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IndustryArena Forum > Manufacturing Processes > Safety Zone > "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    43

    "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    Hi

    I am building my first mill (40mm series extrusion frame) and I would like to skip building a huge and expensive box around it. How to protect myself from the bits breaking and flying like shrapnels of a grenade without an enclosure?

    I would like something around the bit (a polycarbonate cylinder?), obviously not perfectly to not to collide with the stock but maybe something adjustable in Z direction..with some kind of a front wall to catch up the stuff that shoots out in low angles. The cylinder could also be part of vacuum system. I will machine mostly aluminium and was considering a combined air blasting and vacuum to remove the chips and cool the bit.

    Does somebody sell something like that? Have you maube built something like that?

    Everything relevant interests, creative DIY stuff and off the shelf products.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    5728

    Re: "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    A "spindle guard" rigid and comprehensive enough to protect you from broken bits would probably get in the way or interfere with the material being cut. What's more usual are dust boots that surround the cutting area with flaps or brushes of some sort that can bend, so they don't bang into the workpiece when the tool descends or traverses a high spot, and still allow access to change tools. These will also help deflect broken bits as they fly out, hopefully reducing the risk somewhat. But you still need to wear your safety goggles anytime you're running your machine, and not just when you're looking directly at it.

    But if you're really blasting your chips with high-pressure air, then an enclosure might be worth investing in; those sharp-edged chips will go everywhere without it. The vacuum will only pick up a certain percentage of them; you'll find another percent or two in your underwear...
    Andrew Werby
    Website

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    43

    Re: "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    Yeah, an enclosure would be the real solution but I´m short on funds and space. The irritating part of enclosing a mill is that there are these protruding parts like the steppers in the ends of the axes that dictate the size of the box into surprisingly big and expensive.

    Goggles for sure.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    6248

    Re: "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    Plastic curtains? Peter

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Posts
    5

    Re: "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    I prefer spindle guard

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Posts
    1

    Re: "spindle guard" instead of an enclosure, or something else maybe?

    me prefer spindle guard

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