Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Source for Way Cover material

studleylee wrote:

> Hi,
> Can neoprene withstand hot chips?
> -Lee
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "allan_reinhard" <allan_r9@h...> wrote:
> > Alan,
> >
> > I have found 0.042" neoprene in the garden section of Home Base
> (like
> > Home Depot), sold as pond liner. Not cloth impregnated, but very
> > flexible. The price was ~$15CDN for 1 lineal foot, 15 feet wide.
> > I'm using this for my GEM500 mill.

.042 and .060" rubbery materials like neoprene can handle the kind of hot
chips that are produced by light machining operations on Bridgeport-style
mills and modest lathes. The really heavy chips produced more commonly
on 5+ HP machines with carbide tooling may have enough heat capacity to
damage neoprene and other similar way cover materials. I have some way
covers sold as such, and they definitely have not been damaged in 10+ years
of light use in my home shop. I do a lot of aluminum, and use coolant on
much of that work, but I have also made a number of tooling parts out of
steel, and some even in tool steel, with no damage to the way covers.

Jon