Swarf Chips They Are Everywhere

get yourself a thick weave carpet sample, like a shag carpet but heavier duty, make sure you walk through it on your way in and out
MOST of the chips will bind to the carpet better than they bind to your shoes, my big problem now is the dog likes to come into the shop :)
 
I put a mat at the shop door, I don't know what type it is but it is bristles and get the stuff off the bottom o the shoes and most of the dogs feet. My problem is also dogs, and grand kids keep coming in the garage which is my shop. Blow off good with the air, clothes, shoes, hair, the beard is a different story don't like compressed area in the face.
 
Metal said:
get yourself a thick weave carpet sample, like a shag carpet but heavier duty, make sure you walk through it on your way in and out
MOST of the chips will bind to the carpet better than they bind to your shoes, my big problem now is the dog likes to come into the shop :)
Click to expand...
How do you clean the rug? When I built the wood mat I already had a carpet. It helped by reducing the chips on my shoes a bit, but cleaning the rug was too time consuming. An industrial vac wouldn't pick up the chips because they would tenaciously grab the rug fibers.
 
When the rug snags and holds the chips that means its working.
I use an Electrolux carpet attachment with a rotary brush to clean up. Even then some chips need to be picked out with an awl.
The rug is also a blessing sometimes when I drop a tool or part.
 
epanzella said:
How do you clean the rug? When I built the wood mat I already had a carpet. It helped by reducing the chips on my shoes a bit, but cleaning the rug was too time consuming. An industrial vac wouldn't pick up the chips because they would tenaciously grab the rug fibers.
Click to expand...

I just shop vac with a corner tool to increase suction, takes a few minutes, not too bad.
 
Metal said:
I just shop vac with a corner tool to increase suction, takes a few minutes, not too bad.
Click to expand...
When I got rid of the rug and went to the wood mat it reduced my cleaning time by at least 3/4ths. One a month I pick up the mat and the chips are left behind on the floor. It only take a few minutes to sweep them up.
 
We all have this issue, some more than others, but I have found keeping the floor clear of swarf between passes (push broom into a pile), wearing sooth sole footwear and exit/entrance rugs both in the shop and at the house entrance helps a ton. I always spend time at the end of a shop session cleaning machines and floor. My dogs visit frequently at the end of the day so this also helps motivate me as well. I usually miss small chips in my hair.
 
I usually wear old Dockers or similar trousers made from a tighter weave fabric. Chips seem to stick much less to them than to blue jeans. I also wear a denim shop apron from Enco which helps quite a bit. I have an old pair of slip on work boots that I keep around just for working in the shop area, and I remove them before going in the house. We still see an occasional chip in the house, but not too often.

When I was first out of high school and working in a machine shop, lab coats were the norm there. They were of a fabric similar to that used for coveralls and they did a good job of repelling chips.
 
Dickies makes short sleeve coveralls.

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I live alone now ( wonder why), my wife found chips in her underwear (the hard way) . We quit and I still do not wash shop clothes in my washer ( I don't want to find them in mine). I take shop clothes to the laundry mat. They have a work clothes washer.
 
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