What do you wear? Keeping chips out of your non-machining life...

[Christianstark]

Hi all, Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question.

Noob machinist here. Some initial findings from my first few months of machining.

Shirt - T-shirts seem to be a magnet for sharp chips. The cotton acts like velcro. Would canvas be a better choice in shedding chips? Secondly, Long sleeves are dangerous, but short sleeves are hard to deal with with hot chips spinning off a cutter and hitting me on my arms, etc. Are long sleeves buttoned around wrists ok? Best materials for keeping chips out of my laundry? I rue the day my wife gets an errant chip in her undergarments. Thoughts?

Pants - I have found that jeans work pretty well at shedding chips, and not sticking too much that I get chips intermingled in laundry so I think I am good here. Is canvas a good option too? Anything else I should look at?

Shoes/socks - I am going with boots here, but an additional issue is chips getting embedded in the rubber soles. Any way to combat this? I am scratching the hell out of my hardwood floors when I go upstairs for a drink or something, and embedding metal shards in the carpet outside of my shop area.

Floor - I have painted a garage epoxy on my floor, it is wearing very quickly in front of my machines where I stand due to chips being stepped on or embedded in my boots. Would rubber fatigue mats help with having chips fall through so I am not having to constantly sweep after every cut, or would that just make cleaning worse?

Apron? - I bought a welding apron, but the soft texture just grabs chips. What kind of apron do you use to protect yourself and shed chips off?

Hat? - I am usually hatless. what do you typically wear on your head when machining?

 

[benmychree]

I wear ordinary clothing and shoes/socks, lately even sandals due to foot problems, after nearly 60 years at it, I know where chips are likely to come from and go to and can generally dodge them. A canvas shop apron is probably good protection and I do use long sleeves, they can be rolled up if necessary for such as filing in the lathe. Most everyone in the shop that I apprenticed in wore long sleeves; getting burnt by hot chips on the arms is not fun, as you have likely already learned.

 

[mmcmdl]

45+ years of jeans , tee shirts , steel toe boots and safety glasses . Hearing protection when needed , and always a hat . Never gloves , long sleeves , aprons or loose clothing . Very hot chips will become embedded in even the best of work boots , so best to direct chips to where you are not not sitting or standing . As far as the floor , yes , even epoxy wears quickly . A rubber mat helps with this as well as cuts down on operator fatige (sp) . Have to always think safety first , either in a hobby or industrial setting .

 

[rabler]

My wife laughs when I come in with metal chips glittering in my beard.
Now, if you can figure out how to avoid metal slivers…

 

[mmcmdl]

My wife laughs when I come in with metal chips glittering in my beard

You better watch where you put that beard , she may not laugh for long .

 

[rabler]

You better watch where you put that beard , she may not laugh for long

I can see it now on a daytime "Divorce Court" soap operara. "Ma'am, Tell me again why you're filing for divorce?".

 

[rabler]

At one time I had a leather apron, those are absolutely the best in my opinion, but have gotten to be very expensive and hard to find. Chips don't stick, and pretty resistant to hot things. At the other end of the spectrum I knew a welder in Duluth, Mn, who wore a nylon and down vest in his commercial shop. He was fortunate and very glad he had on a heavy cotton long sleeve shirt when a stray spark ignited the leaky butane lighter in his vest pocket.

 

[Aukai]

I tried the floor mat with holes, and hated it, I'm using an anti fatigue mat now ~ 3/4" thick, I do get marks on my arms, but I'm using a cardboard deflector attached to a Noga magnetic holder. When I get close to my stopping point, and lean in the chips that find my neck, and collar are kind of distracting when you don't want to crash.

 

[compact8]

I absolutely hate having the machine covered with chips so I keep sucking chips away with a vacuum cleaner when cutting so it's not an issue for me. I don't do super-heavy cutting though.

 

[jbobb1]

Jeans, tee shirt and boots here as well. I try to avoid getting hit by chips anymore. I have way too many scars on both arms and upper chest from hot chips. Nothing like having one or two stick to your body when you can't do anything about it because you can't take your focus off the machine you're running!