What to do with shavings (2025)

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Manufacturing Today
General - Archive

Thread starterblueshavings
Start dateFeb 11, 2007
Replies 33
Views 2,738

Stu Miller

Hot Rolled

Joined: Apr 8, 2002

Location: Covington, Wa

Feb 12, 2007

Davis,

I'm glad there are two of us who used to do that! My brother and I used to use dry cleaning bags. Had to touch the seams up with an iron where the coat hanger stuck thru, fill a gallon bucket with lye and water, then let them fill up and float off to ultimate detonation. Great fun! I might have to try it again in my second or third childhook, whichever this one is.

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Davis In SC

Diamond

Joined: Sep 14, 2005

Location: South Carolina USA

Feb 12, 2007

Stu, we used to have great fun, doing things like that... Speaking of dry-cleaning bags... My brother got the bright idea to use one to make a hot-air ballon. He used several candles in a small basket, beneath the bag.. And launched it , one night. It took off, then drifted and disappeared in the woods behind us.. I remember how mad our Dad was.. he wound up staying up most of the night, in the woods, in case the candles started a fire.. We sure had lots of fun, growing up...

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bigais

Stainless

Joined: Sep 29, 2003

Location: Etters Pa USA

Feb 13, 2007

If you lived in NYC or Jersey City you could let them in brown paper bags on the back seat of your car and they would be gone when you got back to it. How do you think salesmen get rid of their garbage there?

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Bill D

Diamond

Joined: Apr 1, 2004

Location: Modesto, CA USA

Feb 13, 2007

Next time you get a bill stuffed wil lall sorts of adds for other stuff. (I think they hope you will not realise a bill is included and you wil ltoss the entire mess and they get to charge alate fee) put some of the chipos inside the envelope along with your check.
Bill D.

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mjk

Titanium

Joined: Oct 20, 2005

Location: Wilmington DE USA

Feb 13, 2007

I'll agree the chips that hit the floor get put in the trash.
Right before Christmas I took 75lbs bronze, 250lbs aluminum and 50lbs of SS to the local yard. Came out with $180.00.

My wife appreciated an extra gift that had no credit card trail.

I use the square corner 5gal tubs w/lids that cat litter comes in. They stack real easy and each one has a small drain hole at the bottom.
Occasionly a machine will accumalate a bunch of mystery chips that go in the 55 gal drum that is a catch all for any non valuable metal. When it's just heavy enough to be a pain I take it to the yard and donate to their pile. The same one that has washers and refrigerators. I don't get any cash but, better than the land fill.
I had though about melting down and making my own castings, but I have enough projects.

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CCC

Hot Rolled

Joined: Apr 11, 2006

Location: Central Illinois

Feb 13, 2007

Blueshavings -
You could melt them down, though I haven't found it to be worth the trouble. (I usually have enought other scrap around.) The problem is that the chips have so much surface area that I get a lot of oxidation and it's hard to get a clean melt, even with flux. Plus they shrink down so much when they melt, you don't end up with much from a full pot of chips.

Maybe you could try to add them to a melt that's already going. They woud go right into the melt so the oxidation wouldn't be as bad, and they'd melt down right away. Hmmmmm, maybe I'll try it one of these days.

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joecr

Hot Rolled

Joined: Jan 10, 2007

Location: Texas

Feb 13, 2007

speaking of melting...

Is it normal practice to keep aluminum (ok, aluminium, Limy) and steel shavings in separate waste bins?

Rust powder and aluminum powder, mixed 3:1 by weight , iron heavy, has the name Thermite.

This guy (oddly enough, a safety coordinator) was grinding away at a piece of iron in his home shop, with a belt sander his kid had previously loaded up with aluminum sanding. Got a real blast out of it.
http://www.hanford.gov/rl/?page=542&parent=506

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Peter S

Diamond

Joined: May 6, 2002

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Feb 13, 2007

When I'm finished shaving in the morning, I give my shaver a blow out - thats fixed the shavings.

Wood is useful for chocking up machine tools during moves, however it can't be welded, so not much use as an engineering material. I believe it produces shavings as well as saw dust? Apparently tools used are called 'gouges' - thats all you need to know about that.

Dunno about these other 'shavings' though, how about swarf or possibly chips?

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joecr

Hot Rolled

Joined: Jan 10, 2007

Location: Texas

Feb 14, 2007

oh well, never made it much past grunt helper in my few machine shop jobs anyway. Not sure when I started call chips "shavings". I was a kid, though. hey, it sounded right. Swarf has always sounded like a Klingon name.

Chips, I like. I tend to get the amateur's long curly evil stuff.

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stephen thomas

Diamond

Staff member

Joined: Jun 3, 2001

Location: downhill from Twain\'s study outside Elmira, NY

Feb 14, 2007

"Wood is useful...... however it can't be welded, so not much use as an engineering material."

says who? workrite has been making woodwelders for probably 50 years. But you have to use the right dowel rods and observe correct polarity. (dont' use birch rods on an oak assembly, e.g., though you could get by with them on maple or cherry in a pinch)

http://www.irsauctions.com/popups/printable_lot_details.asp?lot=37022&id=8645

On a more serious note:

http://www.nordiskskogforskning.org/sns/newsandviews/NW4_2005.pdf

smt

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Peter S

Diamond

Joined: May 6, 2002

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Feb 14, 2007

Stephen,

either an elaborate hoax, or you got me good there!

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stephen thomas

Diamond

Staff member

Joined: Jun 3, 2001

Location: downhill from Twain\'s study outside Elmira, NY

Feb 14, 2007

Peter,

Workrite wood welders are common in industry. Many are built into presses, where the faces of the form will be sheet metal electrodes. The one pictured is a common portable unit that has a hand held "gun" to press against the joint. They are basically a microwave unit that sets most any water base glue "immediately". So you can use a slow set glue like the ureas for assembly, clamp, then hit it here and there along the glue line to set the glue and hold the parts in alignmnet so it can be taken out of the clamps for the next assembly. (I still like the vision of striking an arc with a birch rod, and a hand full ready to go )

I've never used one, and am still a little leery about stray microwave effects. But they have been widely used, going back to the 50's IIRC.

smt

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spock

Stainless

Joined: Dec 29, 2006

Location: Central Ky

Feb 15, 2007

jkilroy,
"Concerning iron filings, I have been told to wash them and throw them in the ground when you plant Tomatos. Is this just bunk or has anyone actually tried it?"

I worked with a guy one time, used to save all the cast iron chips he could get. He said "put them in your rose garden and see the difference'. I never did try it, but I have seen his and they were nice, it might have done something.

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Jamie

Hot Rolled

Joined: Oct 14, 2005

Location: Ont. Canada

Feb 15, 2007

The only shavings I have to dispose of is when
I shave my legs.

Chips on the other hand, makes great land fill.
Not worth the gas to the recyclers, and most won't
take them anyway.

Potato Chips, them you can eat. But like most
junk food you're probably better off eating 6061.

Iron and ashes are perfect for Plum trees. I mix
it into the earth around my " Green Gages ". Makes
them very sweet.

Jamie

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