# I Hate Cleaning Chips Out Of T-Slots



## Mini Cooper S (Mar 18, 2020)

I know that others have made table covers before, this is just my take on it based on materials on hand.  I have a 9 1/4" x 12 ft. length of  .166" aluminum left over from when we had out manufacturing business, so I decided to put it to use.  Made keys that fit into the T-slots to keep the covers from sliding around, yet easy to remove.  I like aluminum because it won't absorb moisture and cause the tables to rust.

For the CNC.




For the manual mill.  Note the extra cover to keep chips out from behind the DRO scale.



Keys to keep in place.


----------



## Dhal22 (Mar 19, 2020)

Nice!


----------



## brino (Mar 19, 2020)

Looks great.
-brino


----------



## aliva (Mar 19, 2020)

I made a couple of covers from hardboard, imbedded button magnets in bottom, painted, and put an raised edge around 3 sides to keep stuff from rolling off. No pics, my shop is still under winter wraps, so everything is coved in plastic


----------



## brino (Mar 19, 2020)

aliva said:


> my shop is still under winter wraps, so everything is coved in plastic



How do you get thru the winter?
I'd be jonesing real bad.......
-brino


----------



## erikmannie (Mar 19, 2020)

I usually choose to work with steel so that I can use a magnet for cleanup.


----------



## aliva (Mar 20, 2020)

brino said:


> How do you get thru the winter?
> I'd be jonesing real bad.......
> -brino


Not much I can do, my shop ( garage is all block const.) It's not insulated, that would cost a fortune. About another month when the temps come up I'll be out there. I spend the winter dreaming up projects, and attempting to draw them up with AutoCAD


----------



## brino (Mar 20, 2020)

....it would take me several months of daily use to even start getting comfortable with Fusion-360.

and YES I have tried all the online and youtube stuff, including Lars Christensen. 
It just doesn't stick!
Most likely because I only have a few hours a week for it. By the time I try the next step I have lost any previous knowledge.

One more thing I'll have to put off 'til retirement.
-brino


----------



## aliva (Mar 20, 2020)

As I said I'm attempting, to use AutoCAD it does have a steep learning curve. 
I wasn't doing too bad last year just simple stuff, well just as you said I lost most of what I learned. I found some good tutorials I'll post the link when I find them.


----------



## bretthl (Mar 20, 2020)

I made a couple from plywood and edged to form a tool tray.  They are light too.


----------



## FanMan (Mar 20, 2020)

Nice trays... but is that a vise handle or the locking wheel from a submarine???


----------



## DavidR8 (Mar 20, 2020)

brino said:


> ....it would take me several months of daily use to even start getting comfortable with Fusion-360.
> 
> and YES I have tried all the online and youtube stuff, including Lars Christensen.
> It just doesn't stick!
> ...


I'm with you. Really struggling to learn Fusion360. Pencil and paper is too easy and accessible.


----------



## brino (Mar 20, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> I'm with you. Really struggling to learn Fusion360. Pencil and paper is too easy and accessible.



If only I could feed those sketches into the 3D-printer!  
-brino


----------



## DavidR8 (Mar 20, 2020)

I tried...didn't turn out so well.


----------



## darkzero (Mar 20, 2020)

Were you trying to print a peeled lemon?


----------



## bretthl (Mar 20, 2020)

FanMan said:


> Nice trays... but is that a vise handle or the locking wheel from a submarine???



Hehehee.  I don't know what to say.


----------



## aliva (Mar 21, 2020)

brino here's the link to the AutoCad tutorials I use, not sure how they may relate to Fusion 360.









						Free AutoCAD Tutorial series | learn from basics to advance level
					

Free AutoCAD tutorial for beginners as well as pro users with AutoCAD 2D & 3D lessons, Quizzes and free downloadable lesson files. No signup required.




					thesourcecad.com


----------



## mattthemuppet2 (Mar 21, 2020)

very nice! I used a couple of cheap baking trays from the dollar store. Those plus some shields help in place with magnets means that it takes me 30s-1min to clean the mill up and put the chips into the appropriate scrap container. Keeps the area around the mill fairly clean too - a big deal if you're using a face mill or a coarse tooth rougher in aluminium!


----------



## brino (Mar 21, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> I tried...didn't turn out so well.



mmmmmm............birds nest soup...........plasticy.........


----------

