Why not to burnish a Bowl on the lathe

[Doghouse]

Well I was working on some salad bowls and figured I would burninsh this last one of the day with a 3m Pad...

So I cranked the lathe up to 2000 rpm, mind you this was a nice small 14" salad bowl . Well before I could even get the pad in my hand I hear a gunshot. Ok, so where is the bowl I was just working on? After searching the shop for about 10 min, I have found 27 little pieces. Still missing the foot and one side. The side was imbedded in the wall The foot was on top of my air cleaner, right next to the flourescent lights. How those did not break is amaizing.

Lesson: Don't Flock with Physics!

 

[hazard]

Thats going to leave a mark!!!

You are so lucky nothing happened to you. You won't do that one again. Maybe not. I am glad you survived.

Chris

 

[txbatons]

Yep. Nice to hear you're ok. Wouldn't look good on your headstone..."Was a decent man...until the salad bowl."

 

[kent4Him]

The same thing happened to me with a 10" walnut bowl I was working on. Too much centrifugal force. A piece hit my hand pretty hard. A good amount of blood was lost and it gave me a sore hand for 4 or 5 days. But worse than that, my daughter had come into my shop just before it happened and a piece hit her in the head. No lasting problems, but it scared the both of us pretty bad. I still don't know if I have found all the pieced and that was two years ago. It exploded in all directions.

If you even suspect a hairline crack in the wood, do not spin it at 2000 rpm.