john wrote:


Dave August wrote:

It's easier just to make a couple of covers for your table. Most of us keep
out vice in the same place all the time, so ya just contour the ends ta
match it's profile.
Several of my friends us masonite, one has aluminum that he put a rubber top
on to be nice to tooling.
Plastic works well too. I've been thinking of making some new ones out of
the masonite that's got a white plastic coating on it.. Then I could
scribble 'white borad' notes right on the table.. LOL...

FWIW my lathe has T-slots on the cross slide, but has plenty of room at
either end so I made super long T-thingies to slide in it...

Dave

"Randy Replogle" wrote in message
news:NxI%d.10428$b_6.3573@trnddc01...

When I arrived at my current job I found the leftovers of a roll (?) of a
soft plastic t-slot filling material. It pressed into the t-slots leaving
a surface flush with the table top which kept the chips easy to just brush
off. I haven't been able to find anything like it. Anyone know who might
sell it?
Randy





I got a masonite one with a strip of wood on the bottom that fits in the
t slot. the wood holds the masonite on the table and it wont move or
slip.

John
I got a couple of heavy plastic food serving trays (they come in lots of
sizes) and contoured the ends to fit around the vise as you suggest. On
the bottom I put a wooden key that engages the center T-slot so they
don't fall off. They allow you to put tools and parts on the machine
without knicking up the tables, and keep chips out of the T-slots.
They're easily cleaned with a shop vac, or just by dumping into a trash
container. I've been using the same pair for over ten years.

Most of these ideas don't work well if you use a lot of coolant,
especially 'flood' coolant. Most mill tables use the T-slots as part of
the coolant drain system. Most of my work is done dry, or with brush or
spray botttle applied coolant, so it's not a problem.

Dan Mitchell
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