Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.

**thehomeengineer** · Jan 20, 2018, 04:56 PM

Hi JR
They are great. Saves having to touch the swarf with your hands and definetly speeds up cleaning of machine/floor/swarf try etc, I haven't done this yet but when I next use my clarkson tool and cutter grinder I am going to try and position it to prevent the very fine steel grinding dust getting all over the machine. I have also finished the lantern chuck and will try and post this week.
The Home Engineer

**tonyfoale** · Jan 21, 2018, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by thehomeengineer

when I next use my clarkson tool and cutter grinder I am going to try and position it to prevent the very fine steel grinding dust getting all over the machine.

On my T&C grinder I built a cover around the wheel leaving just enough cutaway to allow access, I connect a shop vac to the cover and it sucks air in through the access hole and collects ALL the dust.

Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.-cover-01.jpg

Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.-cover-02.jpg

Click thumbnails for full size pix.

Wheel cover showing access hole. The outer cover is held on with tape because it was easy and works fine. Not shown in these pix is a tube at the rear to which the shop vac is connected.

**olderdan** · Jan 21, 2018, 11:37 AM

I agree a vacuum is the way to go, each to his own of course but I am not a fan of magnets around machinery so I use a shop vac to clean my machines, never use an air gun either. The vac will pick up all types of swarf and dust and cleans out cap screws a treat. I use it on my cutter grinder while in use as carbide dust is not something you want to ingest. The only downside is that it will pick up some things you did not want it to but at least you know where it went.

**tonyfoale** · Jan 21, 2018, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by olderdan

I use a shop vac to clean my machines, never use an air gun either.

Alan, that could be me talking.

Originally Posted by olderdan

The vac will pick up all types of swarf and dust and cleans out cap screws a treat. I use it on my cutter grinder while in use as carbide dust is not something you want to ingest. The only downside is that it will pick up some things you did not want it to but at least you know where it went.

I made a cyclone which dumps all but fine dust in a bucket before it gets to the vac. So anything inadvertently picked up is easy to find.

**tonyfoale** · Jan 21, 2018, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by tonyfoale

I made a cyclone which dumps all but fine dust in a bucket before it gets to the vac. So anything inadvertently picked up is easy to find.

Here are a couple of pix of the shop vac with the cyclone. It is not optimised I am sure, but it was easy to make from a metal bucket and it keeps almost everything from getting into the vac, and I hardly ever have to clean the filter.

Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.-img_0006.jpg

Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.-img_0008.jpg

Swarf Magnet for the milling table slots and other small areas.-img_0482.jpg

Click thumbnails for full size.

I have a smaller vac which I use on a bead blaster, the one pictured is just too powerful for the blaster. Some fine dust (broken beads) would get through to the vac filter. Last week I needed to use the blaster and I started playing with bubbling the evacuated air through water to trap the dust but the system needed more development so I tried a very simple method instead. I just put about 50 mm of water in the bottom of the cyclone tub. It exceeded my expectations and hardly any dust got through to the vac filter.

**jjr2001** · Jan 21, 2018, 12:42 PM

Oh, I like that Cyclone. I could use that in my shop...I use a combination now of the swarf magnets and the vacuum. There always seems to be a certain amount of stuff that the magnet won't pickup so both methods work. That cyclone seems like a great idea. Easier to find the small drill bits that get sucked up in the shop vac.

Cheers, JR

**tonyfoale** · Jan 21, 2018, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by jjr2001

Oh, I like that Cyclone. I could use that in my shop...I use a combination now of the swarf magnets and the vacuum. There always seems to be a certain amount of stuff that the magnet won't pickup so both methods work. That cyclone seems like a great idea. Easier to find the small drill bits that get sucked up in the shop vac.

Cheers, JR

Most of my swarf is aluminium so magnets are of little use to me. Although If I drop a drill bit or similar and can't find it I wave a stick with a magnet on the end under the lathe cabinet and I am always surprised at how much non-magnetic swarf gets caught up in the steel bits.

**thehomeengineer** · Jan 21, 2018, 12:20 PM

On the topic of a vacuum, I must agree they do a great job, but used in conjunction with the magnet certainly clears the big stringing staff away first which prevents the vacuum hose tube from blocking. Very fustrating.

The Home Engineer