Rubber "bellows" for milling machine

[cplmickey]

I've started to fit DRO's to my large mill and I need to modify the bellows on the Y-axis. The rubber is badly split anyway so needs to be renewed.

Chester don't seem to sell these for their mills so wondered if anyone had found a good source of rubber that will do the job.

The original was plain but something corrugated like on my Sieg would be better although it would need to be twice the size.

Ian

[uuu]

Arceurotrade have a selection here: ArcEuro website

Wilf

[cplmickey]

Thanks Wilf. I always forget about Arc even thought they're only down the road and easy to get to in normal times.

Unfortunately they don't have them quite big enough but that's the type of thing I'm looking for.

My old one is 290mm wide and 330mm long and really needs to be that big to cover the slideways.

Ian

[springcrocus]

I can't help with bellows but I use offcuts of pond liner to make bedway covers. It is very tough, very flexible and you may be able to use it underneath your existing bellows.

Regards, Steve

[cplmickey]

Thanks for that idea Steve. The existing bellows have gone hard and split in 2 places so not really fit for purpose any more but I'll ask around see if I can get any pond liner material.

[jon38r80]

EPDM sheet used to seal window frames to structure before cladding goes on a building is good if you can get your hands on some. tolerates quite a lot of chemicals and is very flexible. Not a concertina though, just a piece of sheet anchored at both ends, mine fols up nicely. As I am retired now I cant get my hands on nice offcuts any more.

[springcrocus]

Feb 27, 2021 9:00:40 GMT cplmickey said:

Thanks for that idea Steve. The existing bellows have gone hard and split in 2 places so not really fit for purpose any more but I'll ask around see if I can get any pond liner material.

Ian,

I can send you a square foot or so in a jiffy bag, if you want. Just PM an address and I will get some away on Monday.

Regards, Steve

[cplmickey]

Feb 27, 2021 12:57:56 GMT springcrocus said:

Feb 27, 2021 9:00:40 GMT cplmickey said:

Thanks for that idea Steve. The existing bellows have gone hard and split in 2 places so not really fit for purpose any more but I'll ask around see if I can get any pond liner material.

Ian,

I can send you a square foot or so in a jiffy bag, if you want. Just PM an address and I will get some away on Monday.

Regards, Steve

That's very generous of you Steve.
PM sent.
Ian

[cplmickey]

With everything I'm involved with things generally take a little time but I have now finished the installation of the X-axis scale for the DRO and the the new slideway cover. Many thanks to Steve (springcrocus) for generously providing the pond liner material which works a treat - thinner and much more flexible than the old stuff.



I'm guessing the slideways were induction hardened and I hadn't appreciated how much this would extend into the surrounding material making drilling particularly difficult (with HSS drills). That coupled with the lack of room for tapping and drilling made this a much more difficult job than anticipated. Pretty sure the Y-axis scale will be a lot easier to fit. Ian

[d304]

Hi Ian

I also use a paint roller tray standing upright against the column to catch the chips as the fly off. Makes cleaning up a lot easier in that area.

David

[cplmickey]

Thanks for that David - worth a thought something like that.
Because it's in the back of my garage and not my workshop I'm trying to keep the floor clean so I'm also trying to fix up a shower curtain clipped to the tray so chips don't end up on the floor. With the long x-axis travel it's easier said than done but worth a try. Ian

[johnd]

This might sound a bit cheap and tacky but when my “Y” axis rubber cover, same as shown in the above photo, suddenly split mid session i needed something as a temporary measure until i could get some rubber sheet.
In my workshop cubbyhole i keep an expanding, concertina type, plastic file holder. In which I keep lots of A4 paper printouts. Emptied these papers out, attacked the lower concertina section with scissors, fix to column and table with screws and a couple of thin strips of alloy. 10 minutes work.
Not pretty but has been there two years and still no sign of splitting.
Sheet of rubber hanging behind mill waiting to be used.

[Gary L]

Apr 30, 2021 14:03:18 GMT cplmickey said:

With everything I'm involved with things generally take a little time but I have now finished the installation of the X-axis scale for the DRO and the the new slideway cover. Many thanks to Steve (springcrocus) for generously providing the pond liner material which works a treat - thinner and much more flexible than the old stuff.
[Snip]

Pond liner is often made of butyl rubber, and I don’t think butyl enjoys solvents like paraffin. It’s a great and useful material, but if you use cutting oil cut with paraffin, it might not have a long life as a bed cover, (though it would probably be fine for vertical covers.) Worth testing your pond liner with your favourite brew before investing a lot of time on it, perhaps. Just a few hours immersion will confirm that it is OK (or not).

Gary

[cplmickey]

Thanks Gary. I only use a hand applied cutting oil so it doesn't generally spread very far and the machine gets wiped down at the end of the day. But thanks for the warning, might help someone else. Ian