EdM
Member
I'm not sure where this post belongs, however I thought that by placing it here, newcomers to "our" craft might benefit from my experience, and hopefully save themselves some grief...
I've been woodworking for about a year. Set up my shop with the safest equipment I could afford, including the "standard" newbie lathe, a 10x18 one from Harbor Freight (Item 65345). Generally, I have no issues with safety whether that be flying objects of dust, as I tend to be meticulous about visualizing my processes and desired end results, as well as trying to anticipate what could go wrong with any of the tools I use, be it the table saw, band saw, drill press, or lathe.
Over the past few days, I've been researching buffing and sanding systems that can be run on the lathe, and after looking at Rick Herrell' s excellent items, and placed an order for his sanding jig and tool rests.
Can't use the jig without a sanding disc to mount the sandpaper on, right ? Right! So I decided to turn a simple 5" disc that could be mounted on the faceplate. I mounted a 6" round piece of 1/2 " oak stock securely on the faceplate, and went to work, turning it to 5" so it would fit my sanding discs.
Unfortunately, the oak stock that I used was one that was end glued from 4 separate pieces, and within 20 seconds of spinning it up and applying the skew, it disintegrated into 4 razor sharp pieces that flew at my face as it separated from the faceplate.
Fortunately, the only pieces that made contact were one that hit me squarely on the chin, opening a nice cut, and a second one that put a nice 2 inch slice in my left thumb.(I'm left-handed).
It could have been my mouth, nose or eyes, and I consider myself very fortunate that the injury was relatively minor.
So... Please think before you turn on any of your tools! I consider myself conservative, level headed, and cautious in most things I do, and also feel very foolish that I permitted a momentary lapse of judgement to result in what could have been a very serious shop accident....
Perhaps the purchase of some armor would be in order ????
Regards,
EdM
I've been woodworking for about a year. Set up my shop with the safest equipment I could afford, including the "standard" newbie lathe, a 10x18 one from Harbor Freight (Item 65345). Generally, I have no issues with safety whether that be flying objects of dust, as I tend to be meticulous about visualizing my processes and desired end results, as well as trying to anticipate what could go wrong with any of the tools I use, be it the table saw, band saw, drill press, or lathe.
Over the past few days, I've been researching buffing and sanding systems that can be run on the lathe, and after looking at Rick Herrell' s excellent items, and placed an order for his sanding jig and tool rests.
Can't use the jig without a sanding disc to mount the sandpaper on, right ? Right! So I decided to turn a simple 5" disc that could be mounted on the faceplate. I mounted a 6" round piece of 1/2 " oak stock securely on the faceplate, and went to work, turning it to 5" so it would fit my sanding discs.
Unfortunately, the oak stock that I used was one that was end glued from 4 separate pieces, and within 20 seconds of spinning it up and applying the skew, it disintegrated into 4 razor sharp pieces that flew at my face as it separated from the faceplate.
Fortunately, the only pieces that made contact were one that hit me squarely on the chin, opening a nice cut, and a second one that put a nice 2 inch slice in my left thumb.(I'm left-handed).
It could have been my mouth, nose or eyes, and I consider myself very fortunate that the injury was relatively minor.
So... Please think before you turn on any of your tools! I consider myself conservative, level headed, and cautious in most things I do, and also feel very foolish that I permitted a momentary lapse of judgement to result in what could have been a very serious shop accident....
Perhaps the purchase of some armor would be in order ????
Regards,
EdM