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pensmyth

pensmyth

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
425
Location
Reynoldsburg, Ohio
New Barracuda 2 chuck for my lathe $179.00. Six hours in the ER after it came flying off the lathe after a catch and played pirana on my finger PRICELESS! Really, NEVER try to catch a 15lb chunk of steel moving at 5000 mph through the air!
 

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Ouch, good advice (you must have good reflexes to touch it at all!):eek:

Maybe a silly question, but how the heck could it fly off the lathe, or shouldn't I ask?:confused::redface:
 
I was turning a small piece of wood when I had a catch. The instructions say to stop the lathe and check to make sure the chuck is still tight against the head stock if this happens. I reached over shut the lathe off and as it decelerated the chuck came flying off and even though I was standing off to the side my natural instinct was to bat it out of the way as it came flying off. My guess is I didn't have it tight enough to the head stock to begin with and physics just took over. I chewed up the tip of my finger and part of the nail but was actually lucky I was standing off to the side, it could have been worse.
 
Glad you are okay.

I don't know much about these chucks, but do they have set screws, or holes for set screws, that could prevent this from happening to you again?

I know my talons have two set screws that lock the chuck in place once its on the spindle.

Let's hope for a speedy recovery. Can you turn left handed? ....might be a good time to learn....
 
My Nova also has a set screw. But since your instructions mention this as a possibility specifically I suspect it is not an unusual thing.
 
Does your lathe have a brake on it? I'm trying to imagine my lathe slowing down quickly enough to send a chuck flying. It gives me a chuckle.
 
I got smacked last week with a bowl that came flying out of a Barracuda, but haven't had mine come unscrewed yet I'm trying to imagine how your lathe could decelerate fast enough to allow the chuck to come unscrewed.
 
Actually, the first thing I did was check the chuck to make sure it was OK (priorities you know) the blood drops on the floor alerted me to other pending issues :} I must have hit some nerves because its not hurting as I would expect it to. (The wife keeps mentioning brain damage) All in all lessons were learned the hard way but the chuck is good, the finger is healing, and I keep reassuring the wife there was no brain damage...she's not buying it!
 
I should add I know why the chuck came flying off now. It threads onto the headstock clockwise and the lathe turns counter clockwise. When I had the catch it loosened the chuck on the lathe. I shut it off and all would have been ok because the rotation of the lathe and the chuck were constant and equal and this was keeping the chuck from spinning off.(can you see where I'm going?) When I reached up and grabbed the handle end of the head stock to slow it down this allowed the chuck to spin off at full speed.......like I said lesson learned...the hard way.
 
pensmyth said:
Actually, the first thing I did was check the chuck to make sure it was OK (priorities you know) the blood drops on the floor alerted me to other pending issues :} I must have hit some nerves because its not hurting as I would expect it to. (The wife keeps mentioning brain damage) All in all lessons were learned the hard way but the chuck is good, the finger is healing, and I keep reassuring the wife there was no brain damage...she's not buying it!
Click to expand...


Bear in mind this acknowledges that you HAVE a brain. You're already ahead of most guys' wives' opinion.
(Wadatheyknow???)

Now, you may want to consider putting a piece of plywood behind your scroll chuck (kinda like a big washer) to absorb the shock and, hopefully, keep the chuck screwed in place, even if you HAVE a catch (which SHOULD tighten the chuck, not loosen it).

I'd spend some time analyzing what happened. This was the warning shot, the actual battle could cause you MUCH more harm!!!

(glad you're OK!!)
 
I know you would think a catch would tighten the chuck but the instructions even mention that if you have one to stop the lathe and check for a loose chuck and retighten if needed. They must have covered that on the day I skipped physics class.....
 
Inertia does loosen chucks all the time as you have demonstrated. Glad you were not injured worse! Now get well and remember this lesson well.

Are you by any chance using one of those washers between the chuck and the front edge of the headstock? If so then it may be a bit thick and preventing a good tight seat when you mount the chuck. This also will help prevent any out of round turnings and damage from excessive vibrations to the bearings.

Always check the tightness when you turn the lathe on and off several rimes. As you have proved chucks and other mounted devices can and will spin off with little effort.

You are definitely fortunate that the injury is not far worse than the hand and finger. Just imagine what a set of teeth are worth, not to mention facial reconstruction, etc.
 
4 1/2 hrs of that was spent sitting in the lobby! and that ER is just down the road from you Chris at McNaughton and Broad. I grew up and worked on the fire department in good old Tomato Town, I even worked at that hospital on my days off as a Tech in the ER. In 25 years as a firefighter/paramedic I have NEVER seen an ER so bogged down and over flowing. I would guess that 95% there that night were there with flu symptoms it was mind boggling.
 
You need an large locking washer between the chuck and the headstock. This will keep this from happening again. Might even get by with a thick rubber washer but I would use steel. Need the washer to compress when you get a catch. That will prevent the chuck from rebounding loose when you get a catch. This shock absorber action will keep tension between the chuck and headstock which will keep the chuck on the lathe. Next time you might not be so luck as to nick a finger. If might be a skull fracture or broken shoulder. Safety is the least valued part of planning and the most valuable outcome at the same time. Be safe or go watch TV. It is a lot easier on the old body.
 
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