Be safe (aka don't do this)

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woody0207

woody0207

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
147
Location
Cedar Park, TX, USA.
Sorry this is a bit long...
I did a stupid thing and I'm embarrassed about it but I thought I would post it here in the hopes it might save someone from making the same mistake. [:0]

The background.. I was turning a piece of osage orange to be a tailstock adapter for the pentel pencil conversion. The adapter starts as a 1-inch round piece of stock and then gets stepped down. Not having a big enough piece of osage orange I glued 4 pieces of 3/4 inch OO together using Titebond, clamped it together, and let it dry overnight.

So today I mounted the glued up piece in the talon chuck and started turning. Everything wsa going fine. Then I noticed I had a pretty big gap in one of my joints since the original pieces weren't perfectly square. Now we get to the part where I made the bonehead mistake.

I figured, "I'll just fill that gap with thick CA." So I did. And I made sure I got the CA squirted in real good WAY DOWN into the crack. Then, I thought, I'll spray accelerant on this and back to work. I did, and started to turn again... and something in the back of my mind went "Wait! you are forgetting something important..."

What I was forgetting was to put my safety glasses on. I cut another 32nd of an inch or so and then something didn't feel right. I shut down the lathe immediately and noticed that I had a bunch of shavings stuck to my hand... and stuck to my gouge... and my shirt... and...

I run upstairs, wash my hands off, and take my contacts out. Did a big "whew", put the contacts back in my eyes and I couldn't focus. Took them back out and realized I had got a healthy spray of CA on my contacts but NONE in my in my eyes. Both contacts are now history.

You probably figured out already that what caused this was the accelerant only cured the top layer of CA. Once I cut that top layer away, I had thick CA being spun out of the piece, all over me (I was running the lathe at full speed). I also realize some of you are probably having a chuckle right now. Like I said, it was a boneheaded thing.

The bad thing is I'm usually pretty careful but this time I wasn't making a pen, so I got out of my NORMAL routine. My reason for writing this is to remind everyone to please remember to do a safety check before you turn the lathe on, and wear those safety glasses.

I'm sitting here feeling humbled and fortunate at the same time.

Was that stupid, or what..!
 
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This is THE BIG reason why I DO NOT wear contact lenses (though you were saved a lot of grief by them). Working in a cabinet shop with wood shavings flying around and lacquer thinner splashing around at the spray booth, miscellaneous projectiles flying from the various industrial woodworking equipment, and just my own simple forgetfulness, and the decision to get rid of the contacts was a no-brainer.

I swapped my contact lenses for true prescription safety glasses (polycarbonate) and generally put the side shields on if I am using things like a nail gun.
 
I am glad you are OK. That could have been really bad. I needed a break tonight so I swept up my shavings and came inside to read what my wife calls, the pen mail. The reason I needed a break: the small bowl I was working on broke off at the chuck and caught me right betwen the eyes. It was not a big bowl but it probably weighs a pound. It knocked me back a couple of steps. If it was not for the face shield, I am certain I would have been at least bruised if not cut or a broken nose. All I have is broken headband on the shield.

Nothing like a little educational moment. Safety first. Every time. Learn from the mistakes. I had the speed up a notch or two too high. Soft wood=slower speed.
 
Originally posted by MarkHix

I am glad you are OK. That could have been really bad. I needed a break tonight so I swept up my shavings and came inside to read what my wife calls, the pen mail. The reason I needed a break: the small bowl I was working on broke off at the chuck and caught me right betwen the eyes. It was not a big bowl but it probably weighs a pound. It knocked me back a couple of steps. If it was not for the face shield, I am certain I would have been at least bruised if not cut or a broken nose. All I have is broken headband on the shield.

Nothing like a little educational moment. Safety first. Every time. Learn from the mistakes. I had the speed up a notch or two too high. Soft wood=slower speed.
Click to expand...

Mark, glad you are ok and had your face shield on. I've been wanting to get into bowls, too. But having too much fun with pens right now(hopefully pencils, too).

Too often I find myself getting a bit too comfortable and being lazy about putting my safety glasses on.
 
Marty, I'm really sorry, but I couldn't help but laugh. At least I know that I'm not the only one to do something goofy and get CA in my eye by spinning something. So I'm really laughing with you, not at you.;)
 
Oh thank goodness!!!! I thought It was something bloody. Thanks for the info but too late for me. Hopefully it will remind someone else and me in the future.
 
Originally posted by wudnhed

Oh thank goodness!!!! I thought It was something bloody. Thanks for the info but too late for me. Hopefully it will remind someone else and me in the future.
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Naw, lathe accidents usually include a bad finger burn (caught between toolrest and the spindle), various nasty bruises, occasional eye injuries.

Now if it's bloody stuff we're talking about, there are plenty of stories of people who insist on wearing big leather gloves to avoid splinters while using jointers, table saws, and table routers--- I work with such a guy (the supervisor) and I cringe every time I see him doing it.
 
Glad everything is ok Marty.

This reminds me of the old cowboy story where the silver dollar stopped the bullet. You got lucky.

Mark, glad you where wearing a face shield.
 
I don't wear contacts for simple reason, can't stand the thought of someting in my eyes.., but my safty glasses and my face shield are fast approaching non-usable status and about half of my shirts are ruinded because of the amount of CA and such flung off a high speed lathe onto them.. I've always worn safety glasses, but after taking a piece of a blank under the eye, may have bounced off the glasses, I've converted to a full face shield and it goes on before the lathe does... glad nothing more serious than a lost pair of contacts.
 
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