# Chip Containment



## Bruce88 (Apr 24, 2015)

It all started with my looking to replace the small shield on my Mini Mill with something larger and better protection and chip containment.

I’m doing manual milling and the CNC cabinets just would not work with the lack of access to the control handles/wheels.  The larger shields that I’ve seen others design are definitely better than what I had but I still felt that they were lacking, especially in chip containment.  Where I looked around the web for solutions, I found where a number of people were mounting a box on their table top.  This seemed to be the best concept to me, one I looked at was by (Aerowell – Table Top Mill Enclosure) but was for larger milling machines and the design was for flood coolant.

As I broke out my tape measure and started taking measurements of my machine and its milling capabilities this design evolved.  One area of the box that was hard to calculate was the back shield height.  The back area has a 4” high aluminum area for milling close to the table top and removable 6” high polycarbonate shield that can be moved up as needed.

So here is what I came up with, included is my simplified work sheet and design measurements. I didn’t calculated the exact cost of the material but it’s defiantly under $100.00


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## brino (Apr 24, 2015)

Bruce,

Nice detailed design and fine implementation!

Now for the hard question; Have you tried it yet?
Any changes you would make?

Thanks for sharing!
-brino


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## Bruce88 (Apr 24, 2015)

brino said:


> Bruce,
> 
> Nice detailed design and fine implementation!
> 
> ...



No I haven't tried it out yet, but when I do if I run into any problems I will post them hear.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 24, 2015)

very neat - I like the removable panels so you can fit in longer parts if necessary. Depending on how you clean up chips I'd suggest making a table cover so you don't have to clean out the T-slots and also making part of the front alu channel the same level as the table so that you can sweep chips out with a brush (not applicable if you use a shop vacuum).

I'm sure you could easily make some clip on extra shields to put on top of the polycarbonate if you need extra shielding!


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## randyc (Apr 24, 2015)

Very nice implementation !


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## Bruce88 (Apr 26, 2015)

mattthemuppet said:


> very neat - I like the removable panels so you can fit in longer parts if necessary. Depending on how you clean up chips I'd suggest making a table cover so you don't have to clean out the T-slots and also making part of the front alu channel the same level as the table so that you can sweep chips out with a brush (not applicable if you use a shop vacuum).
> 
> I'm sure you could easily make some clip on extra shields to put on top of the polycarbonate if you need extra shielding!




Thank you (matthemuppet) for your suggestion to make a cover to cover the slots in the bed when using the vice.  I made one out of a sheet of aluminum that is held in place by the vice bolts.  This should make cleaning up the chips easer.  Yes I do use a shop vac for cleaning up the chips


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 28, 2015)

you're welcome and a neat implementation too. I take no credit for the idea, just something I've seen on other peoples mills.


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## Bruce88 (May 5, 2015)

brino said:


> Bruce,
> 
> Nice detailed design and fine implementation!
> 
> ...




Yes (brino) I’ve tried some minor milling and drilling and have found that some mods needed to be made to improve the box containment and usability.

I used shorter Z-axis course feed handles approximately 1 inch shorter to clear the aft shield when moving the head down.

Where I found that chip containment at about 90%, there was a number of chips that where coming over the 8 inch high box shield.  When I used the small original shield with the box it eliminated most of those chips and I would say that chip containment is 99% now.


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## Fabrickator (Jul 13, 2015)

I too have an LMS High Torque, had it for many years now and I love it. You did a great job on making the chip guards, but for me, I would find that working "inside" of all of that too confining.  Too hard to measure and change tools.  I find that I like the freedom that no barriers gives me.

I did make a chip guard for mine that fits on the mill vise with a single dovetail mount for quick access. I only use it when doing power feed operations, but it does work nicely at minimizing the amount of chips that actually make it to the floor.  From there, I just blow them back to the wall until I finish the project and do a thorough clean-up.


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