Alternative Way Covers?

[A.K. Boomer]

I know this has been discussed on here at least a little but tried the search engine to no avail,,,

my front ruffled way cover on the mill is doing just fine - it's the rear one that's pulling a Patsy Cline on me and just outright falling to pieces,

im reluctant to order another that's just going to do the same thing and it seems like they actually want a chunk of change for just a flat piece of rubber,,, has anyone come up with a cheap durable alternative that's available in local places like hardware stores or something?

also curious if someone has just thrown a front on the rear section? why not? hard to clean?

[lynnl]

Some years back I was in HD or Lowes, in the garden section, and saw some fabric that was intended as a ground cover to inhibit weeds and grass growth, e.g. in flower beds and the like. This was heavier than the normal mulching cloth. I said to myself, "...self, that stuff looks like it would make excellent way cover material." The rolls were huge (enough for hundreds of way covers), and were relatively expensive, so I waffled on a decision to buy at that moment. Sometime later when I looked, I could not find that same stuff, so I'd forgotten about it til just now.

[A.K. Boomer]

Iv thought about the same thing but don't think they would work out well, they would need to be rubber coated at least because if it was just the exposed fabric the chips would never want to leave...

I just checked out conveyor belt material on E-bay,,, it would be the ticket if oils did not break it down but even little pieces are expensive as all hell.

[Bob La Londe]

One thing I have seen is that some folks (myself included) will throw a heavy piece of buna rubber over top of an accordion way cover. I have four machines with accordion way covers. The front is still intact on all of them, but the back has failed on three of them, and I am just using a piece of buna. On the fourth I have a piece of heavy buna laying loose on top of the way accordion and it seems to be doing fine. I dump it off every time I reach inside the machine and set it back in place. That machine runs every work day and its about 20 months old.

Nothing beats a peaked metal telescoping way cover, but smaller machines don't tend to have room for it.

[QSIMDO]

Who did I see...Stefan G and Rob Renzetti use leather.
I think Stefan describes the characteristics in one of his videos.
Both of them tend toward smaller projects without gallons of coolant or lube though.
I would think that has an effect on durability.

[Black Forest]

Do you have a picture of what or where you need this cover? I use a lot of 1.5mm thick PVC material. It would last a long time and is relatively cheap. You can get it at any shop that does swimming pool repairs or makes truck tarps. My local shops always have small pieces left over from jobs.

[livesteam]

HD shower pan liner works for me on a small mill. It is made in vinyl and PVC. HD here also sells PVC by the yard.
My bridgeport has neoprene sheet. I purposely kick chips to the rear as the mess then slides down into the trough
from which it's easy to sweep right into a trash bin.
Accordion way covers look nice but are aggravating to clean.
RichD

[Mike Amick]

Look for a junk curbside treadmill. The rubber running surface is tough as hell.

[A.K. Boomer]

Look for a junk curbside treadmill. The rubber running surface is tough as hell.

No doubt that's a great suggestion,,, that's the type of material that even if the rubber breaks down some it will all still hold together and be durable... it's rubber coated cloth on one side...

[Mr Fixit]

AK,

I have a BP clone that has a piece of aluminum cut to fit the ways of the ram that holds a large piece of sheet rubber roof that I attach to the table on the backside with hard drive magnets.



It moves with the table, kind of, unless it's a full length of the table then it does twist a bit. I also attached a piece on the front for protection of the machine and my hands when working to protect the hot chips from burning me as often. I just stopped by a roofing project on a commercial site and they gave me a scrap piece about 3' sq so I have extra when or if I ever need it.

Just another way to do the job.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

[BCRider]

Some years back I found and bought a bunch of coated Cordura material. The stuff that heavy duty backpacks are made from. I'm using it for the way covers on my mill and extended chip pan on the lathe carriage. The chips like to stick to the material side so if you use Cordura or similar I would say use it coated side up.

[Toolguy]

How about a silicone cookie sheet (baking mat) for baking? Hi temp, very flexible, colors, inexpensive...

[J Tiers]

Roofing rubber may be EPDM, which is great for weather resistance, but not that good for oils and greases. Buna-N is good for most oils.

Much better than nothing, though.

[The Metal Butcher]

Look for a junk curbside treadmill. The rubber running surface is tough as hell.

I did this some years ago. Works very well. The 1hp Bridgeport just can't make enough heat to melt it much

[JoeLee]

Iv thought about the same thing but don't think they would work out well, they would need to be rubber coated at least because if it was just the exposed fabric the chips would never want to leave...

I just checked out conveyor belt material on E-bay,,, it would be the ticket if oils did not break it down but even little pieces are expensive as all hell.

My thoughts exactly with the garden mesh stuff.
Fine fine particles and dust well sift right through it and that's what you want to keep off the weighs more than the big chips. However, you might try spraying a couple coats of flex seal or some kind of rubberized undercoating over the material. I don't know how well any of that stuff holds out to oils and cutting fluids but when it goes it's cheap enough to just make another set.

JL......