Installing a Curtain Behind Lathe?

I use bamboo curtains around the lathe to keep the chip in one pile (sort of ),and just pull em up when not making chips.as for dust,I have two dust collectors and will still spend half a day cleaning the dang shop, 1 hour hr later an you can't even tell I own a broom, go figure.

I visited this thread again months later. It was an interesting re-read. In a previous post I mentioned hanging a curtain for photos. My lathe curtain is actually a piece of chip board. The chip board effectively keeps the far side clean. The near side is kept clean with a very convenient tank vacuum; it hangs on one end of the chipboard and has a 20 foot hose.

I really hate vacuuming! However, this arrangement has proved to be much simpler, faster and easier than expected.

Big advantage of using the chip board (the c.b. is attached directly to the back of the lathe bench) is that I hang a lot of things I use on it. It does not flap in the breeze. Strangely it does not collect much dust...I don't know how many months it has been since I vacuumed it. Now the bench and floor are an entirely different story.

The floor immediately in front of the lathe can get to the, "Where are my feet?" stage fairly easily. But that is true of any lathe. I would guess 5 minutes with broom, fox tail, dust pan and the vacuum make a pretty acceptable clean up.

My 2 hp dust collection works pretty well. However, it is totally inadequate for the lathe---don't get me wrong; it is a heck of a lot better than nothing as the floor will attest when I work. 2 hp just cannot move enough air through the large air intake to do the job. The DC does really suck up the "dust" when turning dry wood but misses a lot of the "chips."

Enjoy,
JimB

These are the pics that were supposed to be in the previous post.

Enjoy,<br>
JimB

Jim, I don't know of any consumer-grade DC system that can effectively collect chips while a person is turning on a lathe. The chips simply fly in too wide of an arc. Collecting airborne dust is one thing, but chips are a whole other animal.

I just embrace it...

I have a jet dust collector hooked to a small hood that fastens to the back of my lathe with a BIG magnet. It pulls the fine stuff but not the chips. But the fine stuff is what I worry about breathing in. Also, there is a window AC unit right in front of the lathe which blows right across my work. I have a problem with CA fumes and between the dust collector and the ac unit, I can't even smell it. My 12" lathe is at right angles to this one on the left. The hood can move between the two lathes just by pulling off the magnet.

When I got my first lathe I used a shower curtain behind it to catch 'stuff'. Dirtiest, nastiest thing ever. They do catch 'stuff'. Maybe not the big chips but small ones and dust cling like crazy. Those are quickly followed by spider webs. Within days, wadda mess. Got rid of it. Now chips do what they will and a broom is used for clean up.