I just finished making 4 spacers, 3/8" diameter, 3/8" long, with a .144" axial hole. I didn't see any way to catch them without getting in a dangerous place. 1st one dropped in the swarf in the chip tray and I never did find it. So I cleaned out the chip tray and let them drop down. Only 1 of the 4 was easy to find and reach. There has got to be a better way, what is it?
On Sun, 3 Feb 2008 14:53:07 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, "Carl Boyd" quickly quoth:
Bandsaw or lathe, right?
Magnets held close to the offcut.
For aluminum and brass, use suitable aluminum and brass magnets, sold separately by your local Unobtainium dealer. Or, if you don't have a local dealer nearby, try making chutes out of larger diameter PVC pipe which can be held close to the drop area. Jig it up as required.
-- I think this is the crux of the global warming media hype (not some of the science). Gobal warming research and it's ugly step-sister, the media, are a business. They will only feed frenzy that adds to their business. Hence, the lack of talk about your cold and snowy western weather, lack of hurricanes in '06, etc. The only things that will be brought up are those that will "help" their cause and industry. Do something for something we KNOW about, like the kid down the street that needs a home, etc. Don't try to help for something that we are trying (ridiculously) to predict will be a problem
100-200years from now!! Thanks,
A Liberal, Environmentally Friendly, Global Warming, Anti-Hype Lad James, 11Jan07 on Weather Channel's "One Degree" hype site
Parting them off in a lathe? I usually just stick the tip of my scribe in the hole with my right hand just as I complete the parting operation with my left. Piece of wire works well too---but the scribe is usually close at hand.
Bandsaw? Good luck. I've tossed pieces lots larger than yours through a hole into a parallel universe just as the cut finishes with my Ellis saw.
Or use a big soup strainer (seive) taped to a wooden dowel for a handle. This is very common in small commercial shops. Of course, it assumes you're doing your cutoff with power crossfeed.
I have put a removable chip tray as large as will fit, under the headstock. It not only catches swarf, but catches most off-cuts, too. But I like some of the other posts better. The idea of sticking a small rod in the tailstock, for instance. Anyway, thank you for asking this question. Until now, I always thought that looking for off-cuts was just part of lathe work!
"Carl Boyd" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
For parts with a hole in them, chuck a lenght of brazing rod in a drill chuck in the tailstock and let it stick into the hole. Requires no catching at all, and you can push them to the chuck and just keep working.
I just hold a small cardboard box under the drop when it falls. I have even taught high school kids to do it so it can't be all that hard. :-) ...lew...
Put a smaller rod (say 1/8") in the tailstock drill chuck and run it 3/4 of the way into the workpiece after the hole is drilled, This should control the workpiece when it parts off.
I've also held a metal mesh basket under the spindle to catch workpieces parted off from stock held in a collet. This would be more dangerous with a chuck, with the jaws flying past. With the right size mesh, the chips from the parting off fall through, but the parts don't.
I was taught to keep the machine clean, both as a safety ruling and as a desirable work habit. And it certainly makes finding things in the chip tray dead easy....
Me too. And of course, the smaller the diameter, the faster the spindle speed, so when you part off that 1/4" OD part you spent the last hour getting just right, it's flung off at a tangent, and hits the next surface spinning at 2000 RPM, sending it to parts unknown.
In article , Anthony wrote: :"Carl Boyd" wrote in :news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com: : :> All :> :> I just finished making 4 spacers, 3/8" diameter, 3/8" long, with a :> .144" axial hole. I didn't see any way to catch them without getting :> in a dangerous place. 1st one dropped in the swarf in the chip tray :> and I never did find it. So I cleaned out the chip tray and let them :> drop down. Only 1 of the 4 was easy to find and reach. There has got :> to be a better way, what is it? :> :> Thanks. :> :> Carl Boyd :> :> : :For parts with a hole in them, chuck a lenght of brazing rod in a drill :chuck in the tailstock and let it stick into the hole. Requires no :catching at all, and you can push them to the chuck and just keep :working.
And for parts without a hole use a catcher with a hole. I usually have a few short pieces of PVC pipe nearby and just hand-hold one surrounding the part as it nears cutoff.
Once I have engaged the cross-feed, I have both hands free. I've even been known to catch light parts with a small Allen wrench with the short arm into the hole.
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