The resullts of getting distracted

[theperfessor]

Mods, feel free to move this if its in the wrong section.

I want to show what happens when you get distracted while doing something potentially dangerous.

Last week I was proofing a program to make some canopy crackers. They are used to break/pry open the canopy of a light aircraft in case of emergency. A friend of mine runs a business called Flyboy Enterprises, and when his stock ran low he asked me to shoot him a price. Turns out I can make them faster and cheaper than he can get them from "overseas", so I got the contract.

Checked up a 6' long bar of 1-1/4" diameter aluminum rod in my Haas CNC lathe. This left about 3+ feet sticking out the end. Now I know an unsupported bar can bend and whip, so I turned on the lathe manually at 300 RPM to see what would happen. No problem, and so I kicked up the speed using the override in 10% increments until I reached 600 RPM, which was what I had programmed in to my code. Still no problem, vibrations, etc.

Then I got distracted for a minute to answer a phone call. When I hung up I double checked everything, i.e. retightened the chuck, made sure the tailstock center was in place and locked, programmed RPM was 600, etc.

I FORGOT TO TURN DOWN THE OVERRIDE from 200% spindle speed to 100%. I hit the start button and in 2 seconds the machine hit 1200 RPM and all hell broke loose. The bar bent, caught a shelf unit at the end of the lathe, picked it up and slammed it down, crashed into my parts washing tank, which was knocked over, spilling 5-6 gallons of oily kerosene all over the floor and walls of my shop.

I hit the E-stop, and luckily wasn't hurt, although I did suffer from a bad case of anus-slamus-shutus for about 30 minutes. I threw out the shelf unit, set the wash tank back up, and put several buckets of ground corncob on the floor to soak up the kerosene/oil goop.

No damage to me, and luckily no damage to the lathe. I think the shelf unit cushioned a lot of the shock and prevented the drive components from being damaged. As soon as I calmed down I knew I had to "get back on the horse" so after triple checking everything I went ahead and machined a few crackers until I ran out of material.

All is well now, the shop is cleaned up, the damaged shelf is gone, the odor of kerosene is dissipating, and I've rewired the wash tank (the wires were pulled out of theconnection box when it fell over).

I'm older and wiser now, and I know I won't make that mistake again.

I know it wasn't firearms related, but I wanted to post this to show what can happen when you get distracted while doing something potentially dangerous.

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[Charlie Two Tracks]

Ain't that the truth! One slip up and it can have terrible results. Glad to see you are ok. Congratulations on the contract. That is good to see.

[EMC45]

Still not as bad as the pic of the guy who got his coat caught in the lathe. That will haunt me till my end.

[**oneshot**]

Alot of bad could have happened there. Glad all is good.

[Alstep]

Lots of bad and deadly things happen around PTO shafts on farm machinery! Murphy's law. Glad you're OK.

[Chicken Thief]

Please tell about the canopy crackers?

What for and how to use?

[Love Life]

I'm glad to hear you are ok!

On a side note what is a cracker?

[fouronesix]

No kidding about lathes! Happy all is ok. I think that any kind of rotary powered equipment including the various farm equipment is potentially way high on the list. The other type high on the list would be the common table saw!

[Pb2au]

I too work with CNC equipment. It is kinda funny how they do EXACTLY what you tell them to do.............No more, no less.
Glad you are OK, better a shelf get smashed than a person!

[gray wolf]

Thank goodness your OK, The other things can be taken care of.
Sam-

and Julie says ( now cut that out )

[geargnasher]

Last week I was proofing a program to make some canopy crackers. They are used to break/pry open the canopy of a light aircraft in case of emergency. A friend of mine runs a business called Flyboy Enterprises, and when his stock ran low he asked me to shoot him a price. Turns out I can make them faster and cheaper than he can get them from "overseas", so I got the contract.


For those who missed it.

Keith, this is why I destest telephones sometimes. My friends/family are often aggravated by the fact that I can and do flat-out ignore phone calls when it is the least bit inconvenient for me to answer it, and my feeble mind losing a thread of sequential tasks somewhere in the middle because of a distraction qualifies as inconvenience to me at least, often it has been worse. If it's important, leave a message. If it's an emergency, call back three times in a row, otherwise I'm busy if I don't answer and I'll get back with you when I'm not in the middle of something.

Gear

[41 mag fan]

What they teach us, preach to us and have hammered it into our heads at work applies to everything in life.
S.L.A.M.
S..Stop
L..Look
A..Analyze
M..Manage

Like they tell us at work, better to take a few seconds and slam the area, then to not slam your area, have a problem or safety hazard and cost time, money, life and/or limb. Or in this case...pride!
Glad you didn't get hurt Keith

[hithard]

Glad to hear you got off easy.

Now can you pick us six numbers..?

[popper]

Kid lost a finger in joiner/planer in HS, another got his HS ring squashed onto his finger by a cleat. HS friend had a boiler plate sheet drop off a pelican hook crane and smash the kid and machine next to him. He walked out and never went back. Isn't just distraction but also NOT following the rules.

[Recluse]

Please tell about the canopy crackers?

What for and how to use?

Glad you're okay, Perfessor.

A canopy-cracker is a solid piece of metal, often with a defined point on the end and it can weigh anywhere from a pound to three pounds, normally.

It is used in the event that you, as a pilot or aircrew member in an airplane using a clear bubble canopy find yourself after a crash or hard landing or water landing unable to open the canopy to egress (escape/exit the aircraft). The nature of the canopy material makes it practically impervious to pounding from a blunt or rounded object, but a pointed object will cause it to splinter and/or crack which then completely impugnes the structural integrity of the canopy.

You can then pound at it with your fist or any other blunt object to break it open, kind of like a chick leaving an egg, to escape. In fact, the crackers work on much the same principle as a chick escaping the egg.

:coffee:

[ph4570]

I am glad to hear you were not injured. I have been bitten once by my lathe. Fortunately I was not permanently damaged.

[theperfessor]

As you can see from the picture it is a 1-1/4" diameter aluminum bar that is knurled for a good grip and has a chisel end. The butt end is flat so you can pound on it with your palm w/o hurting yourself. It is supposed to be an emergency tool that a downed pilot can use to knock out the windows and/or canopy of a light plane in case you need to get out and the regular canopy opening methods don't work.

[220swiftfn]

Something similar happened years ago at a shop I was working at. 1-1/4" chrome rod for hydraulic piston and the numbnut used the spindle speed for enclosed for a rod hanging out the back a good 8 feet. Pretzled the rod, smacked the raw material next to the machine (that hit the ceiling 30' up and sounded like a helo) and had an Okuma Lb-15 jumping a good foot off the ground....... Scary stuff indeed.


Dan

[Houndog]

Been there, done that and got the battle scars to prove it! We all have an uh oh moment if we stay around long enough and I'm glad yours wasn't any worse than it was!

[P.K.]

Whew, close call. Glad your o-k.

[smokeywolf]

perfesssor, that took a lot of juevos to tell everyone about your lapse in attention and its consequences. It is a very generous offering to all of us who work with potentially dangerous situations, substances, and machinery every day.
Reminds me of the first and last time I left the chuck key in the 3 jaw on a 17" Cincinnati Hydrashift lathe and pulled the jog handle. That was about 2 weeks into my apprenticeship.

smokeywolf

[jcwit]

Glad you're OK!

[uscra112]

Good to show this stuff around perfesser. There's always new blood (no pun intended) coming into the trade that needs to be "initiated". I was in the aerospace-size machine tool business for 15-16 years. Decided I should be scared of them from day one, and told every new hire that I wasn't the least damned bit ashamed of it. Saw some things too gruesome to recall, but I managed to survive with only a few nicks. I count myself lucky. Eventually got into CMMs, which weren't so lethal, but on the other hand some of our customers used robots to load them. Survived that, too. God either likes me, or he's saving me for something worse.

[theperfessor]

I don't make fun of or pick on other people for their shortcomings. I don't mind sharing my own, especially if it might keep someone else from being a bonehead and getting hurt or worse.

[1Shirt]

Prof, it is the mistakes you live thru with all your fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes that make the biggest impressions. Sure glad you are ok!
1Shirt!

[TXGunNut]

For those who missed it.

Keith, this is why I destest telephones sometimes. My friends/family are often aggravated by the fact that I can and do flat-out ignore phone calls when it is the least bit inconvenient for me to answer it, and my feeble mind losing a thread of sequential tasks somewhere in the middle because of a distraction qualifies as inconvenience to me at least, often it has been worse. If it's important, leave a message. If it's an emergency, call back three times in a row, otherwise I'm busy if I don't answer and I'll get back with you when I'm not in the middle of something.

Gear

Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one. No phones allowed in my loading room, won't be allowed in my workshop if I ever get it built.

[TXGunNut]

For those who missed it.

Keith, this is why I destest telephones sometimes. My friends/family are often aggravated by the fact that I can and do flat-out ignore phone calls when it is the least bit inconvenient for me to answer it, and my feeble mind losing a thread of sequential tasks somewhere in the middle because of a distraction qualifies as inconvenience to me at least, often it has been worse. If it's important, leave a message. If it's an emergency, call back three times in a row, otherwise I'm busy if I don't answer and I'll get back with you when I'm not in the middle of something.

Gear

Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one. No phones allowed in my loading room, won't be allowed in my workshop if I ever get it built. That's why they all have voice mail, IMHO.

[Fishman]

I am very glad you are ok. Stuff can be replaced.

[DIRT Farmer]

On the new back hoe, the motor quits if you even move wrong. Wonder if that can be wired in to my partner's phone?