How to catch cutoffs

Just put some round in the tailstock's chuck and let it stick into the hole while cutting off.

Nick

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.

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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.

-- Ed Huntress

(snipped)

I keep a piece of 1/8th welding rod in the lathe chip tray. Stick it in the hole with the right hand and finish parting with the left.

Bob

"Carl Boyd" wrote: .(clip) There has got to be a better way, what

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ After cleaning the chip tray, spread a rag or old towel down there, so they can't roll.

I keep an old baking pan in the chip tray to catch chips & cutoffs and make cleaning it out easier.

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!

Pete Stanaitis

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Carl Boyd wrote:

"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...

I just hold the catcher with right hand and turn the cross feed with my left hand. No problem for the small bits the OP mentioned. ...lew...

Thanks for all the good ideas. I was using the lathe.

Carl Boyd

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.

Enjoy, DoN.

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....

Andrew VK3bFA.

PS its not hi-tech either...

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.

It's easy with a properly trained service dog.

Would you believe a ...

lathe dog?

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.

Enjoy, DoN.