Adding Roll Up Way Covers to HAAS TM1 CNC Milling Machine

Nov 10, 2023
5 min read

The HAAS TM1 is commonly sold without way covers. The Y-axis linear rails are exposed, and the Y-axis ball screw has a spring cover that can still allow chips and coolant through. The exposed linear rails can get damaged, and they collect a lot of debris, which can get through the ball-bearing block wipers and contaminate the ball bearings. HAAS does sell metal front and rear covers for the linear rails, but they are expensive and still don't cover the ballscrew.

TM-1 Y-axis front way cover costs $1,195, and it's not clear if that's for one or a pair of them. Regardless, it is expensive to add way covers from HAAS. I don't believe that a rear way cover is available because there's not enough clearance at the rear when the table is all the way back.

Product page for WAYCOVER, Y-AXIS FRONT with diagram, PART NUMBER 25-4923, price $1,194.95, and Add to Cart button

Y axis travel is 16 in.

Z axis travel is 16 in.

The Y axis linear rail spacing outer width is 17.5 in. A 24in wide cover will give plenty of coverage.

FRONT WAY COVER DESIGN

The front has an easy solution. Use a piece of heavy duty rubber, attach it to the front of the table (Y axis motion area only), install a roller over the area above the front Y axis bearing, hang the rubber over the roller, and add a weight to the end of the rubber. This mod will be a lot easier if the front handle is removed. The front handle won't be accessible anyways, so it doesn't matter. However, the servo motor parameters will need to be modified due to the lower rotating mass, and this is how to change that.

Side-view technical diagram of a gray machine with a vertical head, lever linkage, and yellow hose on a white background.

3D CAD rendering of a gray industrial machine with an orange workpiece and blue base on a white background

REAR WAY COVER DESIGN

The rear is more difficult, and will require a cover that collapses or rolls up. The easiest could be a spring retract rubber cover that rolls up. Here's a concept of how to use a spring loaded roller cover that only covers the Y axis ways and ball screw. The roller is on the underside of the cover, so the chips dump over the edge as the table moves back in Y. A brush should be installed on the underside of the roller to prevent stuck chips from being rolled up into the layers.

Cross-section diagram of a gray industrial machine with a yellow linkage arm, piston, and lever on a white background.

Diagram of a gray industrial milling machine with a blue side panel and orange workpiece on the table, isolated on white background

3D rendering of an industrial press machine with a gray frame, orange work platform, and blue side panel on a white background

It's possible to protect both the Y axis and Z axis simultaneously with the same rubber roll up cover. The roller can be mounted on the Z axis, right under the underside of the spindle neck. The rubber cover descends down towards the intersection of the Y axis rails and the rear wall of the machine. It goes under a roller (made from several narrow rollers to prevent smashing chips into the cover), and turns horizontally to cover the Y axis rails and ballscrew. The cover attaches to the back of the table (Y axis motion only).

SPRING ROLLER COVER

This company, AKON Skirting and Bellows, makes retractable way covers designed for CNC and industrial equipment. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive, starting at close to $1000. That's still less expensive than the HAAS way covers and covers the ball screw also. The $955 price is just the roller, no cover. The cover with front brush doubles the cost.

Product page for CNC Roll Up Cover with silver cover image, price $955-$1,825, size options, and Need a Custom Quote? button

Spring roller covers on Aliexpress

Hands hold a large gray panel with metal brackets; text reads Store No: 1202171. Indoor setting with posters in background.

ALTERNATIVE SPRING ROLL UP COVER SOURCES

I haven't found any alternative spring rollers (only the roller) that could work for this. Everything is sold with the fabric. Fabric baby gates could provide a decent spring roller, but the life cycle on these is probably very low. Remove the fabric it comes with and install the neoprene coated nylon. It's so cheap, it's worth a try.

Cross-section diagram of a gray machine with a yellow linkage arm and base, showing internal mechanism on a white background.

3D rendering of a gray industrial machine with a yellow hinged arm and blue side panel, shown on a white background

3D CAD rendering of a gray industrial machine or press with a yellow lever and base, shown on a white background.

The simplest way to protect the linear ways and ball screw from the direct stream of chips is the following design. The chips will flow down to the rear gutter which redirects the chips to the sides. The downside is that the linear rails are not well protected from the sides.

Diagram of a gray industrial press with a yellow linkage arm and clamp on a base, shown in side view on a white background

3D rendering of a gray industrial press with an orange arm over a slotted worktable, isolated on white.

3D illustration of a gray industrial press machine with orange linkage and flat worktable on a white background

Gray industrial machine with an orange linkage pressing a yellow block beside a slanted gray track.

Here's a list of materials that AKON has available for roll-up covers. Since machining steel can make very hot chips, it seems that the 40 oz. neoprene-coated nylon or the 60 oz. Hypalon coated nylon are the minimum acceptable covers.

White document listing material types and heat ratings; red ALL MATERIALS header with sections for general, CNC, and high-heat applications.

McMaster sells 40 oz. neoprene-coated nylon (0.040" thick). This could easily be used to cover the front ways using the roller and weight.

Product page for black nylon fabric, showing swatch and specs table with 5-ft length and green Add button.

40oz neoprene covered nylon is also sold by the yard at other websites for much less expensive than McMaster

It may also be possible to cover the rear ways by using a roller under the spindle neck, a roller weight hanging the fabric with the fabric tied back up under the neck. This would require a piece of material about 5 ft in length.

CAD side view of a gray machine assembly with an orange dashed motion path and a mirrored Right label on a white background.

3D CAD view of a gray machine frame with an orange hinged panel and a side tray, shown against a plain white background

The blue roller is mounted to the head of the mill. The white roller under the head is a weight, and is free to move up and down with the cover. It pulls the cover (orange) tight, removing slack from the cover as the table or Z-axis moves.

The problem will be chips accumulating in the bottom roller area. Most chips will reach the roller when the Y axis is moving towards the rear of the machine. Chips can also enter the roller when the are thrown above the roller, and the Y axis is moving forward.

An air or coolant blast could be used to remove the chips before they reach the roller.
Adding a brush before the roller to prevent chips getting into the roller
A segmented roller will reduce the amount of chips getting smashed into the cover fabric, but make it more difficult to blast off the chips.
Raising the roller, such that the cover fabric is angled forward towards the table will make the chips collect closer to the table, where they can be air/coolant blasted away. The downside of this is that the cover fabric will be moved further away from the rails, exposing them more to chips from the side. Although, at 2 ft wide, the cover has a large coverage over the rails.
Using a brush style roller could reduce chip damage to the cover, but will also catch chips and be more difficult to clean or blast out. The brush doesn't need to be continuous across the whole length. It could be cut into short sections. Example of a brush roller.

Four black cylindrical brush rollers on a white background, one with a metal shaft, arranged side by side.

Having a spring-loaded roller at the rear would solve most of the potential chip accumulation issues, because the roller could be on the underside of the cover fabric, and the chips would roll off the edge. A brush on the underside would remove stuck-on chips, before they enter between the layers of cover on the roller.

ARMORED BELLOWS

These are mainly used for vertical axis. Here's an example of some on Aliexpress.