barrel trimmer injuries..fess it up!

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workinforwood

workinforwood

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Joined
Mar 1, 2007
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Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Who has injured themselves with a barrel trimmer and how did you do it? Lets be honest...you might know the dangers and how to use one safely but perhaps at an earlier stage you made a mistake, or even as a veteran got lazy one day and it came back to bite you! And..also who has tried the barrel trimmer in the drill press? I've heard the stories from many over the years here in a thread here and a thread there, but some people think they are a very safe tool ...how safe is it really? Not to say you can't or should not use a barrel trimmer. Yes there are other ways, such as me I just use collet chuck and face blanks with a chisel, but that's not what this is about, I just want to hear about barrel trimmer mishaps.

Heck...I'll go first. I put a barrel trimmer in drill press and blank in a vise. The vise was not clamped down. I used the pilot to line up hole before clamping the vise to the blank. I turned on the drill press, no prob. Pulled down the lever..well the tube was cocked a bit as far as parallel with the trimmer..I thought it was straight, but probably off by just a fraction of a degree, the tip of the pilot bit has a bit of a tooth cut in it which dug into the tube and grabbed the vise and spun it around into the post. My hand was holding down the vise..I lost lots of skin off my knuckles.

I had a pen barrel completely finished, it was a slim line. I assembled the pen and the two barrels didn't fit together quite flush. Seems something was wrong, one of the barrels must not be square. So being in a hurry and figuring I just need a quick light zip with a barrel trimmer, I grab the nice round finished barrel in my hand. Hey..if it catches, it won't hurt me like a square blank could, so life is good. Well..that's true, but as I plunged the barrel down on to the trimmer head my hand slipped due to the pen being so slippery smooth and took some nice flesh off the side of my pinky finger.

I may have had a few other minor incidents, but those are the only two that really stuck with me. I knew both times not to do it too, but I did anyhow. Can't happen to me right?
 
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I do all my work on the lathe and use a barrel trimmer. No issues at all. HOWEVER. I think it was the first month I was making pens. I was a true newbie. Never make anything on a lathe before. I would hand hold the blank with the barrell trimmer in a hand held drill. Worked great the first few times. I would go nice and slow not applying a lot of pressure. One day it wasn't "trimming" as fast as I thought it should, so I pushed a little harder with the drill....better....until it caught. Of course it twisted the square blank in my hand, which was holding that blank very tightly. I let go pretty quick but not before I lost a little skin off my palm. Nothing really serious. Took off enought that I'll never do it again though, not even if desperate. Other than that, I've had no issues...but then again I've only been at this for about 9 months.
 
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Before I found this site I "learned" from watching your tube videos. Just hold the blank in your hand and use a hand drill. Tried that the first month I started turning until one day it grabbed. I had a tight grip on the blank so I lost some meat on my palm. I use a centering vise on my drill press and have had no problems.
 
Uh oh, I'm going to disappoint you. I use the same method as Gary - cordless drill in one hand and blank in the other hand. The thing is, I wear a leather glove. I've had a few blanks spin due to a catch but didn't even feel it with the glove.

I'll try to have a better story next time...
 
Once in Woodcraft I actually went to use a blank drill centering dingy on a drill press... Not my forte, I use a hand drill. Didn't have it clamped down, whole thing started shaking violently, jumping, spinning in a circle, couldn't move my hand to shut it off very quick and once I did, I put my other hand down on the top of a drill bit with a nice point on it. I think it counts as a squaring injury
 
I've always used a barrel trimmer in my drill press. I hold the blank with a pair of channel locks. I've screwed up a blank here and there, but never had any injuries doing so. I think the biggest problem is carelessness. Pretty much every tool we use can cause injury if we aren't watching what we are doing. Doing the same thing over and over can bring a false sense of security, and we get careless. That's when blood flows.
 
I have a small drill press setup with the barrel trimmer (7mm) and normally don't have any issues. Well... Till I tried to square a blank that i had used a "repurposed" brass on, the brass was about 1/2" shorter than normal since it was from an experiment that went wrong. Anyway... Long story short I wasn't thinking and held the blank in my bare hand and supported the bottom with the edge of my finger. Began pushing it up on the trimmer and it cleanly squared up the blank, then the bit came out of the bottom and sliced into the side of my finger. :doctor:

Nice half-moon cut on the side of the knuckle... Little black tape and paper towel for a band-aid and back to work we go...:biggrin:
 
w5brw said:
I have a small drill press setup with the barrel trimmer (7mm) and normally don't have any issues. Well... Till I tried to square a blank that i had used a "repurposed" brass on, the brass was about 1/2" shorter than normal since it was from an experiment that went wrong. Anyway... Long story short I wasn't thinking and held the blank in my bare hand and supported the bottom with the edge of my finger. Began pushing it up on the trimmer and it cleanly squared up the blank, then the bit came out of the bottom and sliced into the side of my finger. :doctor:

Nice half-moon cut on the side of the knuckle... Little black tape and paper towel for a band-aid and back to work we go...:biggrin:
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It's been a rarity for me to encounter someone else that knows Band-Aid ingredients. Had to do that ALL THE TIME as a kid (don't ask why). No one understood how it worked. Nice!
 
I've had several, all my fault, but I don't worry the little cuts, abrasions, drills through the leg stuff. When I was a kid scabs and scars were badges if honor. I guess I never out grew it.
 
truckfixr said:
I've always used a barrel trimmer in my drill press. I hold the blank with a pair of channel locks. I've screwed up a blank here and there, but never had any injuries doing so. I think the biggest problem is carelessness. Pretty much every tool we use can cause injury if we aren't watching what we are doing. Doing the same thing over and over can bring a false sense of security, and we get careless. That's when blood flows.
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Same method I've used since day one. Takes a little extra time since I only have one drill press, but I think it is worth it. I tried using the drill a time or two to see if I could save time, but didn't like the feeling of pushing sharp blades toward my hand while they were spinning!!
 
vise grips

I hold the blank with vise grips and use the lathe. No problems ever if it grabs It's the blank or the tube that takes the hurt.
 
I most always put the blank in a vise and use the trimmer in the drill press. If the end needs a light touch, I hold it in my hand. Maybe I've been lucky, no injuries (yet).

steve
 
Seems to me if a drill or drill press coupled with pliers is needed to square the ends of a pen blank then way too much wood is needing removed. Could the blanks be cut way too long? It also seems to me that a pen mill is a tool to be used with a handle as a hand tool. But, I seem to be in the minority here. Have I used a pen mill in a drill? a drill press? in a collet chuck on a lathe? Yes to all three but I didn't like it. Only done out of necessity when in someone else's shop.

Oh, the question was about injuries....for me only a few minor ones in someone else's shop using a pen mill as a power tool. No injuries from a pen mill used as a hand tool in my own shop. Actually, most of my squaring is done on a disc sander.

Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
I square my blanks on the sander until they are ALMOST down to the brass, then use a barrel trimmer in a pin vise and turn it by hand to do the last bit of squaring up. The barrel trimmer has never bitten me, but I've sanded the end off my finger on the disc sander TWICE (I'm a slow learner.)
 
I try to completely avoid the pen mill. Many of the alternative materials that I use (Casein , immediately comes to mind) do not like the trimmers. I do always cut the barrels longer than the tubes. But I use a sanding mill or a squaring jig on my disc/belt sanding machine.

Sometimes I just face the ends with a skew tip.

Those things just work better for me than pen mills.....those things are dangerous:)
 
All I can say is that long hair and a drill press with rapid bending over is never a good combination. Similar stories include a lathe and a dremel.
 
Never had issues I use my disk sander until I just hear the "brass" and I finish off by hand with a barrel trimmer which is mounted in a wooden handle. The disk sander with my mounted "jig" (that being a piece of pine clamped 90 deg to the disk) works well for me
 
I very rarely ever use one of those things anymore since I have my disk sander.

I hold the blank in my hand and use my 19V drill when I do. What you don't want to do is use it cupped in your hand with a blank that is shorter than shank.

Makes a neat perfectly round hole in your palm.
 
ok..so far we have 12-13 injuries. I know there's tons more than that happened out there. Of course we all know there's a right and wrong way to use one and we know there's alternatives to using one at all. I figure even the guys that wear gloves, it's just a matter of time you have a piece of wood with a loose corner like a splinter that will do some nice damage through that glove! Just a theory but sounds logical to me.

I like hearing especially from people that have been making pens a long time, because I figure it's like riding a motorcycle...there's guys that have fallen off the bike and guys that will eventually fall off the bike, and in the end pretty near everyone falls off the bike! I got a 2 count on that one too! :wink:

Of course none of this means don't use a barrel trimmer if you want, or don't ride a motorcycle, it just means there's a definite danger involved that is possibly a bit higher in occurrence than some other things you might use, and we are all human so even having common sense doesn't mean you won't throw it out the window on occasion.
 
I just use my hand and the drill...

When I had the Penn State Carbide set - it ripped my palm up once or twice and ruined a blank or four, but since I sent it back, the HSS ones does not catch like the two blade carbide POS did.

Guess I must have manly hands, it really doesn't bother me much.
 
RHossack said:
I very rarely ever use one of those things anymore since I have my disk sander.

I hold the blank in my hand and use my 19V drill when I do. What you don't want to do is use it cupped in your hand with a blank that is shorter than shank.

Makes a neat perfectly round hole in your palm.
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That's my story too. I was trimming Sierras no problem. Switched to slims and ran the pilot through the blank and into my palm. Perfect round hole with no CA to clean out.
 
Just like with all tools and especially ones that can cut there are injuries and if you do something for a long time a repeticiously I am sure an injury will occur. But just like all tools when modified or used improperly I am sure the injury level will go up.

Using the sanding disc is an alternative but to me is a slow process and I use this for finicky blanks and for finese.

I do use a carbide trimmer and do use a handheld drill and do hold the blank in my bare hand. But here is my secret. I use a multitorque drill. This is one where you can set the torque of the drill and I set it just so that the trimmer does its cutting but will disengaged when a catch has occurred so no spinning out of my hand and dropping. I have found I need to both hear and feel the trimmer touching the brass tube and this is accomplished very easily with a multispeed and multitorqued drill motor. I have yet to injure myself using this method ( I did say yet). No need to run a drill full speed when using a trimmer. I find the trimmer to give me a perfect 90 degree relation between the tube and the edge of the blank and being I do alot of metal blanks I need this.

So be careful out there.


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When I first started making pens I used the drill press and stupidly held the blank with my hands......until I slipped...ouch.

Today, I still use the drill press but use channel locks to hold the blank.
 
Ive never had a blank grabbed by the trimmer because I keep them very sharp...which leads me into how I sliced my finger. I had just trimmed a blank and saw the teeth were full of material so I stupidly tried to clean out the gunk with my finger. Blood everywhere. I have not made that mistake since.
 
jasontg99 said:
Ive never had a blank grabbed by the trimmer because I keep them very sharp...which leads me into how I sliced my finger. I had just trimmed a blank and saw the teeth were full of material so I stupidly tried to clean out the gunk with my finger. Blood everywhere. I have not made that mistake since.
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What do you use to sharpen yours? I have been using a small diamond hone with mixed results.
 
I use a small diamond hone with a little sharpening oil. Trick is to keep the angle consistant. Once you master that, it is extremely quick and simple.
 
jasontg99 said:
I use a small diamond hone with a little sharpening oil. Trick is to keep the angle consistant. Once you master that, it is extremely quick and simple.
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You avoid the angle problem by not sharpening on the angle. The proper way is to sharpen on the flat side. You can find instructions in the library. I also use one of those small diamond files.
 
workinforwood said:
ok..so far we have 12-13 injuries. I know there's tons more than that happened out there. Of course we all know there's a right and wrong way to use one and we know there's alternatives to using one at all. I figure even the guys that wear gloves, it's just a matter of time you have a piece of wood with a loose corner like a splinter that will do some nice damage through that glove! Just a theory but sounds logical to me.

I like hearing especially from people that have been making pens a long time, because I figure it's like riding a motorcycle...there's guys that have fallen off the bike and guys that will eventually fall off the bike, and in the end pretty near everyone falls off the bike! I got a 2 count on that one too! :wink:

Of course none of this means don't use a barrel trimmer if you want, or don't ride a motorcycle, it just means there's a definite danger involved that is possibly a bit higher in occurrence than some other things you might use, and we are all human so even having common sense doesn't mean you won't throw it out the window on occasion.
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There is inherent danger involved with every single tool that lives in our shops. With each and every one, that danger is mitigated by following the 'rules'.

Table saws have cut peoples fingers right off. That doesn't mean that we don't use table saws. It merely means that we ensure that our fingers never go near the spinning blade o' death.

The same goes for barrel trimmers. As I stated in the thread that spawned this one, "I cannot think of a single safety issue associated with properly using a drill press to trim a securely held blank." The responses to this thread reinforce this thesis as no one has reported an injury involved with a barrel trimmer chucked into a drill press and used on a properly secured blank.

In my mind, this thread adequately counters your earlier position:
workinforwood said:
Looks a bit dangerous to me, and if you put it in a drill press then you definitely have reached the danger factor! Never ever ever ever do barrel trimming in a drill press.
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I'm probably gonna get booed here for my opinions/statements, but I don't wonder some people are experiencing injuries. Using a pair of pliers with a hand held drill, or especially a drill press!?

Little wonder indeed. I use only a drill press, blank vise. I keep my hands away from the business end of the pen mill. Use the right tool for the job. And gloves? Gloves have no place in the workshop to be used on any machine that goes round and round.

Of course, My opinions, but........

Russ
 
You mean nobody but ME has so far reported injuring themselves using a barrel trimmer and drill press together. So we do have one and there is more out there that haven't said so is all. Of course, like you say, any tool is dangerous, but what I am saying is there's ways to make tools even more dangerous, be it by how you use it or be it your mental state at that time. A table saw blade goes in a table saw. It's real dangerous there, but that's the proper use and there is guards to assist safety. You can also mount a table saw blade on the end of a weed wacker...but is that a good idea? I think the proper tool for using a barrel trimmer is a hand held drill and the blank held in a vise. The vise makes the blank not able to move. The hand held drill is able to free float in the tube at any angle, where as a drill press can not float it can only go straight up and down. This is just my opinion though, as the inventor of the barrel trimmer doesn't specify it's proper use, just fills his pockets with money. There are better ways to trim blanks than a trimmer, and more accurate too, but that's besides the point.
 
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