# Ideas for easy and cheap chip guard for mill ?



## Cr2348455 (Apr 21, 2021)

Hi everyone ,
I own a Grizzly 0755 mill.   Any ideas for a quick and easy chip guard to limit flying chips to a smaller area.
I stay away from steel because of those HOT chips
we all love.  LOL
THANKS,


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## DavidR8 (Apr 21, 2021)

I use rare earth magnets to hold a couple of pieces of 8" square 1/8" acrylic onto the back and front of the vise. Works pretty well.


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 21, 2021)

Thanks David


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## hwelecrepair (Apr 22, 2021)

I have worked on machines in big plants that use pieces of cardboard as chip guards.  I am not necessarily condoning that, I would def go with something not as flammable, like @DavidR8 recommends.  

Jon


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

Thanks Jon
I usually mill aluminum,  that may work on the x
axis.   I found a small chip guard out of acrylic or lexan.   I just need to rig it up to the mill.


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## Papa Charlie (Apr 22, 2021)

I have used a cardboard box, just cut out the bottom to allow it to clear the vice and any hold downs and make sure that the height won't interfere with the operation and go to town. A shop vac makes for easy cleanup before removal. When I am done, I just through the box away.

I have tried to rig up more permanent setups but too often they work fine for a few setups and not for the majority of them. But at the time, I was doing a lot of repair job work and some one off fabrications which made it difficult to use them. I eventually just would take a piece of cardboard and tap it so it didn't through the chips at me and call it good.


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## Janderso (Apr 22, 2021)

I think I'm just getting use to having chips everywhere. Not really.
It drives me nuts. I like the plastic with the magnets idea, as long as the magnets are up out of the way. magnets can be a real PITA
I was thinking about some rubber material to snug up against the side of the mill vise and lay out across the table and surrounding apparatus.
Like a truck inter tube maybe. Heavy enough to hold and easy to pick up and dump in the can.


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

Papa Charlie said:


> I have used a cardboard box, just cut out the bottom to allow it to clear the vice and any hold downs and make sure that the height won't interfere with the operation and go to town. A shop vac makes for easy cleanup before removal. When I am done, I just through the box away.
> 
> I have tried to rig up more permanent setups but too often they work fine for a few setups and not for the majority of them. But at the time, I was doing a lot of repair job work and some one off fabrications which made it difficult to use them. I eventually just would take a piece of cardboard and tap it so it didn't through the chips at me and call it good.


Thank you Charlie !
I am not getting your last line ?


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## Papa Charlie (Apr 22, 2021)

Got tired of cutting a box to fit around the work piece. So eventually, would just take a small piece of flat cardboard and tape it to the mill bed so it created a shield to keep the chips from hitting me when I was down close for fine work. Let the chip fly where they will otherwise.


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

Thanks Charlie !


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## Norseman C.B. (Apr 22, 2021)

Plexi glass and a magnet or two has been my go to set up...........


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

Thanks Norseman !


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## markba633csi (Apr 22, 2021)

Cardboard and tape! LOL  Sometimes I just hold a little piece of particle board as a deflector 
I wish I had a system to grab the chips before they hit the floor and send them into space somewhere
-Mark


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

Thanks Mark !


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 22, 2021)

clear plastic would have been better for the moveable vise shield, but it's not hard to flip it out of the way to get a better look. The rest are bits of alu or stainless with hard drive magnets screwed onto a piece of angle. Table covers are cookie trays with a piece of wood screwed to the bottom to fit a slot.

current state after doing a couple of projects, this'll only take a few minutes to clean up when I'm done


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> View attachment 363494
> 
> View attachment 363495
> 
> ...


Thanks Matt ,  very nice use of supplies !


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 22, 2021)

you're welcome! Just what I had lying around, though I always save HDD magnets out of principle.


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> you're welcome! Just what I had lying around, though I always save HDD magnets out of principle.


Where did you source the HDD magnets ?
Thanks


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 22, 2021)

from old HDDs that no longer work or ones I find at the scrap yard


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> from old HDDs that no longer work or ones I find at the scrap yard


Thanks Matt


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## talvare (Apr 22, 2021)

I just use my old face shields from my motorcycle helmets and attach them to a cheap mag base. They seem to be good for keeping about 75-80% of the chips from ending up on the floor.

Ted


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## Shotgun (Apr 22, 2021)

talvare said:


> I just use my old face shields from my motorcycle helmets and attach them to a cheap mag base. They seem to be good for keeping about 75-80% of the chips from ending up on the floor.
> 
> Ted




Ha!  I just remembered that I have a couple of those in a drawer that were too banged up to ride behind.  I'm thinking about a flip up guard like what comes shipped with most grinders.  Mount it on the front of the quill


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 22, 2021)

talvare said:


> I just use my old face shields from my motorcycle helmets and attach them to a cheap mag base. They seem to be good for keeping about 75-80% of the chips from ending up on the floor.
> 
> Ted
> 
> ...


Thanks Ted !


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## hman (Apr 23, 2021)

Janderso said:


> I think I'm just getting use to having chips everywhere. Not really.
> It drives me nuts. I like the plastic with the magnets idea, as long as the magnets are up out of the way. magnets can be a real PITA
> I was thinking about some rubber material to snug up against the side of the mill vise and lay out across the table and surrounding apparatus.
> Like a truck inter tube maybe. Heavy enough to hold and easy to pick up and dump in the can.


You can get heavy flexible grey vinyl "shower pan liner" at big box stores.  IIRC, it's about 48" wide and they'll cut the length you want from a roll.  Pretty inexpensive, and not too bad with hot chips.


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## tjb (Apr 23, 2021)

Here's a link to the one I made last year.  I use it almost every time I'm on the mill.

Regards,
Terry









						Another Chip Shield
					

I made this chip shield out of clear plexiglass and some scrap aluminum.  I did a lot of head-scratching before beginning the build.  I tried to anticipate every conceivable application with regard to size of milling projects and safety.  Once I zeroed in on these criteria, I came up with a...




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 23, 2021)

tjb said:


> Here's a link to the one I made last year.  I use it almost every time I'm on the mill.
> 
> Regards,
> Terry
> ...


Excellent job,  thanks for the link.


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## Illinoyance (Apr 23, 2021)

I have a few cheap mag bases with pieces of plastic attached,  Masonite would work just as well.  I set them on the machine table to block chips.  On the front of my Kurt clone vise there are two screw holes.  I fit another piece of plastic about 18" wide to drop over cap screws in those holes.  I try to machine in a direction that throws the chips forward, toward the guard on the vise.  Some people with ram type machines have made brackets to fit under the ram to hold pivoted outriggers to support curtains, probably cut down welding curtains.


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 23, 2021)

Illinoyance said:


> I have a few cheap mag bases with pieces of plastic attached,  Masonite would work just as well.  I set them on the machine table to block chips.  On the front of my Kurt clone vise there are two screw holes.  I fit another piece of plastic about 18" wide to drop over cap screws in those holes.  I try to machine in a direction that throws the chips forward, toward the guard on the vise.  Some people with ram type machines have made brackets to fit under the ram to hold pivoted outriggers to support curtains, probably cut down welding curtains.


Thanks Illinoyance!


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## Cheeseking (Apr 24, 2021)

Illinoyance said:


> I have a few cheap mag bases with pieces of plastic attached, Masonite would work just as well. I set them on the machine table to block chips. On the front of my Kurt clone vise there are two screw holes. I fit another piece of plastic about 18" wide to drop over cap screws in those holes. I try to machine in a direction that throws the chips forward, toward the guard on the vise. Some people with ram type machines have made brackets to fit under the ram to hold pivoted outriggers to support curtains, probably cut down welding curtains.



I’m with you... sounds like we have similar methods. One key feature that quickly becomes apparent with chip shields whether lathe or mill is simplicity. To use, clean, maintain, store and adapt to any situation. Sometimes absolute containment effectiveness must be sacrificed for ease of use. I’ve tried magnets but found cleaning off chips between parts was a pain so I default to gravity. An old v-block jaw that already had some tapped holes and pc of masonite became an easy set it wherever shield. 

























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Cr2348455 (Apr 24, 2021)

Thanks CheeseKing,
Great photos,  nice cnc,  is that a Tormach 1100 ?


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## Cheeseking (Apr 24, 2021)

yesir 1100.   I should check before posting stuff.  I followed the link Terry put to the other similar thread and found pics of the same already posted.   Oh well HM is extra "way covered" for folks looking for ideas..


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## Shotgun (Apr 24, 2021)

talvare said:


> I just use my old face shields from my motorcycle helmets and attach them to a cheap mag base. They seem to be good for keeping about 75-80% of the chips from ending up on the floor.
> 
> Ted
> 
> ...




You're post was double inspiration for me.  The flexible cooolant line in the same picture.  I had some old facemasks on hand, but I also had cell phone stand thingy, that used those flexible nylon ball things.  I broke it apart, made a tab to hold it on the quill of the lathe, put a bolt through the facemask, and potted both ends with JB-Weld to get a guard that I can easily move to where it needs to be our out of the way.


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