Off on an interesting tangent (but not OT!)

After having run my machine for several weeks I have come to the
conclusion the X axis on the gantry needs to have the ballscrew
covered from flying dust. In doing research I find what I need are
two bellows type covers that will move with the X carriage and
protect my ways and ballscrew. The shock came when I started pricing
the commercial models. Seems I am looking at a minimum of 250 bucks.

I intensified my research. The solution came from web sites
dedicated to camera repair. There are several articles on how to
build your own bellows of any length or size. While theirs has to be
light tight my does not. The sites listed a good source for the raw
materials so I am off to secure the components to build two 5' long
half bellows to cover the ways. This should prove to be an
interesting "learning experience"

If any of you have even done this feel free to offer any words of
wisdom. If not, I may by default find myself as the defacto expert.
I will post any findings...wish me luck.

TLC