Try A **GT insert tool and you won't get the shower of chips that a traditional zero top rake HSS tool produces, even hard brass will come off in ringlets.

Here you go. HSS power and then hand fed followed by CCGT power and then hand fed. HSS gives the usual shower of fine swarf, CCGT small curls under power and long ones hand fed and they are also thrown away from the user unlike the HSS which goes all over you. Same bit of brass, same feed rates, same DOC, same speed just two different cutters.

Hope that this is not too far off topic.

Cast Iron is a) dirty and b) abrasive if it gets between the sliding surfaces, so I try to minimise it's passage around the lathe.

To this end, a powerful magnet is placed about where the swarf will fall, and then covered by a sheet of newspaper, (which is tucked out of the way of the chuck and its jaws).

Most of the swarf then flies towards the magnet, and at a suitable time, the newspaper is removed and folded to funnel the cast iron swarf into a suitable receptacle, leaving a clean machine.

Brass, I machine dry, and ruefully accept the fountains of small chips flying about the place. Again, if possible, I use newspaper, (without the magnet!) to try catch as much as possible. A pastry brush makes a pretty good means of moving the rest to where it can be disposed of without too much trouble.

Howard

I work to the idiom of … Brass / cast Iron , no coolant what so ever. Brass is often brushed into the swarf tray & collected later. Cast iron, I cover the bed ways & as much of the rest of the lathe with cloth, I also have small neodymium magnets in small plastic ' bank coin' bags placed on the cross slide + plus bedways where they 'attract' CI cuttings, when Job finished I remove magnets & 'peel off' the coin bags letting the CI drop into the swarf bucket, I still use vacuum cleaner to get into awkward places.

With aluminium I use both HSS ( tangential cutter ) or insert type tips with WD40 as coolant media, some say use paraffin, or a mix of kerosene ( paraffin ) + light oil, horses for courses ?. I concur with Clive that on a once a year maintenance everything is stripped back & cleaned out as far as possible, especially if the majority of work has been cast iron.

George.

Hi Novice, I find it best to use a chip shield on my lathes, especially with brass and cast iron chips flying around,

Emgee

My Chester Craftsman lathe came with a steel cover and a plastic ? one. The only time I ever use the "plastic "one is when I,m working brass. Steel chips in the eye are bad enough,but brass ones are BAD BAD BAD ! They are not the easiest thing to remove,and do they hurt ? do they hell !

So I would say,yes, a full face shield by all means [makes you look better,sometimes ! ],but still work it dry.

cast iron is DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY Full stop ! Again,work it dry.

This is my tuppence worth.