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  #1  
Old Mon 02 June 2008, 20:35
dmoore
Just call me:
 
Guards for the V-rollers and oilers for the rails?

I'm wondering if there are any accounts of shopbots (or other exposed rail CNC machines) rolling over fingers, crushing them between the rail and the rollers. It seems like a real possibility if one of your smaller fingers landed under them. This is mainly for the X rails since they are exposed and the Y-Car keeps stuff from being pulled under the rolllers.

The pinch point between the rails and the rollers is pretty small.

Maybe I should purchase a few carrots and see what happens.

Has anyone had any "close calls"?
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  #2  
Old Mon 02 June 2008, 21:17
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
David,

I've never felt the need to place a hand on the machine when it's running. Some of the larger "Big Iron" machine have conductive pads placed around the machine so that if you even step near the machine while it's running, everything will stop.

When my machine is running, I control it from the computer.
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  #3  
Old Tue 03 June 2008, 05:13
J.R. Hatcher
Just call me: J.R. #4
 
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America
Send a message via Skype™ to J.R. Hatcher
Even when my machine is not running I have made it a point to train myself to keep my hands clear of the alligators (places that can bite). So far so good.
It would be an easy thing to install a guard where the 4 rollers on the gantry are. A flat piece of metal 1/16 X 1 1/2 X 4? with a nylon washer behind, attached with 1 sheet metal screw. That way you could swing it out of the way if you needed access for cleaning.
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  #4  
Old Tue 03 June 2008, 08:49
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
uhmw rail scrubbers.

JR,
I have made, but haven't installed yet a set of UHMW glides that scrub the rail of debris and keep the wheels from running over things left on the machine.

I have already left a shop rag on the machine that caused a very ugly derailment. Of course, the proxies did their job and shut the machine down.

uhmw_prototype.jpg
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  #5  
Old Tue 03 June 2008, 10:13
dmoore
Just call me:
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by smreish View Post
I have already left a shop rag on the machine that caused a very ugly derailment. Of course, the proxies did their job and shut the machine down.
It's good to see that I'm not the only one - I also left something on the rail and it got pulled into the gantry wheels. While would agree with Mike and J.R. that keeping your hands clear is the best option, sometimes its just not possible. If it were, we wouldn't have pendants and we would perform 100% of the operations from the computer. I drive my car carefully but I still also wear a seatbelt.

It's very easy to lean over the rails while setting your Z or changing bits and for something to get hit, causing the gantry to move.

I think smreish has the right idea - to make guards for the gantry rails.
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  #6  
Old Thu 05 June 2008, 01:02
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Guards would be good. But really great would be to combine a guard and "oiler" into one system. Something that holds an oiled felt block . . . . . .

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/2/185.html
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  #7  
Old Thu 05 June 2008, 08:13
dmoore
Just call me:
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald D View Post
Guards would be good. But really great would be to combine a guard and "oiler" into one system. Something that holds an oiled felt block . . . . . .

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/2/185.html
Thanks for posting the link. I really like the idea of one that bolts onto the shaft bolt, like this one:



Then just making a pocket for some felt and a hole on top to add oil. I'll get started on it and see what I can come up with.
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