My First Turning Injury!

[Randy_]

Not a big deal; but thought someone else might learn from my mistake.

I removed the mandrel and the blank from the lathe and absent-mindedly reached across the lathe to pick up a piece of MicroMesh. Did not pay close enough attention and caught the back of my forearm on the LMS live center. Nothing serious; but blood was drawn and with slightly different circumstances, I could have had a very nice gash.

I need to be more careful and think, in the future, I will remove the LC from the lathe when it is not in use. That damn point is pretty sharp!!

 

[nightowl]

Been there Randy, ecept my blonde moment is trying to pull a slightly stuck pen blank from the mandrel and when it let go I ended up with a pretty deep puncture from the LC. Live and learn.....live and learn.

 

[NewLondon88]

Congratulations! Now you're official. Did you get the tee shirt yet?

 

[TellicoTurning]

Randy,
If you've been turning for a while and just now drawing blood, you're doing pretty good... I generally figure that if there's no blood in the work, I'm not doing it right.

Last week I was driving the 4 prong drive center out of the head stock. To keep from losing the center point in the sawdust under the lathe, I reached up to catch the drive when it came loose... one good whack and I had a point and two prongs in my hand.

Welcome to the club!

 

[Daniel]

My Metal lathe likes to eat me alive. every edge on that thing is a razor.

 

[Fred]

Wait until you get caught in the long set of Nova jaws when they are wide open AND the lathe is on.

Not my accident, but it happened to my neighbor. Four mangled ... and I mean really mangled fingers and a couple of bones in back of the hand were shattered as well.

My claim to "Injury Fame" comes from dragging my arm across the new, just out of the box, Sorby 3/4" steb center. Believe me, those things are sharper than razors as I have several scars to prove it. I shutter to think what damage they could inflict if one tangled with them while the lathe is on ...

 

[rick_lindsey]

Ouch, the Nova jaw accident makes my sound like peanuts... I just forgot about the 2nd wheel on the grinder and chewed up the side of my hand. That was saturday and it's starting to feel a little better... hoping to be healed enough to turn by the free workshop at the Woodcraft here in Reno (visiting the inlaws for christmas) on the 29th. My wife got me 4 pen blanks and 4 black titanium euro kits for christmas (she couldn't resist telling me ) so I'll have something to play with, and won't have to wait until I go back to work next year to get a turning fix again (I use the woodworking club's shop onsite at my workplace)

-Rick

 

[SherryD]

You are certainly a candidate for the "Purple wood award"

 

[TellicoTurning]

Can I add a stupid trick injury to this thread... no blood on this one. I was smoothing the inside of a little bowl with a round nose scraper.. taking the little hump out of the bottom.
Leaning over the ways, my face mask kept falling off, so I switched to safety glasses. Just as I was getting it about right, the scraper caught, the handle end kicked up and hit me right up side the head.. probably good thing for the safety glasses.. I figured on a black eye this morning, but I guess the glasses took the brunt of the whack.. for cheap glasses, I guess they are pretty good.
Sure was a surprise when that handle kicked up though.

 

[Daniel]

Chuck, Your story reminded me of when i first moved into this house. The only place I had to set up a lathe was ont he top of a dresser making the spindle nearly shoulder high.(note to all, never try to turn at this height) as soon as tool touched wood it was flipped out of my hand and the business end spun just inches from my face. I was shocked at how easily the lathe stole that tool from my grip. the accidents happen so fast you don't realize it until they are over. and just in case anyone missed it above. never turn with the spindle much above elbow height. I'm not willing to experiment to prove myself wrong but you cannot as far as I can tell hold the tool.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Amen to that.. I almost look around to see who hit me, but as the tool bounced off my head and onto the floor I figured it out real quick.. fortunately the whack to the head didn't do any damage to the tool handled either.

 

[bitshird]

Well other than my incident with my Table saw I haven't damaged anything else, but I guess that was enough,

 

[Randy_]

Wait until you get caught in the long set of Nova jaws when they are wide open AND the lathe is on.....

I have a little Oneway chuck and right after I got it. I saw a modestly priced product in the Lee Valley catalog that sounded good.....but could also have been just a gimmick. It was essentially one of those headbands you wear when playing tennis; but smaller in diameter. You fit the thing over the body/jaws of a scroll chuck to protect your knuckles from an inadvertent brush with the chuck jaws. I did lightly brush the jaws one time without any injury; but am not sure any damage would have been done even if the cover were not in place.

I'm not sure how much actual protection it affords; but it certainly can't make things worse so I always turn with it in place. And I do make an effort to be extra careful when the chuck is in place!! (no :bananen_smilies046: on the job)

 

[theturningcircle]

I've had a couple of nasty accidents over the years. On one occasion I was gripping a box lid in the expansion mode. I hadn't realised that the 4th jaw of my chuck (Axminster) had just passed it's 'safe' limit and was not held by the scroll. I turned the lathe on and wound up the speed. The lid couldn't stand the centrifugal force of the loose jaw and broke. The jaw flew out at 3000 revs and hit me in the chest. When I came to, I was on the floor with a searing pain in my chest:doctor:. The jaw had penetrated my smock, jumper, shirt and me. If it had been my head, I probably would never have got up again. You tend to learn from mistakes like that.
Ian

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've had a couple of nasty accidents over the years. On one occasion I was gripping a box lid in the expansion mode. I hadn't realised that the 4th jaw of my chuck (Axminster) had just passed it's 'safe' limit and was not held by the scroll. I turned the lathe on and wound up the speed. The lid couldn't stand the centrifugal force of the loose jaw and broke. The jaw flew out at 3000 revs and hit me in the chest. When I came to, I was on the floor with a searing pain in my chest:doctor:. The jaw had penetrated my smock, jumper, shirt and me. If it had been my head, I probably would never have got up again. You tend to learn from mistakes like that.
Ian

Only if you live through them. LOL

 

[texasfootball21]

I was turning beside some people who were new to the hobby and they asked for a bit of help rounding a block of wood that was going to be a candlestick holder. So I grab my roughing gouge, head over, and without checking how well they had the wood secured, began to show them how to cut it. Apparently no one had been willing to help them secure the block as it was soon sent flying towards me, striking my chest and turning up to punch me in the jaw.

My torn shirt, cut up chest and bruised chin taught me a valuable lesson, if someone doesn't know how to round a piece of wood properly, they probably can't get the wood to stay on the lathe properly. I now check how secure someone's piece is before I help them cut it.

 

[jtrusselle]

Randy - thanks for the tip. My first cut with my new Jet band saw included my thumb... Luckily, I still have the thumb and a lesson learned about shutting off the saw before reaching for the cutoff.