Safety While Using The Engine Lathe

[Janderso]

I haven't seen this subject come up.
I was watching a Suburban Tool-Don Bailey, video this morning. Don was doing a series on chasing a thread on the lathe.
Now, this guy has been a master machinist most of his life. He knows what he is doing.
Yet, he is wearing a shop coat with long sleeves, a wedding ring and a watch.
He is working at the lathe, filing over the moving chuck.

I have a small fraction of his lathe time and I am cringing every time I see him reach over a moving chuck.
I'm a certified range safety officer. I haven't been out to our range for quite some time. My point is, the guys that got my attention were the guys with the most experience. Handling firearms while guys are down range setting up targets or breaking some safety rule that is just not a good idea. When I dealt with the situation I would usually hear something like, "I've been handling firearms all my life, don't worry about me."

I think sometimes we get a bit too comfortable and grow confident. That's when we get bit.
I have a lot of respect for a lathe. Before I turn it on I always look at the chuck and my set-up.
I hope some of our fellow hobby machinists take the same precautions when stepping up to a machine tool. They can be deadly.

 

[benmychree]

Some of the old timers that I knew back in the day learned to file left handed, I suspect that the reason being was overhead driven line shaft machines; I am reminded of it when I use my 9" Monarch lathe.

 

[pontiac428]

Every machinery-based instruction in the Army starts with the same line: Step #1, secure loose clothing and remove watches, rings, and dog tags. I still jokingly say it to myself when I do my own self-check. Can you imagine how much it would hurt to weld a 1/2-7/16 combo wrench to your wedding ring while working on a 24v battery system? Seen that twice. Worst thing to see, and probably even nastier to experience, is a de-gloving. The skin comes off, but the nerves stay exposed with the finger... they can sew that stuff back on, but it'll never be right. It's just not worth it. The guys these injuries happened to were all experienced and confident, but chose to keep their rings on. It always makes me a little bit happier inside when I see workers and service members wearing silicone rings instead of metal bands. I've been married for years and never worn a ring, but that's my preference (I'm not into jewelry). Be careful out there, because we all know something about $hit, and that is that $hit happens. Sooner or later.

John Y.'s post reminds me of a guy local to me who always files left handed. Because 10 years ago he reached into a moving machine with his right hand.

 

[benmychree]

In my high school machine shop class we were shown a picture of a finger with ring on it and the tendons stretched out ---- I have never worn a ring, except when we go to a social event, never habitually worn a wrist watch, and still have all my fingers!

 

[mmcmdl]

Only takes one small mistake and he won't be doing it again . I think I've posted many incidences on the site that have happened to my co-workers over the years . I myself had a very very heavy line shaft fall on my hand about 3 years ago . The shear pins broke and shaft and bearing housing caught my hand on the side of a man lift . Happened in a split second and I still wear my scars .

 

[Radials]

Being left handed it feels much more safe filing on the lathe. An older much more experienced machinist friend of mine files right handed on his lathe all the time. It looks like hes going to put the chuck in a headlock when he goes in. It makes me cringe seeing him do that.

 

[markba633csi]

Stories abound of "old pros" having horrible injuries. Safety is no accident.

 

[Reddinr]

I'm still at the point where the spinning chuck with its 3 or 4 semi-sharp-edged spinning hammers still scares the heck out of me. So, I'm careful to not anger the machine gods by doing anything foolish. I hope I never get over this slight fear of being pounded, pinched, wound up and spit out by my lathe. My lathe has been good to me so far. I think I keep it happy and on my side with good maintenance, regular oiling etc, however, I think my table saw is out to get me.

 

[DangerZone]

Not machining related, but I just had a safety re-conditioning happen to me this summer. Cutting firewood at my cabin and the chainsaw got a little too close to my leg. 20 min drive into town and I had 12 stitches. Thankfully nothing too serious, but I wouldn't call it fun. I feel it was a good reminder for me to stay safe and avoid complacency when dealing with "dangerous things" especially while I am learning and new to machining.

 

[Janderso]

Chainsaws can be very dangerous. I remember when I was a younger man and very broke, we would go out in the boonies with our forest maps and permits up in the Tahoe National Forest. If we ever got hurt it would be an hour plus drive to the nearest hospital.
Never even thought about it.
As I recall, we usually had an ice chest full of adult beverages too.