Protecting man, woman and machine

CNC machine tool owners with a healthy concern for their employees are advised to enclose their machines in protective structures.

These structures, known as enclosures, serve as barriers between shop personnel and materials like swarf and coolants traveling from a machine—sometimes at high speeds—during cutting operations.

While the main purpose of an enclosure is to keep people safe, it can perform another important function as well.

A machine enclosure protects operators from injury and machinery from damage. Image courtesy of Hennig.

“We like to say we’re in the business of protecting companies’ assets,” said Aaron McDevitt, president of Faztek LLC, a Fort Wayne, Ind., supplier of custom machine safety products. “That means protecting their employees, for sure, but also protecting machines.” For example, an enclosure can safeguard a machine from forklift impacts and harmful substances in the surrounding environment.

For many applications, metal is the preferred choice for enclosure panels. Hennig Inc., Machesney Park, Ill., makes most of its enclosure panels out of cold-rolled steel. The thickness of these panels varies from 14 to 7 gauge, depending on the machine’s spindle speed, according to Frank Chavez, engineering and business unit manager of Hennig’s fabrications division. (Spindle speed determines how fast a projectile exits a machine.)

Instead of cold-rolled steel, Hennig sometimes opts for stainless steel enclosure panels. With its smoother surface, stainless steel can be a little better at deflecting chips and coolant coming from the work zone, Chavez said. Another option for Hennig is aluminum, which can be used to lighten the loads of large enclosure panels.

When enclosure panels are made of metal, windows allow machine operators to see inside. According to Chavez, Hennig enclosures include “safety-level” windows made of materials such as laminated glass, which consists of a protective vinyl layer inside two glass layers.