Been going back and forth over what I wanted to cover the mill table with, or if I wanted to cover it at all. Didn't want to pay for aluminum or stainless. Didn't want to use a porous material that might hold moisture or stain. If it is liquid, I will spill it............often. That's just how I role.
I settled on polypropylene. Scratches easy, but a little more chemical resistant than other sheet plastics and so far wipes really clean with WD-40. WD-40 even gets down in the scratches and cleans them out with no effort. $20 for two 24"x12"x.250" seemed like a reasonable gamble. Added 1"x.500" border.
I know this makes a "well" to catch chips, but the way I figure it, I either have to clean them up off the table, or clean them up off the floor, the table seems more convenient. The "well" will hopefully retain parts and tools, and not just the chips. The recesses in the border were an after thought so they are all limited to 3.5" in length. Had to do this to avoid the blind screws coming up from the bottom. These little trays will hopefully keep me a little more organized (an F5 tornado would be more organized than I am with most projects) and keep me from storing cutters, screws and drill bits in the shop vac. All the trays have a radius on the inside corners which I hope will make them easier to fetch little parts out of and easier to clean.
Added a couple short SHCS's to hang off the far edge for the drawbar wrench and a paint brush.
For now, I will leave the left side plain. I know for sure I want a couple hooks on that side, one for air, one for vacuum.
Might go looking for one of those swiveling metal basket boat drink holders if I can find a way to keep the swarf out of my thinkin juice.
I settled on polypropylene. Scratches easy, but a little more chemical resistant than other sheet plastics and so far wipes really clean with WD-40. WD-40 even gets down in the scratches and cleans them out with no effort. $20 for two 24"x12"x.250" seemed like a reasonable gamble. Added 1"x.500" border.
I know this makes a "well" to catch chips, but the way I figure it, I either have to clean them up off the table, or clean them up off the floor, the table seems more convenient. The "well" will hopefully retain parts and tools, and not just the chips. The recesses in the border were an after thought so they are all limited to 3.5" in length. Had to do this to avoid the blind screws coming up from the bottom. These little trays will hopefully keep me a little more organized (an F5 tornado would be more organized than I am with most projects) and keep me from storing cutters, screws and drill bits in the shop vac. All the trays have a radius on the inside corners which I hope will make them easier to fetch little parts out of and easier to clean.
Added a couple short SHCS's to hang off the far edge for the drawbar wrench and a paint brush.
For now, I will leave the left side plain. I know for sure I want a couple hooks on that side, one for air, one for vacuum.
Might go looking for one of those swiveling metal basket boat drink holders if I can find a way to keep the swarf out of my thinkin juice.
