Managing metal chips while milling

Timfoilhat

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I'm super anal retentive about being clean, and keeping my house that way. My gun benches and reloading stuff is in the house taking up the spare bedroom with new carpet, so working in there isn't happening. What tips and tricks do you have to contain the mess as you mill with the router?

I'm planning on hooking the shop vac up to the buffer tube hole on the lower and hoping to catch chips as they fall.
I'm also planning on running the compressor to blow off the work surfaces.
I'm thinking about building a tent from plastic so I can just pick up the mess. I don't want chips getting in the dogs paws or anything.
What have you done?
 
Take a Xanax bro. Relax. You gonna have a mess while milling. Wait till done and clean it up :D
Nah, part of the fun for me is the challenges this presents in trying to overthink the whole process. It's about learning to build a better mousetrap even when the regular one works fine.
 
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Step one, wrap your workspace in plastic....
 
Carpet is going to attract debris. Your best option (IMO) is to cover it up. A huge drop cloth would be easy, but you couldn't vacuum it... I once had a shop space in an apaartment. I bought 3/4" T&G plywood and made a solid surface floor above the carpet, then painted it to make it easier to sweep/vac and give it some protection. I held it back from the baseboard about 1/2" - 1", and just got used to using the crevice tool to clean up the perimeter frequently. When it was time to move out, I pulled up the ply and ran over the carpet wiht the vacuum - looked new!

Strong suction at the source will also help. Find a way to connect a vac hose as close to the cutting as possible. I've know peeps whose shop vac hose sucks up the vast majority of chips from positioning the hose fitting so that both suction and the ejection path of the bit/blade guide chips into the hose.

Compressed air will remove dust & chips from the immediate area and distribute them EVERYWHERE - including you lungs if you're not careful. Avoid blowing things indoors.

Wear ear pro -- it's gonna be noisy.
 
Big electro magnet close to work. Switch it on and mill. Switch it off to clean.
I think he’s milling an AR lower, so he needs to get an electro magnet that’s wrapped couterclockwise so it’ll attract aluminum chips.
 
Just have to learn to roll with the punches

chips.jpg
 
Aluminum milling with new carpet?

I hate to say this but you'll be finding aluminum shards in this carpet when your grandchildren are born.

Outside. Far outside.
 
Aluminum milling with new carpet?

I hate to say this but you'll be finding aluminum shards in this carpet when your grandchildren are born.

Outside. Far outside.

;) I know. That's why my original post says "so working in there isn't happening".

That said, the new carpet left me with a bunch of scrap, more than I'll ever use. I'm going to use one of the chunks of scrap carpet in the garage to catch chips to they don't get tracked away from the work space. When I'm done I'm just going to junk the carpet scrap. Easy peasy.

I've also worked out a plan for the vacuum to run while I mill and a plan for the a "box" on the work table to catch chips.
 
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Like with woodworking, judicious placement of a vacuum system to suck up the majority of the debris generated.

The rest is routine clean up.

If you want to "totally" contain it, then you need to isolate that work space...and you STILL need to use a vacuum system, not to mention the step-off area wherever you enter/exit the isolated space.

How to create an isolated work space? Depends on your set up. You can do it by framing up something with plastic sheeting, create a small room totally dedicated to this, whatever.

Personally?

If it's a workshop, I'd simply go with a decent vacuum set up, then clean the rest when done, like you should any workshop after the work is done.
 
How bout set up shop outside on a windy day? Course then the caterpillars might get their feet pricked...
 
It's done! It's done! I spent about 45 minutes setting up the area, and about 5 minutes cleaning up. Rug in the trash, towel in the trash, shirt and shoes I was wearing in the trash, a little plastic in the trash and 30 seconds vacuuming.
Tomorrow I get a second box from the fun store in the mail!

I can admit the amount of time it took to prep the area was probably the equivalent of or exceeded the amount of time someone less fussy would have spent vacuuming up the mess afterward. I'm still happy I did it without a mess.
 
Black and Decker workmate outside .... feed the swarf bugs!
 
we just lay down a tarp, same as in the field to catch flying brass, then 2 people pick it up and dump in trash.
 
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