Somewhere on the forum, I seem to recall having seen a topic regarding setting up a separate thread where one could post ideas for future projects so that others can make suggestions for improvement or to point out that it's already been done or is not feasible. I've tried using the "search this site" facility, using all the sensible keywords, but can't find it. If it's still on here, perhaps a moderator could move this post to it?

To get to the point, I have a couple of ideas for simple machine mods which I'd like to run up the flag pole. First one:

At the moment, I have concertina-type swarf protection on the Y-axis of my mill. They work adequately for the most part, but at the limits of the Y-axis travel, they can, and do, get caught between the table and the main body, thus restricting the table from travelling its full movement, unless I use my third hand to lift it out the way. See below

My solution would be to use a couple of car roller blinds, such as those used to keep the sun off the little darlings in the back seats. They are available on certain auction sites for a few pounds a pair. The roller and "blind" parts would attach to the mill in the same way as the current bellows do. For those not using flood coolant, the original mesh ought to be good enough to catch the flying bits, though hot chips (metal ones!) might be a problem!

The introduction of cooling/cutting fluid into the equation may necessitate the replacement of the original blind material with something more impervious to it. My local hypermarket sells a thin waterproof plastic tablecloth material by the metre which might fit the bill. It even comes in an enormous variety of colours and patterns, if you want to brighten up your workshop!

Discuss……………….

John

Ian,

The deed is done! Blinds (£7.99 the pair) + P & P for me, are ordered – should be here in a week or so. In the meantime, I'll pop out into the garage and have a quick measure up. I'll post the results here when the blinds arrive.

Dias,

Interesting solution, but it looks like the bamboo curtain doesn't roll up out of the way, does it?

BTW I've forgotten what my other brilliant idea was (age). I must try to write these things down in future! When it eventually comes back to me, I'll post again.

John