Stupid mistake.. info for new turners

On Mon, 8 Feb 2010 11:54:49 -0600, mac davis wrote (in message ):

Heal quickly and well. My take on this lesson for all is this... we get comfortable and then complacent, doing what we do, and too often forget the rules. Each thing we touch has its own rules - the lathe, the other tools, and the wood. Thank you for posting this sobering reminder. tom koehler

I will find a way or make one.

Hope the injury is as minor as you're making it out to be, Mac. And thanks for the post. Safety reminders are always worthwhile.

That handle to the chin is one reason why I like a captured system. Just a little bit safer, though if I am roughing out my hollow forms, I do it standing with a Kelton hollower in my coring handle, and the laser. I can be more aggressive that way.

robo hippy

Thanks, Tom...

My dad ran a sign shop and almost lost some fingers being careless with a table saw... He told us kids that if we ever stopped being afraid of our tools, it was time to quit using them..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Well, my wife thinks that it should be stitched, but I don't.. guy thing? ;) Besides the fact that it stopped bleeding after a few minutes, I know that the first thing the ER would do is shave off my beard..

My jaw joints are defiantly remembering what an uppercut feels like, though.. Don't know if it would have been better or worse if I'd had the handle on it..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I wasn't "really" hollowing, Reed... I was turning a "bugle bowl" and decided that it might be cool it I left the middle in and made a ball out of it... the piece is only about 3" deep, but the Eliminator got wedged (I think) between the ball and the wall for a second..

I use the Kelton handle with it if I'm going deep, but it would have been heavy and in the way for this piece..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Ouch, hope that heals quick & there is no permanent damage.

What were you wearing on your face?

A protective beard. Doubt if a standard face shield would protect from an uppercut.

Besides the surprised look? :)

Safety glasses and fortunately, a full beard.. I think that cushioned a bit of the impact.. I dusted off my face shield and put it on and it wouldn't have helped.. maybe my old full face motorcycle helmet would have been nice.. lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Exactly, Gerald.. and for those that don't think that a beard helps, you don't realize how much the hair on your head cushions you until you lose that hair..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Mac, I have lost a few hollow forms by the cone in the center when I didn't drill out enough. The back side of the cutter hits the cone, and is grabbed, pulled down and around, then slammed back into the tool rest. Sounds like that is what may have happened.

robo hippy

e:

Oh yes, I forgot to add this: Shaving is an unnatural act!

robo hippy

ote:

I shave my face and head daily.

Seems like a face shield might have caught some of the blow.

I'm pretty sure that's what happened... the piece looks kind of like an old ash tray for a pipe, has a knob in the middle that tapers smaller as it gets towards the bottom.. Since it's really hard to get a catch with the eliminate, and there was no gouge in the piece, I'm guessing the back of the tool hit the knob..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I don't think so.. I sort of recreated the event, (with the lathe stopped), and the shield is too far out in front of my face to protect my chin.. Actually, if it would have hit the face shield, it would of missed my chin and hit the INSIDE of the shield..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Now I gotta go buy a chin guard !!! I also have a long beard,I keep getting rapped up in my screw guns. One day I was turning a bowl and found a crack in the wall, so I put a band clamp around the outside so I could finish the inside.Dam if I didn't get some beard under the clamp.Luckily my belt was loose on my lathe ,when I hit start it jerked about a dozen hairs off my chin. My wife wanted me to were a jock strap on my chin after that. Now I put it in a pony tail and tuck it down my shirt on my chest. So far I sawed into both thumbs and a middle finger ,got the other middle finger smacked by a snow blower inpeller when the chute got plugged up,almost lost that one !!The other three I just taped up NOW I am more carfull and I stopped drinking, so much !!!! least when I'm neer anything with a motor on it.

Jerry