# Swarf Chips They Are Everywhere



## ebgb68 (Feb 7, 2016)

I hope this is the right place to ask . Yesterday my loving wife was putting a shirt on and it was tangled. While helping there was a cork screw piece of swarf tangled in the fabric. I was already on probation for mixing oily clothes with the "good" laundry. 
Changing shoes this morning in our two car garage in noticed a trail of chips from the back door. My shop is two hundred feet from our two car garage. I need to get a handle on this before she has me stripping nude in the shop.
What is your process to deal with the chips.

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## P T Schram (Feb 7, 2016)

My first suggestion would be to suggest she assist in the stripping nude in the shop 

(I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!)

1: wear shop shoes in the shop and house shoes in the house
2: buy yourself a lab coat to wear in the shop.

Yes, I deal with the same issues and have had to adopt the above to maintain a pleasant home life. I'm on my second wife and let's just say that lightnin' ain't gonna strike this goofy old man a third time!


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## T Bredehoft (Feb 7, 2016)

My "shop" "workspace" is off the 'family room' in the lower level of our single story house.  In the last year I've spread sparkly aluminum chips all over the house, (all carpeted) The vacuum only gets some of them.  My wife has learned that remonstrations only just work, so has stopped. I try, I run the vacuum. We've adjusted.


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## JimDawson (Feb 7, 2016)

I have the same problem, and my shop is about 100 feet from the house.  I try to brush off/blow off but nothing seems to really work.  I've just learned to live with it.


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## P T Schram (Feb 7, 2016)

T Bredehoft said:


> My "shop" "workspace" is off the 'family room' in the lower level of our single story house.  In the last year I've spread sparkly aluminum chips all over the house, (all carpeted) The vacuum only gets some of them.  My wife has learned that remonstrations only just work, so has stopped. I try, I run the vacuum. We've adjusted.



You are a lucky man with a very accommodating wife. Consider yourself blessed!


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## Bob Korves (Feb 7, 2016)

I have no wife, so no problem!  I still try to keep the swarf in the shop and out of the house as best as I can.  It is not good when it gets in my socks and underwear...

The worst thing is the wires that break off wire wheels.  Sometimes they will penetrate vertically right through a shoe sole and cut the heck out of my foot before it gets annoying enough to deal with it.


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## stupoty (Feb 7, 2016)

Shop apron or boiler suit?  Giant fridge magnet style door mat? I'm amazed where I find Chips and swarf (well not any more I'm more supprised when i don't find them  )

http://www.industrialworkwear.com/c...ntent=sdVn0PV0w_t|pkw||pcrid|81482584364|pmt|

Have you thought about carpet with the 80's style metalic threads in ?  

Stuart


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## Bill Gruby (Feb 7, 2016)

All of us have that problem to one degree or another. My shoes for the shop have a smooth sole, only a modest pick up of chips. I do the vacuuming upstairs from the shop. My choice, it beats the alternative. If you are looking for a way to stop the problem ----- nope, won't happen.

 "Billy G"


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## kd4gij (Feb 7, 2016)

Tell the wife she married a machinist. Get over it. Leave your shop shoes out side. Don't where shirts with pockets. Blow as much as you can off at the shop door. Get a good pair of tweezers.


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## ch2co (Feb 7, 2016)

T Bredehoft said:


> My "shop" "workspace" is off the 'family room' in the lower level of our single story house.  In the last year I've spread sparkly aluminum chips all over the house, (all carpeted) The vacuum only gets some of them.  My wife has learned that remonstrations only just work, so has stopped. I try, I run the vacuum. We've adjusted.



Tom 
Do our wives know each other? Exactly the same story here. I've got a Tuesday AM reminder alarm on my iPhone just in case I forget.

I often don one of my old retired lab coats from my past life. It covers me pretty much from shoulder to ankle. The pockets are very easy to empty the swarf out of  and the material is sort of close weave material that seems to repel swarf. 

CHuck the grumpy old guy


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## Bill C. (Feb 7, 2016)

ebgb68 said:


> I hope this is the right place to ask . Yesterday my loving wife was putting a shirt on and it was tangled. While helping there was a cork screw piece of swarf tangled in the fabric. I was already on probation for mixing oily clothes with the "good" laundry.
> Changing shoes this morning in our two car garage in noticed a trail of chips from the back door. My shop is two hundred feet from our two car garage. I need to get a handle on this before she has me stripping nude in the shop.
> What is your process to deal with the chips.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk



Those are razor sharp too. Better to get extra clothes hamper or ben.  Mom had two of us to wash for.  Might consider a strong bar magnet for the tub of your washer if you turn a lot of steel.  Good luck


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## planeflyer21 (Feb 7, 2016)

I agree with Stuart.  Shop apron or coveralls.  As mentioned here and elsewhere, have a separate pair of shoes for the shop.

Once I did the apron and shoes, swarf in the house dropped to almost nothing.


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## 4GSR (Feb 7, 2016)

I don't cut iron as much as I used to do, but when I do, I make sure the shop floor is swept before I retire for the day.  Including removing shavings from my shoes before I enter the house.  I also make sure the path to the her washing machine is clean, too!  As long as I do these things, the hen house is usually quite.


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## master of none (Feb 7, 2016)

I do the same thing as Ken does and with my ocd sweeping the floor over and over is sort of therapeutic wearing a shop apron and blowing my clothes and shoes,it keeps it down to a bare minimum.


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## ebgb68 (Feb 7, 2016)

Thanks for the replies tomorrow I will get a shop apron from work . I was always nervous around spinning machines wearing one. 
Separate shoes for inside the shop is my next plan . 
If you see a cot in the background of my pictures it didn't work.

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## P T Schram (Feb 7, 2016)

ebgb68 said:


> Thanks for the replies tomorrow I will get a shop apron from work . I was always nervous around spinning machines wearing one.
> Separate shoes for inside the shop is my next plan .
> If you see a cot in the background of my pictures it didn't work.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk



I think you'll find that one of the reasons so many wear shop aprons is so that the apron gets caught and not clothes that are tightly attached.


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## savarin (Feb 7, 2016)

Being hot here all year round shorts and a "T" shirt is de rigeur.
They dont hold much. Crocs on the feet left at the shop door.
I still get the word but not very often.


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## rrjohnso2000 (Feb 7, 2016)

Lab coats are great. Shop only shoes are great. For me these only cover light duty projects. 

For the big ones that make a big mess I just swap my cloths. Leave the dirty ones in the work area and put something else on in the next room/just in the door. 

The biggest issue then is remembering to run a brush through the hair to pull out the stray chips. 

There is a reason most shop environments have locker rooms. Good luck!


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## brino (Feb 7, 2016)

I currently use separate shoes and wear coveralls. In fact I am now asking for a new pair or coveralls for xmas every year. Washing the old oily ones (absolutely in a separate load) just means that I need to spend time washing out the ring left around the inside of the washing machine!!! No matter how often I put a rag in my back pocket, I guess I somehow end up wiping stuff on them. I now wear them until I cannot stand them and then get rid of them. I typically just trash them, but I've often wondered just how flammable they'd be once I'm done with them. 



Bob Korves said:


> The worst thing is the wires that break off wire wheels.


Yup, I have a beard and more than I'd like to admit I need help finding that one stray "steel whisker" lodge in my face....somehow it's never one of the white ones. Remember when Homer Simpson was inside Bart's robot and asked Marg to "do his back" with the magnet....I'm almost there!

Some more input here:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/you-mightbe-a-machinist-if.20004/

-brino


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## 4GSR (Feb 7, 2016)

I personally would not wear lab coats in the shop.  Now if all you had was a small lathe they may be ok.  In my shop, there is too much stuff to get a lab coat hung up on and hurt without a machine running!  I do have aprons that I wear occasionally, but again, too much crap to get caught on and hurt.  
I learn at a early age how to work without getting dirty and filthy.  Well, most of the time.  I can still hear my dad criticizing me on how dirty I would get.  And "don't touch nothing!" going into the house to wash up.  Sometimes, you have no choice, you get dirty.  I don't use wire wheels in my shop anymore after the times seeing other people getting steel wires shoved into their eyeballs and having them pulled out, and these people were wearing face shields, too.  Get off my rant now.


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## silence dogood (Feb 7, 2016)

I have diabetes.  Even though I can still feel pain in my feet,  I can not risk to have a metal splinter.   So I wear good leather boots and a leather shop apron.  HF puts out an apron that  you can get for about $10 on sale. Also, I brush and collect the swarf frequently so it doesn't  build up.


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## carlquib (Feb 8, 2016)

I too use a heavy leather apron. It does a lot to keep the swarf and chips in the shop. The aprons are tied to keep them close but the straps are flimsy so if something should get caught they will just break. Haven't ever caught an apron in 25 years, knock on wood. Another thing that helps is the anti-fatigue mats in front of all the machines, they do a lot to help not get chips embedded in your shoes. 

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic!


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## Tozguy (Feb 8, 2016)

There is a rug both inside and outside the shop door. Separate shoes and shirt left in the shop. Shoes are slip ons with smooth top. Shirt is old polyester/cotton dress shirt that doesn't snag & hold chips. There is a sink, soap and mirror beside the door of the shop but I have gotten into the habit of wearing nitrile gloves. I do the vacuuming by choice. And boy is the food ever good around here!


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## Charles Spencer (Feb 8, 2016)

I wear shop aprons from Enco:

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=973&PARTPG=INLMK3&PMITEM=505-3927

In fact my outfit head-to-toe is:

Backwards Red Sox cap, though I always disliked the backward baseball cap look.
Safety glasses
Old Army t shirt, covered by old Army long john top when it is cold
Denim apron
Trousers from the church thrift shop
Work shoes that are reserved for shop use

This ensemble keeps almost all swarf out of the house.  I don't think you could pick up many women in it though.


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## kingmt01 (Feb 8, 2016)

I don't really get the lose clothes/long sleeves thing. I make sure I'm not going to get tangled in the lead screw but the spindles or work I won't get closer then half a sharply while it's moving.

To keep some of the swarf off that the mill throws I often set a 1/2" 4x4 aluminum on it's edge to deflect it away from me. I don't really have a problem with my shoes. I change at the door of the house tho.


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## Fabrickator (Feb 8, 2016)

I wear a Tank or Tee and shorts and flip flops most of the time. If it's really cold (like 55* in So Cal) I wear sweats to cover my shoes to keep the chips out of them.  If I'm cutting steel (hot chips) I move out of the path when taking a pass and my arms are used to the occasional "hot missile". I bought a pair of Crocs for the shop, but they're chip magnets so I took them in the house.

Throughout the day, I monitor the chips on the machines with a shop vac and blow all of the floor chips to the wall of or one corner until the end of the day where I clean them up with my magnetic wan and a broom.  I haven't invented an aluminum boom yet, but I made something that works pretty good by covering my magnetic wand with a cheap micro cloth (HF).  They seem to have an attraction to the chips.

I change my shoes when I enter and exit the shop and blow myself off with compressed air to keep everything out of the house.  For the most part, the wife never catches much, and she's a vacuum nut.


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## ebgb68 (Feb 8, 2016)

Had to smile last night I got home from the range and the wife was sweeping the shop. She commented on how I shouldn't let it get that bad and I had to tell her that was from one nights work. 
Also I warned her about OSHA and wearing moccasins in the shop. 
We have a plan worked out Thanks again for all the replies .
Ed



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## coolidge (Feb 8, 2016)

After you make a mess...



You clean up that's your best defense. I was beat last night after about 11 hours in the shop but I spent over an hour cleaning before calling it a night.


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## epanzella (Feb 8, 2016)

I built a wood platform that really helps with chips and is also easy on my feet. It's a mat of 1x2's on edge with short 1x2 spacer blocks in between. The whole thing is held together by 1/4x20 threaded rods going all the way thru. The spaces allow chips to fall thru before they get imbedded in my shoes. To clean up just pick it up and most of the chips are left behind on the floor. Easy to sweep up.


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## ebgb68 (Feb 8, 2016)

epanzella said:


> I built a wood platform that really helps with chips and is also easy on my feet. It's a mat of 1x2's on edge with short 1x2 spacer blocks in between. The whole thing is held together by 1/4x20 threaded rods going all the way thru. The spaces allow chips to fall thru before they get imbedded in my shoes. To clean up just pick it up and most of the chips are left behind on the floor. Easy to sweep up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is on my list to build soon . I work retail on my legs 10+ hours a day . Another 4-5 in the shop kills my back.

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## Metal (Feb 11, 2016)

get yourself a thick weave carpet sample, like a shag carpet but heavier duty, make sure you walk through it on your way in and out
MOST of the chips will bind to the carpet better than they bind to your shoes, my big problem now is the dog likes to come into the shop


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## kvt (Feb 11, 2016)

I put a mat at the shop door,   I don't know what type it is but it is bristles and get the stuff off the bottom o the shoes and most of the dogs feet.  My problem is also dogs, and grand kids keep coming in the garage which is my shop.   Blow off good with the air, clothes, shoes, hair, the beard is a different story don't like compressed area in the face.


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## epanzella (Feb 11, 2016)

Metal said:


> get yourself a thick weave carpet sample, like a shag carpet but heavier duty, make sure you walk through it on your way in and out
> MOST of the chips will bind to the carpet better than they bind to your shoes, my big problem now is the dog likes to come into the shop


How do you clean the rug? When I built the wood mat I already had a carpet. It  helped by reducing the chips on my shoes a bit, but cleaning the rug was too time consuming. An industrial vac wouldn't pick up the chips because they would tenaciously grab the rug fibers.


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## Tozguy (Feb 12, 2016)

When the rug snags and holds the chips that means its working.
I use an Electrolux carpet attachment with a rotary brush to clean up. Even then some chips need to be picked out with an awl.
The rug is also a blessing sometimes when I drop a tool or part.


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## Metal (Feb 12, 2016)

epanzella said:


> How do you clean the rug? When I built the wood mat I already had a carpet. It  helped by reducing the chips on my shoes a bit, but cleaning the rug was too time consuming. An industrial vac wouldn't pick up the chips because they would tenaciously grab the rug fibers.



I just shop vac with a corner tool to increase suction, takes a few minutes, not too bad.


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## epanzella (Feb 12, 2016)

Metal said:


> I just shop vac with a corner tool to increase suction, takes a few minutes, not too bad.


When I got rid of the rug and went to the wood mat it reduced my cleaning time by at least 3/4ths.  One a month I pick up the mat and the chips are left behind on the floor. It only take a few minutes to sweep them up.


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## Firestopper (Apr 16, 2016)

We all have this issue, some more than others, but I have found keeping the floor clear of swarf between passes (push broom into a pile), wearing sooth sole footwear and exit/entrance rugs both in the shop and at the house entrance helps a ton. I always spend time at the end of a shop session cleaning machines and floor. My dogs visit frequently at the end of the day so this also helps motivate me as well.  I usually miss small chips in my hair.


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## Terrywerm (Apr 16, 2016)

I usually wear old Dockers or similar trousers made from a tighter weave fabric. Chips seem to stick much less to them than to blue jeans. I also wear a denim shop apron from Enco which helps quite a bit. I have an old pair of slip on work boots that I keep around just for working in the shop area, and I remove them before going in the house. We still see an occasional chip in the house, but not too often.

When I was first out of high school and working in a machine shop, lab coats were the norm there. They were of a fabric similar to that used for coveralls and they did a good job of repelling chips.


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## burdickjp (Apr 16, 2016)

Dickies makes short sleeve coveralls.

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## Mark_f (Apr 16, 2016)

I live alone now ( wonder why), my wife found chips in her underwear (the hard way) . We quit and I still do not wash shop clothes in my washer ( I don't want to find them in mine). I take shop clothes to the laundry mat. They have a work clothes washer.


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## wrmiller (Apr 16, 2016)

Can't add much to what's been said, but what I do is keep the shop as clean as possible. I've been known to stop in the middle of a project if I notice it's getting bad and sweep the floor. Change shoes in the mud room connecting the garage to the house, and make sure I blow off really good before leaving the shop area. Even found chips in my hair back when I had some.


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## AR. Hillbilly (Apr 17, 2016)

As a new guy I can't add to this but I just did my first real project on my lathe. I cleaned up after and drug my feet (crocks) all the way to the house and got caught draggin in some strays. I was completely shocked at how much of this I had to clean up. What do y'all do with this stuff? I've been dealin with grinder dust ad slag for years but this creates a lot more than I thought it would.


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## savarin (Apr 17, 2016)

a magnetic broom, quick roll now and again whilst working then sit down to remove all the chips embedded in the crocs (yep, I wear them as well).
Now I just need to find an aluminium magnet.


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## CraigB1960 (Apr 17, 2016)

I am lucky in that it bothers me more than my wife..she never complains about it.  But, I do wear different shoes in my shop as well as have several aprons and work clothes go into the washer at the end of the day.  Never had problems with chips staying in the washer, though I do shake and use air to blow the chips off.

I try to stop before I get too tired and shop vacuum the shop before I quit each day.  I also have shop mats (the ones with holes in them) that I use at each machine.  This minimizes the chip spread.


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## Billh50 (Apr 18, 2016)

My shop area is in the basement. I shake off my clothes and check the bottom of my shoes before leaving the shop area. I also wear shirts either without pockets or with button flaps on the pocket to keep them closed. I will turn my pants pockets inside out to check for chips also. I have found this method works well for not dragging chips through the house and keeps the wife happy.


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