Taig lathe cabinet - swarf gate and dump

The reason for designing this cabinet with a drip tray with raised edges was due to the problems I used to have with things rolling off the flat board which was the prior base. Raised edges make it impossible to have things fall off, but make it harder to sweep swarf out.



Figure 1 - Swarf container on base board

Due to the loss of 100mm (4") of drawer width due to the  tail-stock end E-stop, I had a "space" I figured I could fill with a container to catch swarf. I had toyed with making this tray for holding things like chucks, but the inspiration regarding a swarf dump made the most sense.

The angle iron base meant I could make the tray sit upon a piece of board which could use the angle iron as a track to retain it. The container was folded up as per the panel beating page, and then screwed to the board.




Figure 2 - Swarf container "in place", simply lift the handle up to remove the container

With the container built, the gate to dump the swarf needed to be made. A track was made using a pair of lap joints on each side of the gate piece.

The swarf gate was made from an old discarded lifting lug which already had a 45mm (1 3/4") hole in it, and simply had a piece of strap welded to it so the gate was accessible from the tail-stock side of the drip tray.




Figure 3 - Swarf gate resting in LHS track

The lap joint used to retain the gate was made two ways... the RHS one was simply a piece cut from the angle iron which supports the base sheet, whereas the LHS one was made of two pieces of 4mm scrap cut and welded together.
Both lap joints are tensioned by means of small bolts which pass through the base sheet, and drip tray and thread into the lap joint rails.



Figure 4 - Swarf gate half open

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the gate - the nuts are some 8mm nuts which have seen better days


Figure 5 - Swarf resting on closed gate



Figure 6 - Gate dropped into container below when gate opened



Figure 7 - Opening at top of swarf gate less than 45mm

The holes in the base sheet and drip tray were cut and filed so they were deliberately smaller than the gate opening - this prevents material hanging up in the gate mechanism.

Next installment - drawers (slides, lock, and construction)

Personal notes:
Still learning how to make this new O/S work, but at least I can start catching up on these articles
Took some time over the weekend to watch sessions from General Conference - very rewarding and inspiring.

Until next time....