Machining apparatus with chip shield

An apparatus for machining workpieces, the apparatus comprising:

• a machine frame having vertical guides and defining a machining station, a pick-up station offset horizontally from the machining station, and a drop-off station offset horizontally from the machining station;
• a vertical slide vertically shiftable along the vertical guides on the machine frame and having horizontal guides;
• a horizontal slide carrying a rotatably driven holder and shiftable in a horizontal direction along the horizontal guides on the vertical slide between respective pick-up, machining, and drop-off positions above the pick-up, machining, and drop-off stations;
• a holder in the machining station, one of the holders being adapted to hold a tool and the other of the holders being adapted for holding a workpiece for machining the workpiece in the machining station;
• a pair of shields fixed to the vertical slide and horizontally flanking the machining station, one of the shields being between the machining station and the pick-up station;
• and
• respective slidable doors on each of the shields shiftable between a closed position blocking movement of the rotatable holder past the respective shield and an open position permitting such movement, each of the doors including a vertical panel slidable in the respective shield and a horizontal panel extending outward from the machining station from an upper edge of the respective vertical panel.