Machining cast iron - do you cover your ways?

Chips? Well then Ron, you must be taking bigger DOC than I do.

Cheers Phil
 
mikey said:
I cover everything that isn't rotating or cutting and lay a damp terry cloth towel under the spindle and I stuff a big wad of oiled paper towel into the spindle bore, too. In my defense, I do this not (only) because of paranoia but largely because I'm lazy. It is sooo much faster to use a brush attachment on the vac to get most of the chips off, then carefully remove the plastic sheeting to reveal a clean lathe underneath. A quick cleaning of the entire lathe and I'm done. Oh yeah, I throw a plastic sheet (those cheap painter's cover things) over adjacent machines, too. I'd say this is just the smart thing to do but it's really just more laziness.

I also have a rubber apron in front of my cross slide so chips rarely even make it to the way wipers - this makes me feel better because my lathe is my baby.
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I think it would be more accurate to call this industriousness, a lazy person will just leave them dirty and keep going with no regard for machine wear.
 
To me there is a big difference between keeping your lathe clean and covering ways each time for protection.
 
A very long time ago, my first shop teacher pointed out that the problem with CI isn't the clean-up, it's the risk of embedding carbides in wipers or ways. And then grinding your ways every time you move the carriage. He was right rude about compressed air, same reason. And covering ways when machining weldments, or even dirty/rusty metal.

He wouldn't let us use cloth or plastic film, either. Paper was OK, but he preferred aluminum foil for way covers, and magnets to hold. Al foil has the advantage that it can be formed to the ways, and it will tear fast if it gets grabbed. It is also completely impervious to dust, cheap, and can be balled up to discard, containing the debris. The small rare-earth magnets will also do a great job holding the foil to the carriage, ways, etc- while letting it flex. Put them under the foil, not on top.

Overcautious? Perhaps.
 
Only factory I ever worked in did a load of cast iron motor bodies. We didn't even attempt to cover ways (almost all machines were induction hardened beds) Never use compressed air for 'cleaning' machine, it just blows dust in places you can't remove it without machine 'out of service' for monts
 
I use the aluminum foil trick, as others, as a matter of clean up as well as to keep the grit out of the lathe’s moving parts. The wife keeps getting upset with me, as I use her Reynolds aluminum foil, once roll goes out into the shop, to her its unfit for cooking use. I now have 3 or 4 rolls in the shop.
 
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