¶ Sidewalls or bellows
As you use your PrintNC you will make glorious chips. Adding protections along your X, Y and Z axis for your rails and rods can help keep the chips out of their way.
Sidewalls can be easy to add on quickly once you've got your PrintNC assembled and tuned. Bellows will require some more careful modding, however some Discord members have made DIY ones, or you could find commercially available bellows online.
¶ Sidewall
Sidewalls can help deflect a significant amount of chips away from rods and rails. They can't offer full protection because some chips will backflip over them however.
Jaymis' sidewall system to protect the Y axis:
¶ Bellows
Bellows cover the exposed portions of the rods and rails and shield them from the chips. They do require maintenance to avoid chips piercing the bellows skin, particularly when fully compressing the bellows with chips in them.
¶ DIY
EmpyeanCNC's made a DIY bellow system using 3d printed supports and paper origami:
¶ Commercial grade
Commercially made bellows are available from numerous shops on Aliexpress and Ebay. They'll may be able to take more abuse than a DIY system, and are available in a number of shapes.
