Another Coverup
Neoprene Shrouds for DRO
© Frank Ford, 2006;
Photos by FF
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My mill's X-axis DRO scale has a nice little steel roof to keep chips and coolant from dropping onto it. But, chips often bounce up and stick around under there where they oughtn't to. |
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I took a piece of 1/16" soft neoprene and glued it to a stick into which I'd set a few small rare earth magnets. |
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Now I have an easily removable shroud that keeps everything out - no drips, no bounces. |
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Since I was on a roll, I decided to attack all my DRO scales. This was the most tricky - the knee axis. If you look closely at the top of the mounting bracket you can see the 1/2" thick steel block I bolted in place there. |
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I made a rubber shroud for the scale, and glued it to a flat plywood piece that had a strong magnet it it. |
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The shroud sticks easily in place. I made a slit in the corner to keep the cable from bunching up the rubber. |
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The cable slides right up and down as the knee height changes. |
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A simple sheet of neoprene covers the exposed are of the table so I can drop tools or whatever right there without nicking the table. |
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The Y-axis scale had such small clearance, I wasn't able to use neoprene, so I made a little cap from some thin aluminum sheet. It, too, is held in place by magnets |
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I added a really wide sheet glued to a stick and held up by imbedded magnets to cover the entire column. It also drapes around the Y ways. I can use my airhose to blow chips off without any danger of sending them into the ways. I have a separate regulator on that air hose to keep the pressure to less than 40 lb. |
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After a day's chip making, I pull back the sheet, and there's nary a chip in there. |
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Here's the Z-axis scale on the front of my lathe. |
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To make its cover, I glued a sheet of rubber to a stick just as I had for the milling machine X-axis. |
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Since there wasn't clearance for a wider sheet, I had to deal with a stiffness issue. To make the sheet bend smoothly, I scored halfway through the rrubber with a razor blade. |
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Now it hangs nicely. |
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Held in place by the magnets, the rubber sheet keeps the entire scale clean. |
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The X-axis scale already had a bit of a cover. |
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And, here the rubber sheet I use for a way cover does double duty, keeping the scale completely covered. |
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It's held in place by magnets I set into aluminum. The large aluminum holders help keep steel chips from sticking all over the outside of the holders. |