroke will.

Steve.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 11/03/2020 22:19:24:

Good job you dont have a saw bench and planer as the dust gets everywhere.

Agreed, but over the years dust and chip extraction has improved greatly. My old circular saw now has extraction from the guard and at two separate points beneath the table; as a result the mess is drastically reduced.

Needless to say, it's a health plus, too.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Posted by Steviegtr on 11/03/2020 22:40:03:

Oh my god a leaf blower. It's not a 32cc 2 stroke is it. If the dust don't kill you the 2 stroke will.

Steve.

No I use the electric one indoors, the 2 stroke outdoors.
Perhaps surprisingly, it's pretty much dust free at the operator's end, provided I open the window at the end of the garage.
It actually gets used pretty regularly inside the garage for its intended purpose.
I prefer to work with the main doors open, and there's some strange eddy currents in the wind round our house, meaning that the garage fills with dead leaves.

Bill

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 11/03/2020 22:06:43:

Small and large brushes for moving swarf when cutting. When cutting a pocket a bendy straw can be useful to blow the swarf out. Bet the **** government didn't think about machinists before they banned bendy straws!

Cleaning up after machining done with brushes and dustpan and brush. The floor gets swept/vacuum'd as needed.

Andrew

Ditto for me apart from the straw; have an old Vax wet/dry vacuum that copes well with dabbed on fluid (wet swarf ).

George.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I used to use an Aldi shop vac on oily swarf, but stopped when I saw oil droplets in the little grille covering the air outlet. I decided that filling the shop with cutting oil aerosol probably wasn't good for me and possibly a fire risk! Now I brush the swarf straight into a bin and clean up the oil with paper towel. Still use the vac for dry aluminium and brass chips.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

I think of a vacuum cleaner as a workshop consumable. I'm on my 3rd in about 20 years. It's an Argos cheapie cylinder – unbranded – cost about 40. The short, narrow crevice nozzle is on it most of the time, and that'll get oily chips out of the T-slots in the crossslide and the dirt-grooves in the bedway. There's a long tube-thing with a flat nozzle for the floor. On brass or wood I sometimes hold the nozzle close by the tool and hoover up the swarf on the fly.

I think I've got another 2 or 3 years before I throw it and buy another.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

The only problem with the Henry I got given ,it's a site vac, so 110v. Pain but beggars eh.

Steve.

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

Vac cleaners are ok,for small metal chips but do not work with the longer curly stuff.,can be pain to get the curly stuff out of the flexible tube Do not use a vacuum to suck hot steel direct off the cutter ,especially using carbide tooling without lubricant,it will soon cause a fire in the cleaner.I generally clean up cold swarf with a old steel dustpan and brush,then use a cheap paint brush to clean the nooks and crannies,then a Tslot cleaner cut from sheet steel, plus a narrow vac hose to clear out the bottom of the T slots.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Mick B1 on 12/03/2020 13:13:14:

I think of a vacuum cleaner as a workshop consumable. I'm on my 3rd in about 20 years. It's an Argos cheapie cylinder – unbranded – cost about 40. The short, narrow crevice nozzle is on it most of the time, and that'll get oily chips out of the T-slots in the crossslide and the dirt-grooves in the bedway. There's a long tube-thing with a flat nozzle for the floor. On brass or wood I sometimes hold the nozzle close by the tool and hoover up the swarf on the fly.

I think I've got another 2 or 3 years before I throw it and buy another.

I have a cheap workshop vac from Wickes which is used for cleaning down lathes and mill. Recently, for the first time in several years' use I managed to get a small bird's nest of chips stuck in the hose. The workshop broom handle failed to dislodge this but then I thought of the rarely-used drain rods gathering dust in store which did the trick.

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I'm not sure anyone has mentioned Cyclone dust collectors. I have one attached to my Henry and it seems to work very well. I've been doing some light sawing inside recently (I usually do it outside in the summer) and I've been vacuuming up each end-of-day and it seems to be keeping things fairly clean & Henry's bag is still empty. All my (metal) working machines are kept covered unless in use by the way.

I've also used the Vac + Cyclone to tidy up after Shaper work (a few small curly chips always tend to get thrown outside of the collection box – and the combination worked well for that too. I've got a swarf bucket for the long stringy swarf – and generally just pick it up (always with work gloves on of course). I think the Cyclone would be fine with cast iron – it picks up very fine wood dust..

Regards,

IanT.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Steviegtr on 11/03/2020 20:27:22:

I am picking a milling machine up tomorrow. I have watched many you tube video's of using them. Usually I see chips everywhere & some using a airline to blow them away. Where to I do not know. Probably all over the floor. I was given a Henry the other week. Which could sit nearby & be plumbed to create a suction near the cutter. Is this something done or is there a reason not to. I do tend to overthink sometimes. Any input.

Steve.

It is, as you confess in more detail later, likely to be overthinking!

You need to make something! I recommend the PottyMill Engine from the forums very own Stewart Hart. Plans available from various places on the Internet, I used this version. They're a bit cramped, and Stewart's original plans are better laid out. Not really into engines myself, but I learned a lot of technique by building a few. Actually translating a plan and lumps of metal into a working engine reveals more about real needs and issues than any amount of web-browsing. One lesson I learned was that unless small parts are perversely hacked from gigantic lumps of metal, building a modest model engine doesn't produce huge quantities of swarf. Nor do most of my other activities. I spend more time planning and setting up than cutting. You may be different, say into full-size loco spares or car parts, but I doubt it – hobbyists tend not to mass-produce swarf.

Of course much depends on what the machines are used for. I make experimental things in support of other hobbies. Relatively low volume means I can control swarf with a brush and periodic clearance. In a professional outfit, a machine that's not cutting metal is wasting money. They're more likely to have a swarf clearance and cooling problem because their machines are worked hard all day. I don't think many hobbyists play that game other than on special occasions. Therefore we don't normally need to worry about it. Ordinary methods do the job. KISS

In any case a vacuum may not be practical. At slower hobby cutting speeds most swarf comes off in ribbons# rather than chips, and it's easier to manhandle ribbon than to vacuum it. Heat might damage the hose. The other objection is noise. Loud machinery in a workshop takes most of the pleasure out of a pastime. My mill is conversationally quiet, last thing I want is an air-pump and vacuum running.

I have a magnetic wand for clearing steel, and a Henry-like Vax for general purpose cleaning. Neither gets used all that much.

# My best for a single unbroken length of ribbon is about 8 metres. Normally ribbons aren't wanted, but it is quite a useful test of skill to deliberately make a long one. Have a go with your Myford and let us know how you get on! (I give no clues about the metal or type of cutter used – your choice!)

I bet others have made much longer ribbons than my 8 metre worm. Who claims the forum record?

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 12/03/2020 16:47:02

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Could not match that SOD, but got some pretty long ones machining some Acetal last week. Usually ends up wrapped around the work at some point.

Steve.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I did have a "Henry" but not the space for it (him?). I gave it to a friend for his own workshop.

Recently I bought a small, hand-held rechargeable vacuum-cleaner from Aldi or Lidl, with workshop use in mind, but it will probably be more use in the house, such as on the stairs, or the computer's ventilation grilles.

To be honest I have never found it a great chore to clean the machines and workshop floor manually. Takes a bit longer perhaps, but not that much, to extract a nice clean lathe from a heap of swarf!

I bought a cheap polythene toy spade – useful, is living in a seaside resort – to use as a very effective dustpan on the lathe chip-trays. It just fits sideways on between the tray side and the raising-blocks, on the Myford cabinet.

I've also a standard floor-brush whose shim-thin steel tube handle I managed to break at half-height. I think I accidentally stood on it!. Surprisingly that proves very useful for cleaning in cramped areas.

To help with cleaning the Harrison L5, having discovered the swarf's favourite hiding-places, I cut two left-overs of standard white PVC rainwater down-pipe lengthways at slightly below centre-height to form gutters. These simply lodge by their own springiness on the bed under the shears, below the headstock and tailstock, preventing the large voids below from swallowing the debris. That under the full length of the headstock also directs oil seeping from the gearbox, into the chip-tray. A by-product is that the tailstock gutter often temporarily holds small tools or work-pieces out of harm's way!

+++

Years ago I was the materials store-keeper in a factory making printing-machines. The millers had a horrible habit of using air-lines to clean their machine tables, squirting fountains of swarf and suds for some distance across the machine-shop floor.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Well Nigel that is what you see to commonly on you tube. Which really purged me to ask the question. Rather than blast it everywhere, suck it up. Anyway for now it is living under the bench by the lathe. I clean all the shavings & anything large & then vac the debris up that is left.

I was using a small vac I got from a friend for a while. But as some comments said it got bunged up too easy & a cow to clean out. The Henry is much more powerful & seems so far to be clog free.

Not had chance to use the mill much as I am waiting for some Carbide cutters coming.

Steve.

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