# Silicone sheet mill column way covers



## MontanaLon (Aug 24, 2019)

The rubber way cover on my mill needs to be replaced, the mudflap that came on it is shot. I think the hot metal chips that land on it caused it to stiffen up and crack. Looking at replacements and wondering if anyone has used a sheet of silicone to use. In my head it works great, very flexible, resistant to high temps and not expensive. Looking for input as to how well it will work.


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## mikey (Aug 24, 2019)

I had the same idea. Seems like it would work fine but you would need to make a long metal folded clip to hold them so screws could pass through to fasten the clips to the machine. Bet it would work really well.


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## NortonDommi (Aug 24, 2019)

What a good idea! Probably work better than O.E.M.


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## ddickey (Aug 24, 2019)

I was thinking the same the other day.


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## BGHansen (Aug 24, 2019)

I replaced mine on a Jet mill with what is probably PVC black carpet runner from Menards. Not as flexible as silicone, but pretty cheap at a buck or two per foot. It's held up well though PVC has a melt temp much lower than silicone.

I've cast a few molds from two-part silicone, has a max temp of around 625F. Seems like silicone would work great against hot chips if you can buy sheets of it.

Bruce


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## nnam (Aug 24, 2019)

I woud mix silicone with mineral spirit and brush on some fiber backed material (I used treadmil belt).  People have done this to make tarp.  I used paint roller to put it on a tent, that has vinyl top that was leaking all over, in bad shape.  That fixed it for several years and still going.  Hard to believe it.  In the winter, vinyl harden and wind cracks them.  Silicone seals and add flexibility even in winter and add thickness. Mineral spirit mixed well with solicone and give good adhessive to vinyl.  I forgot the ratio, but look up the web would give you info and video.


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## WCraig (Aug 24, 2019)

Maybe you could borrow from your wife?










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## brino (Aug 24, 2019)

BGHansen said:


> Seems like silicone would work great against hot chips if you can buy sheets of t.



Yep, I have seen them in the local dollar store for lining cookie sheets so things do not stick.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reusable...-Liners-Set-Of-3-by-Collections-Etc/168381546

I have some in the shop for handling hot things.......but never thought about way covers.
Great idea!

a larger size, "Full-size Oven Liner" but does NOT say "silicone":
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Range-Kleen-Full-size-Oven-Liner/25355272

Also when seraching for the above links I also found that you can get them in other materials:

fiberglass: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evelots-...berglass-Reusable-400-Degrees-Set-2/185106706

teflon: https://www.walmart.com/ip/3-x-Heav...r-43cm-x-62cm-For-Fan-Assisted-Oven/362968132

-brino


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## mickri (Aug 24, 2019)

The mix ratios for silicone depends on what you are using it for.  If just waterproofing seams you want it thick.  1:1 mineral spirits to silicone.  The more flexible it needs to be you use more mineral spirits all the way up to about 15:1.  5:1 to 10:1 are the most common mix ratios.  The mix ratio is by weight not volume.

I use aluminum foil to cover the ways and table on my mill/drill.  Seems to work well for me.  Makes cleanup really easy.  Fold it up with the chips inside and throw it in the trash.


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## Meta Key (Aug 24, 2019)

I saw some "silicone" baking sheets while the wife was dragging me through a kitchen store and thought they'd be great way covers for my mill.  They came in various, mostly dubious, colors but did have black available so I got a pack and took them home.  I carefully cut a couple to size and installed them on the mill.  Looked good.  

Later I noticed that while milling steel some of the really hot chips were melting into the covers.  But, the real problem showed up when I was milling some 7075.  I was using WD-40 as a cutting fluid and the "silicone" covers started to basically dissolve. I peeled them off the mill and tossed 'em.  End of experiment.  I guess the manufacturer didn't test their baking sheets with WD-40. Can you imagine?!

Now, that being said, these things were doubtless made in China and who knows what their composition really is.  Mystery silicone..

BTW, I took the extras that I bought (came in a 5-pack) to the kitchen where we use them to cover unused burners on the gas cook top while cooking.  They make clean-up much easier and _the wife likes that_.  OTOH, I have managed to set one on fire by placing it too near a hot cast iron skillet that I was searing steaks in.  The emissivity of the cast iron was amply demonstrated.  The _wife did not like that_, even after my very lucid explanation of emissivity and the magic of cast iron.   ;-)

So, there ya have it.  One man's' experience; YMMV.

MK


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## MontanaLon (Aug 24, 2019)

I had another idea for a way cover. I was a firefighter for 16 years, the material they made turnout gear out of is definitely heat resistant. I looked up Nomex and can get the material for $10 a yard. It isn't terribly heavy material so would definitely be flexible enough. With a yard I could probably make drapes for other areas of the machine that chips land on regularly that I'd prefer to keep them out of but it would be light enough to not bind things up. Hmmmm.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 24, 2019)

I use treadmill belting, always have plenty of it around after dismantling a treadmill or two


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## ddickey (Aug 24, 2019)

Isn't nomex like a cotton almost. That's what we used over our heads/face. At least that's what we called it.


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## MontanaLon (Aug 24, 2019)

ddickey said:


> Isn't nomex like a cotton almost. That's what we used over our heads/face. At least that's what we called it.


It is soft fuzzy when it needs to be but the stuff I am look at now is about like canvas.

I went to the store and looked at what was there. The silicone baking sheets were too short by 3.5 inches. Looking at them they are fiberglass fabric coated on both sides with silicone. I think they would hold up to the heat and the oils but would need to find one bigger to make it fit.

I found an oven liner sheet. Not sure of the material but it is stiffer than the silicone. It is heat resistant to 550 so hot chips shouldn't melt through. I have squirted it with brake cleaner, carb cleaner, WD-40 and the 4 types of oils I have in the shop. Will see if it curls up and dies or hangs tough.


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## MontanaLon (Aug 24, 2019)

Well nothing ate the oven liner so I installed it. While I was cutting it I discovered it is a fiberglass fabric coated with a plastic of some sort. Once it was installed I had to test it of course. Put a chunk of questionable lineage and took a cut. Hot chips seemed to have no effect where they were impacting on the vertical surface, I didn't cut enough to really see what it will stand but the hot chips weren't blowing through it so I am happy for the time being.

Now I need to order some stock, some mills and make some tool holders for the lathe.


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## 38super (Aug 30, 2019)

Foul Weather gear?


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## mickri (Aug 30, 2019)

I guess you could cut up some foul weather gear to make mill covers.  Most foulies these days are made from rip stop nylon coated with silicone to water proof it.  The silicone wears away over time.  Especially if it gets washed.  One the things on my project list is to recoat my foulies.  They are no longer waterproof.  We are getting way off topic here.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Aug 30, 2019)

I didnt read the entire thread so if already mentioned please disregard.

I would Make sure the type id buy has some sort of structural backing material impregnated into the silicon. 
If the type of silicon oven/baking liners you guys are thinking of using are the 100% silicon style then dont bother wasting your cash.  Yes they are very flexible and will handle the heat, hot chips and oil but once they develop even the smallest cut or tear it then becomes rather fragile.  Only a matter of time, depending on its location on the machine, before that small cut/tear travels from end to end rendering it sorta useless for its intended purposes.


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## kvt (Aug 30, 2019)

I have made from the fiber reinforced silicon baking mats that my wife purchased as a role of cut to fit stuff.   It also works good to cover the ways on my lathe when I do some grinding etc  IF it was a little bit stiffer would be ok, as it would make things easier to vacuum off.


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## gonzo (Aug 30, 2019)

I use silicone sheet on my mill and it works wonderfully. Bought the material off of ebay.


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## Aaron_W (Aug 30, 2019)

MontanaLon said:


> I had another idea for a way cover. I was a firefighter for 16 years, the material they made turnout gear out of is definitely heat resistant. I looked up Nomex and can get the material for $10 a yard. It isn't terribly heavy material so would definitely be flexible enough. With a yard I could probably make drapes for other areas of the machine that chips land on regularly that I'd prefer to keep them out of but it would be light enough to not bind things up. Hmmmm.



Nomex would absorb oils, and the chips would probably get snagged and stick in it.


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## Downunder Bob (Aug 31, 2019)

MontanaLon said:


> Well nothing ate the oven liner so I installed it. While I was cutting it I discovered it is a fiberglass fabric coated with a plastic of some sort. Once it was installed I had to test it of course. Put a chunk of questionable lineage and took a cut. Hot chips seemed to have no effect where they were impacting on the vertical surface, I didn't cut enough to really see what it will stand but the hot chips weren't blowing through it so I am happy for the time being.
> 
> Now I need to order some stock, some mills and make some tool holders for the lathe.



I think you'll find those oven liners are a fibreglass fabric coated with teflon so should be resistant to just about any solvent chemical, and resistant to around 550f so should do the job.


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## KMoffett (Aug 31, 2019)

Downunder Bob said:


> I think you'll find those oven liners are a fibreglass fabric coated with teflon so should be resistant to just about any solvent chemical, and resistant to around 550f so should do the job.


Teflon is slippery. Those baking sheets are not. They're sort of tacky when dry. We use them under bamboo cutting boards on our granite counter so the boards don't slide around under side pressure.  I discovered that by accident.


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## Downunder Bob (Aug 31, 2019)

KMoffett said:


> Teflon is slippery. Those baking sheets are not. They're sort of tacky when dry. We use them under bamboo cutting boards on our granite counter so the boards don't slide around under side pressure.  I discovered that by accident.




I hear your point however the ones I have state on package that it is fibreglass with teflon coating, the 550f is about right, and consider that teflon tape is not slippery. Yes I know most so called teflon tapes are no longer teflon, but even the original ones that were teflon were not slippery, so maybe teflon on a frypan is different from some other forms of teflon


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## gonzo (Aug 3, 2020)

gonzo said:


> I use silicone sheet on my mill and it works wonderfully. Bought the material off of ebay.


Purchased from Rubber sheet warehouse.


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## pontiac428 (Aug 3, 2020)




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## derf (Aug 3, 2020)

I think you guys are over thinking this.......high tech solutions for a lo tech problem. I made a way cover from 1/4" plywood, glued some wood blocks underneath to fit into the T slots to keep it from moving around. I glued some 3/4" square stock to the outside to make an edge to contain chips. When it gets full, lift off and dump the chips into a bucket.


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## KMoffett (Aug 3, 2020)

OP: "The rubber "way cover" on my mill needs to be replaced...".  Not t-slot covers.


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## Boswell (Aug 3, 2020)

I just use a t shaped scraper tool and a shop vac.  Easy


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## derf (Aug 3, 2020)

Sorry, I guess I misread that. I had just come back from the dentist for an extraction......the drugs are wonderful. Now that I'm little more sober, I can say that I use sheet rubber roofing.


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## Buffalo21 (Aug 3, 2020)

I use rubber roofing material


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