Lathe safety!

[oldred]

Another member by the name Project brought up a very good point that I think merits it's own discussion. There has been a lot of recent talk about lathes and a lot of this is from folks new to them, teaching one's self to operate a lathe and to do so safely is not all that difficult but there are some basic safety rules that MUST be followed. I thought maybe some input from those with a lot of experience behind them could be helpful here, maybe just pointing out some of the basics and some anecdotal incidents that might get someone to think before they get hurt. Lathes are not necessarily any more dangerous than most other powered machines but some of the more serious (and potentially deadly!) hazards on a lathe tend to be a lot more subtle appearing and thus in that sense could present a significant hazard. For instance an open spinning saw blade is just automatically relegated into the realm of extremely hazardous with those wicked teeth just waiting to snatch off a finger or two so a person just naturally avoids them with great caution! However spinning stock on a lathe doesn't appear to be nearly as dangerous but is that really the case? That of course depends on how you approach it and the particular situation and that more innocent looking piece of spinning stock is just waiting to grab loose clothing, long hair or a beard to do it's deadly work!

How about it, any input here from those who have worked with these machines?

[odfairfaxsub]

Disconnect electric running to tool head prior to any changes made on the tool.....when finished verify everything as it should then energize tool head

[blaser.306]

Do not clear chips / swarf when the machine is running.

[bangerjim]

All good points! The metal lathe I consider one of the safest tools of the MANY power tools I have in my shops. But something that must be used at all times is COMMON SENSE.

A few rules I have posted:

"This machine has no brain.......engage yours before operating."

" A fool and his fingers are soon parted."

"You are not running a beauty pageant here.....you are running a machine tool. No jewelry or loose clothing allowed!"

"Keep your eyes on the prize......and your mind completely on your work."

"Common sense is not common..........you have to work at it!"

banger

[oldred]

Another one that seems to be a common mistake among newbis is to pinch a sanding strip around a spinning shaft, using sanding strip on a lathe is a bad idea in the first place for several reasons but pinching it in tight is one of those anecdotal incidents I was talking about. At a mine where I did a lot of work they had a shop with a 13"x40" lathe and a few other shop machines such as a bandsaw etc but the lathe was the only real machine shop tool. It was there for anyone to use and the "greenhorns" finally trashed it but not before it got a couple of them first! Two incidents of that pinched sanding strip left one fellow with a crippled hand and another with a piece of a thumb missing but it was the already mentioned chuck key being thrown that finally made the management lock out power to the thing, several close calls and one hit that caused a rather serious head wound. This all occurred over a period of time but it's not surprising since almost none of these guys knew a darn thing about a lathe and most of them were just playing around with it on lunch break working on "government jobs" when these incidents occurred. By the time the power was locked out to the lathe and an iron worker they had both machines were pretty much trashed anyway but the injuries from that lathe should never have happened and probably never would have had these guys had any training at all.

[cwheel]

Even experienced machinists can be hurt or killed when not paying attention. I was a machinist in the Navy, the Navy called us Machinery repairman. The person I replaced was killed when he was about to polish a long 1/4" shaft. He didn't properly support the shaft coming out of the backside of the headstock, was distracted talking to someone as he hit the start switch and the lathe was engaged in it's highest speed. The small stock bent 90 degrees in a instant and acted like a weed wacker with 1/4" steel rod going through his skull, dead instantly. Accident happened on the U.S.S. Raleigh about 1966. You don't need a big powerful lathe to do something like this. Biggest thing is pay attention to what you are doing and use common sense. That was the third fatal accident in a year on that ship, first accident killed 2 people. Something doesn't look right, most likely it isn't, look for a better way to do it safe.
Chris

[quickdraw66]

No neck ties, loose sleeves, or jewelry. In a tug-of-war with a lathe you will lose.


Add long hair to that. I recall hearing about a young lady who let her hair get caught in a lathe. She didn't survive.

[Red River Rick]

Common sense prevails above all!

If you don't know what your doing.............leave it alone!

RRR

[JSnover]

Two from me:

NEVER try to pull a chip with your bare fingers, especially with the machine turning.

ALWAYS make sure the jaws will clear your tooling and the saddle before you engage. If you need to work close to the chuck, float it first to make sure you won't crash.

[Treetop]

All the above is very good advice! I've been a machinist/tool & die maker since the early 1970s. I've seen some pretty gruesome accidents, through the years, usually by people who had no business running a lathe.

Maybe I missed it above, but NEVER turn a lathe (or any other power tool for that matter) on without proper eye protection!

[oldred]

Probably the most common accident is leaving the key in the chuck, while not likely to be the most dangerous it can and has caused some serious harm. If the machine is set for a high RPM and switched on that chuck key can be ejected with surprising force!

[danski26]

Check and double check ALL locks on the carriage before engaging auto feed!! Learned this the hard way.

[country gent]

I have a couple not mentioned yet First is no gloves while running the lathe. Chips, tooling spinning parts will grab them and pull you in. Next is never use a file with out having a handle on it.

[big bore 99]

Been running a lathe for over 50 yrs. I've seen some nasty accidents. I've learned to always use the same hand to tighten the chuck key as turning it on. Beware of those spinning chuck jaws when polishing or filing. Never use a file without a handle. Invest a minute to make a chip hook and only use it when machine is stopped.
Air hoses on machines are a very bad idea. Get in the habit of putting the spindle in neutral when loading parts and indicating them in. Most important:Think first!
Use your head for something other than stopping a flying chuck key.

[country gent]

Also remeber ghips are hot sharp and tough. Stringy chips will cut and suck you in. Resting your hand on some on the carriage can result in cuts. ALso while not the lathe keep in mind some cuts from certain materials may not heal up as easily as others ( berrilium comes to mind). Coolants in tanks can get rank and cause issues with sinuses lungs and skin. ANother trick when loading parts especially long or heavy parts is if possible load from the back side of machine. You arnt leaning over the carriage and handwheels can get closer staying upright easier.

[pjames32]

Good info for some of us with limited experience!
THX
PJ

[country gent]

Another couple tricks that help alot are cut a piece of plywood to sit on ways when changing chucks and heavy tooling this protects the ways from dings and scratches. Another is cut a piece of pipe to just fit in spindle hole. Aith heavy chucks chick this in the chuck with enough on each side to get a hold of and enough on back side to start into spindle and slide into place. Makes changing a chuck much easier by hand

[Artful]

Clean you ways between jobs - new a guy who cut his lathe in half the hard way when it combusted - Ouch

[plus1hdcp]

Great information for a future lathe owner like myself

[Jeff Michel]

Do not run the lathe in reverse if you have a threaded spindle.

[Bent Ramrod]

I didn't see this, although I may have missed it.

Wear good safety glasses, with side shields, and keep your collar buttoned up. The swarf that isn't trying to wad itself around the spinning workpiece and launch into your face will be flying off in a shower of tiny, hot chips. One down your shirt will definitely distract you from your operation, and one in your eye can delay your project for a long time.

Very good thread and discussion, by the way. Safety considerations in this area are as important as those in handloading, casting or shooting.

[bhop]

Clean you ways between jobs - new a guy who cut his lathe in half the hard way when it combusted - Ouch
Can you go into more detail on this please

[Red River Rick]

Can you go into more detail on this please

Probably machining magnesium............

RRR

[Mitch]

Can you go into more detail on this please

keep your machines clean would be the key here a little to clean up after each job or day is the way to go.be proud of you chop and your equipment.if nothing else it will be ready to sell when you are ready to retire from the hobby.the only thing I can think of that would combust badly is magnisum.if you machine any of this stuff only take heavy cuts to keep the chips thick.the finer the chip the more danger of fire.itfyou do have a fire with it DO NOT PUT WATER ON THE FIRE.it will burn wild and out of control instantly.magnisium and water make hydrogen.Best to leave this stuff to the pros.this stuff is very dangerous it will burn down your shop and melt steel

I been a tool and die maker for 35 years

all great infor here men I don't think much if anything was missed

[country gent]

Have machined magnesium both lathe and mill. several tricks are a purple star fire extinguisher and Bucket of sand. When turning on lathe we put a few inches of sand in the chip pan. Machine dry. Also dont let chips build up remove after every cut and put in a safe container. Magnesium will burn thru steel, concrete, and most materials. lso this is a good place when machining for tinted glasses as magniseum burning is as bright and intenese and a welders arc.

[M-Tecs]

I had titanium chips catch fire on me years ago. Titanium burns really well.

[ProfGAB101]

When I was first learning Lathe operations my instructor used to say: When ever the machine is running, put your free hand in your pocket. No one has ever lost a finger to a machining accident when the hand was safe in the pocket.

Always rotate the chuck 1 full turn by hand before turning on the spindle. Note if any types of feed or half nuts are engaged.

Hit and yank on the work, if you can move the work in the vise or chuck using 1 HP (Human power) at slow speed, imagine what will happen when the tool engages the work at speed.

Machines don't know the difference between metal and flesh other than the fact that flesh and bone takes less horsepower to cut.

Never operate a machine from a stool or chair, when things go wrong it happens fast, chances are if you can't jump out of the way it will hit you... before it hits the fan.

Never use rags near a lathe - any wiping etc. should be done using paper towels, they will shred themselves before they can pull you into the machine or cause other damage.

Like a motorcycle crash - Rule: Let it go! Feel free to step back and let the machine destroy its self. Ask your self would you trade the replacement cost of the work and machine for your arm, your hand or even a finger... Its only metal and can be replaced, parts of you, not so much.

Be sure your work area has EXCELLENT Illumination - many accidents occur while maneuvering to get a better view of your work.

[leebuilder]

Have many cuts from swarf, had a chip get under my glasses and lift them off my face. Busted much tooling and shattered tooling too. Had a birds nest of chips pick up and extention cord and the radio i had plugged in what a mess that was. Taught machine shop for a bit and seen lots of cuts. Had a few tripps to the eye doctor too, had my glasses on for most of those incidents. Friction welded drills in holes. Had a 4" drill seize and put a 360 degree twist in the arbour on a 25hp drillpress. Had stuff fly out of the lathe and mill.
I have been lucky, other than when i taught machine shop in the navy all the incedents happened at a shop i apprenticed at, the boss there did not care about anything as long as the money was coming in and the place was so dirty that it was a hazard. I know now the limits and not to try to get near those limits again, TRIAL AND TERROR.
As mentioned keep your shop clean and safe.
If it dont feel right or you are doing something that your mother should not know about, DONT DO IT.
Use your head, again as mentioned HP will mess you up, if you are lucky it will spit you up before you are mangled to a pulp.
be safe, please.

[30Carbine]

I"LL add a few things to this I didn't see. LIGHTS keep the lathe well lit put light above the machines. don't shove them back into a dark corner. I have 6 lathes right now and 4 bridgeports and 3cnc's, when I turn on my shop you almost need sunglasses in side. also I teach some new guys who think they want to learn to use these fairly often. one thing I have done is to mount the chuck key on a retractible reel above the lathes so they will go up automatically. nothing worse than to here them flying across the shop. also I mounted E stops on pedals you have to stand on to make them work, that way if you have to jump it will kill them right a way.

One more thing that helps now this is not for you guys that use these but for the ones I teach. I have one lathe set up right now we call it the teacher I mounted a momentary switch on the side of the tool head so it will kill the machine before it gets to close to chuck. this one has dro's set up on it there hooked up to mach3 on the other side of the shop, so when the machine stops you have to walk across the shop and press the E stop button on mach3 to get it to start again. gives them time to think about it haha.

[country gent]

I had jobs where set up and getting running true and centered was 1/2 days time ( think face plate and other tooling mounted) Im definitly not hitting and yanking to pull it out of alighnment. On some small thin jobs we faced a piece of stock and used double faced tape to hold part to machine it . Pushing pulling hitting have no place around pression equipment other than to tap a part into alighnment.

[doc1876]

My father was a machinist instructor for high school, and I can still remember his speech to the incoming freshmen about shop safety " I don' care if you want to wear your hair long, or your shirt tail on the outside of your pants, if you get caught in my lathe, and it drags you down to your knees, and the board of education just happens to walk in and they think you are praying in my class, and I catch it for that, you are never going to survive what I will do to you.


Chuck Key safety idea: I have seen them attached to a rubber band/hose/something that when you let go of it, it jerks the key about 2 feet above the lathe.

[oldred]

Spring loaded chuck keys work pretty well, they have a rather weak spring over the shaft that is just strong enough to push the key back out of the hole if it's released. I have heard folks complain about these but for the life of me I can't understand why, the spring is so light it takes no effort at all to hold the key in place during use but it makes it impossible to leave it in the chuck.

[country gent]

I have seen them with spring loaded plungers that push them out if the chuck ( most new drill chuckes have this abonimation in them also). Health and saftey at our plant deemed theey had to be on balancer units that held them out of the chuck. Use one of these for reitions a couple hours and your wrist start to get very sore. I removed the plungers from all the drill press keys here at home. The balancer was a great idea as it did keep chuck keys out of chuck and held it at just the right hit so every time you bent it hit you in the forehead. LOL I learned to remove keys wrenches and tools. Lathes are much safer now than when I started out in the trade ( first shop had mostly converted flat belt equipment) Alot of the new machines wont start till gaurds are in run position and keys stops that from happening. Ive seen more injuries from files with out handles than chuck keys. When you see yopur co worker with the bare tang of a 14" file burried in his forearm where it hit the chuck jaws and was diver several inches into his wrist / arm. Or the guy who was pulling a chip with pliers when it caught and wrapped around is finger removing it. Or simply the guy the chuck got away from and rolled of onto his foot or ankle. Machines are dangerous, wether lathe mill grinder wood saw or any other tools. Used with common sense and basic saftey in mind goes along ways. It takes some attention and thought to be safe. Look at new blow guns. I believe they are now down around 12 psi out put. Dont move chips or crud wont clear any real debris but they are safe. My old ones put out darn near line pressure.

[sprinkintime]

Probably the most common accident is leaving the key in the chuck, while not likely to be the most dangerous it can and has caused some serious harm. If the machine is set for a high RPM and switched on that chuck key can be ejected with surprising force!
Oldred, that is a +1, I have seen it happen machinist with many years of experience. Also don't take a heavy cut with your part hanging out, without support, you could be wearing it.
Sprink

[labradigger1]

Clean your chips with a brush, never with compressed air.
If your lathe is an older one with change gears always keep the gaurd in place (personal stupid mistake).

[BigEyeBob]

If you use a file on the work piece while running the lathe then make sure it has a good handle on it . The tang of the file makes a good "hand spear " when caught by the spinning chuck .
Ive seen quite a few hands impaled and one guy copped a file tang in the brisket .

[BigEyeBob]

I never wrap emery cloth around the work piece , I use a file and lay the emery along the file hold the file tip and emery between thumb forefinger with my left hand and the same at the handle end of the file with my thumb and fore finger .use it like a file works great , keeps every thing nice and even and you get much more emery to workpiece contact . The heat generated doesn't burn your digits. If the emery grabs it will come away with out injury to you .
I was taught this by my instructor over 40 years ago .He was a German Panzer Commander during the war (mongrel bastard of a man , but a very talented machinist) , if he caught you doing it any other way it was a swift boot in the **** and a good humiliating dressing down in front of the other trainees .
You never made the same mistake twice.

[Artful]

Can you go into more detail on this please
He never cleaned his chips out until he had a layer thick on the bottom
at some point something he was cutting put a hot chip to something that
caught fire and it just burnt something fierce and actually cut the lathe in two.
I don't remember what he was cutting on and don't know the mix of chips
he had under there but it was a bad combination.

[oneokie]

He never cleaned his chips out until he had a layer thick on the bottom
at some point something he was cutting put a hot chip to something that
caught fire and it just burnt something fierce and actually cut the lathe in two.
I don't remember what he was cutting on and don't know the mix of chips
he had under there but it was a bad combination.

Could have been a mix of steel and aluminum. Think Thermite.

[oldred]

Actually all it needed to be was steel chips with a mix oil to get it started, Iron chips and filings burn just fine thank you! Try setting a piece of 0000 steel wool on fire sometime and then imagine a giant version of that, dry fine steel wool will burn quite well but oily steel wool burns even faster and hotter. Remember also the burning steel is what actually provides most of the heat for cutting a steel plate with a cutting torch. The preheat flame gets it stated and then helps melt the oxide layer on the top surface but done properly the preheat flame can be cut off and the cut can still continue on O2 alone. Same thing with a Lancing rod for burning heavy steel parts, it's nothing more than a thin steel tube filled with small steel wires but once it starts burning it will burn through any kind of metal! I can imagine just how hot the middle of a pile of oily chips/swarf would get and I think it could easily reach the ignition point of iron at which time the unlimited draft moving up through that loose pile would easily provide enough Oxygen to do this kind of damage!

[Dave18]

being in maint for close to 40 yrs, and we had a well equipped shop, then lately all the no brain, management types, have forced us to quote share our hard earned/well protected equipment with the outside contractor types, needless to say, our Bridgeport/hardige /duall lathes are now trashed, tooling broke up, with people getting them selves hurt, and saying its the machines fault, all of what has been mentioned above, these idiots have or are doing, really disgusting watching people who have not a clue, yet you cannot stop the mess, thanks to management without a clue, that's totally infatuated with outsourcing, and wondering why things are not working out, from losing the tribal knowledge from those in the know, and we get reminded daily of their loathing for us that quote costs them money, when reality is quite the opposite,
meanwhile, they are talking about getting rid of the bridgeports now, cause, they are dangerous, some idiot found a old fly cutter and put it in, wound the thing up in high, then managed to take his fingers off, duh, the stupidity can and will hurt,
just glad Im about out now, the level of ignorance Im seeing in the quote skilled trades work place is astounding

and talking about things burning, amazing all the fires you get when the know it alls, start turning titanium(saying well I had this piece of aluminum) and let it either pile up or take a hard cut with out any coolant, amazing how hot that stuff burns,

[W.R.Buchanan]

Never leave key in chuck.

Saw a guy recently who almost killed himself when he turned on a Mill with a large 4" Criterion Boring head in it with a large 1" dia boring bar mounted in the thru hole ,,, He forgot to tighten the setscrews holding the bar in place and it almost killed him. Just like a chuck key in a big lathe would do to you.

Saw a guy in an oil field shop with a very long (down to his ****) pony tail, running a big lathe very slow.

The foreman had told him to cut his hair many times.

He got tangled up and reeled in but managed to shut the machine down. The foreman went over with a pair of tin snips and cut his pony tail off at the root and then fired him, another 1/4 turn of the chuck would have killed him.

Never grab turning chips with your bare hands. No matter how much you want to. They are like razors!

My .02

Randy

[Rifle 57]

For anyone that is thinking of buying a lathe for the first time I would make sure it has a working foot brake on it. If the one you are looking at is not equipped with one I would not buy it. I think they are one of the safest improvements ever put on a lathe.
I have three lathes and they all have a foot brake and I would not own one with out a brake on it.

[bangerjim]

With a VFD and having the soft stop set correctly, you do not need a foot brake. Lathe comes to a pretty fast stop electronically!

And just how do you dis-engage the drive when you step on the brake, I would have to let the tension off my SB belt drive to do that. Could be a good idea if your lathe is made that way and can be jury-rigged with some kind of brake pad against the spindle pulley mechanism.

[country gent]

The foot brakes are on newer gear ead lathes and does several things when engaged. it not only engages the brake but also disengages the clutch. Most gear head lathes with the hand lever have this also the hand lever engages dis engages the clutch and pull a little farther harder athe brake. For ultimate a laser curtain down the front of the machine. any thing that breaks the beam shuts the machine down. Normally these are used on stamping presses.

[bangerjim]

Guess that is why I have never seen one. Do not own or want anything that is gear head. Way too noisy. 1st thing I did several years ago when I acquired a small bench-top geared mill is to convert it to belt drive operation. Now it is quite as a mouse.....tons of power......yet belt will slip if there is a problem, not break a cutter or a gear.

I have been running lathes, mills, saws, drills, and everything in between for over 45 years and still have all my original body parts. I just "preview" mentally any dangerous operations......and don't to them.

1st thing I do is take all those stupid plastic "safety" guards off tools. They cause more interference and potential accidents than "common sense" and "pure wisdom" do! To do the kind of detailed accurate wood and metal working I do, you must be able to see exactly what is going on and not have stupid so-called safety guards in your way.

If you do not trust yourself or are hesitant......by all means, PLEASE leave the guards and junk in place.

One should not be afraid of a tool. One should RESPECT the tool!


banger

[country gent]

Iworked in the trade for 35 years ran lathes mills grinders and shapers on a daily bassis . Everthing from flat belt machises to cnc. One mill was capable of pluging a 3" endmill. Lathes were from hardringe 8"X20" to an old white flat belt lathe that wound turn 4' X 12' actually had a seat mount on carriage for operator to ride whhile cutting was being done. Bridgeport mills to big cincinattis and millwalkee mills both hrizontal and verticals. All of this equipment had cutters in the open and you learned to work accordingly. While not forgiving this equipment with a little common sense and basic saftey thinking isnt near as dangerous. The thing is to stop and think first before reaching grabbing or attempting to do something. The most effective saftey feature is between you ears. I was a tool and die maker, and also did some gage work. Ive seen guys at the bench hurt themselves by not thinking.

[oldred]

I have to agree with that foot brake recommendation. Can't say I would pass up a good deal on lathe just because it doesn't have one however but they sure are a trick! Just a light tap on that brake, which runs the full length of the bed, and EVERYTHING stops almost instantly! It disengages the clutch and stops the gear box with just light pressure, besides it's very handy for holding the head in position when need be.

[Rifle 57]

Good post oldred
I was not trying to start a debate on foot brakes but until a person running a lathe is in the position of needing to stop a lathe spindle in a hell of a hurry they don't know why I say that I wont have one with out a brake. I know that their are other ways of stopping a spindle pretty fast but your feet can hit the brake pedal on a lathe very fast with a little practice.

[bigbore52]

Gee, been using lathes and such for donkeys ages and still shudder at some of the things I see people do....one point mentioned is leaving keys in chucks...if that happened in my shop, then it was instant dismissal for the offender....others soon learn.

Of all the useful comments posted which should be mandatory reading for anyone thinking of running a lathe, mill or similar...think of it as wanting to hurt you bad and anything that can go wrong will at some stage so always be extra cautious. You will get hurt, how bad is up to your attentive span.

My two main cautions would be firstly whenever starting up a lathe or mill with a chucked object set, NEVER EVER stand in line with it until it's run a full working speed and I know already been mentioned but will stress it again, NO LOOSE CLOTHING, RINGS, BRACELETS, PENDANTS, CHAINS, NECKLACES or any form of JEWELLERY should be worn along with loose long shirt sleeves or other loose clothing...I have seen fingers whipped off real quick by a wedding ring that got caught and by the time your find the finger it's too late to think your should have removed the ring before ....probably not so relevant for most of us old timers with male pattern baldness now etc but likewise be careful of long hair, beards etc (doubt if ZZ Top turn other than guitars :) - unfortunately I have seen an apprentice scalped when his long hair in a pony tail got tangled up on a job, he survived because it tore right out and fortunately didn't drag him into the work piece..he didn't look so pretty after it was sewn back on so it does happen and please be aware at all times and lastly, turn the lathe off if you need to move away to grab a tool at the next bench or whatever...never leave it running without you there.

Apart from that...they are really straight forward and great fun :)

[Silfield]

Can I add....make sure the chuck is tight!
When I was younger I needed to do a job on the lathe at work but a colleague was just finishing up a part with a 4 jaw chuck. He said he would fit the 3 jaw when he was finished and give me a shout. I hopped on when he had finished, clocked up the shaft and started the lathe. There was a couple of clunks then a bang and the chuck flew off and hit me in the chest! Luckily I am a big chap and managed to catch it (well it was more of a reflex action as the chuck hit me in the chest) I hate to think what would have happened if it had hit one of my smaller work mates.

[scb]

In the same boat as Dave18. That's why I'm so glad I've been able to leave the manual machines behind. I've got a CNC VMC to do my work on and no one else even knows how to turn in on. The manual machines we have have been turned into junk because management thinks if you know where the on switch is that's all you need to know to run one. But any way as a tip and going with the post above. Don't over tighten your chuck on something thin. You'll spring the jaws.

[NavyVet1959]

I hate to think what would have happened if it had hit one of my smaller work mates.

Is that what we are calling 'em these days? I suspect you would have doubled over in pain and your eyes would have gotten really big. :)

[Southern Son]

Is that what we are calling 'em these days? I suspect you would have double over in pain and your eyes would have gotten really big. :)

Damn that's funny.

[John 242]

While there's only a little included about safety, South Bend's "How to Run a Lathe" is a neat little glimpse back in time. Filmed in 1941, a lot of the information is relevant today, especially for me since I use a South Bend 13x40 on a regular basis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O-9_3rc6VE

[Artful]

Fun video - thanks

[McFred]

Never use a finger to wipe/polish an small internal diameter (ID) with a running chuck, especially with a rag, even a paper towel. Rag binds, captures your finger and spins it right off like a lug nut.

I once used a smaller Hardinge where the previous operator ran a 4-jaw chuck in reverse then set the machine to run the normal direction when he finished. I stepped up and turned the machine on assuming the 4-jaw head was tight. It loosened and ran off hitting the ways and the hand wheel too. The previous operator was in hot water for leaving it in a non-standard configuration, I was in trouble for not having checked *everything* before turning it on.

I have never had trouble with any long/stringy chips on a lathe except with 304 stainless steel. That's the best material ever to make 40 mile long razor blades and I have scars to prove it.

[roverboy]

A bunch of good advice here. A lathe will flat out kill you if you don't use your head. I've been using lathes for about 12 years now and I've never had a real accident. Other than leaving the chuck key in the chuck and turning it on, that's about it. I'm glad my foot wasn't in the way. One kid in Vocational school got his shirt ripped off once. WOAH!

[oldred]

Not a lathe safety issue but that warning about the finger (a good one BTW) reminds me of a fellow at a mine in Kentucky a few years ago. We were working on a 992 Caterpillar front end loader and he had just taken off a nut with a 3/4" drive air impact wrench using a deep well socket, the nut wouldn't fall out of the socket so he stuck his finger in it and tried to pull it out. In doing so he pulled on the impact wrench itself which he was holding with the other hand and by doing that he managed to applie pressure to the trigger which then spun that nut up onto his finger all the way to his hand! The nut still wouldn't come out of the socket because at that point it was way to painful to attempt to pull on it with his finger stuck in it so in an act of panic he reversed the impact wrench and spun the nut off in the other direction. That was one bad looking finger! It was literally shredded by the threads on that nut and due to the almost instant swelling did more damage coming off than it did going on, in any case the guy was taken to the ER and being an outside contractor that didn't work directly for that mine we never saw him again but his co-workers told us later he managed to save the finger although it was terribly scarred as one might imagine.

[bedbugbilly]

I taught "shop". Both metal working and wood working - same rules whether a metal or wood lathe.

1. No shirt sleeves/ loose cuffs, etc.
2. No jewelry - including watched, rings, necklaces, etc. May sound "over board" - but a ring can get caught if doing close work with a revolving work piece - take my word for it - "it ain"t a pretty sight"
3. No long hair - put it up under a hat, put a band on it and tuck it in the back of your shirt, etc. - even a few strands can cause a good amount of hurt
4. Safety glasses - ALWAYS. A metal chip in the eye can cause permanent damage or blindness
5. NEVER blow or clean a lathe of metal chips with compressed air! Use a brush.
6. NEVER allow your attention to be diverted from what you are doing by having somebody standing by asking questions, bugging you, etc. All it takes is a second for your eyes to leave what you are doing and your hand/hands moving slightly to get you into your workpiece - no different than not being disturbed while re-loading
7. Never attempt to pull long shavings, etc. No gloves when working - they can easily get caught up.

This is all basic "common sense" - both for the lathe, mills, surface grinders, etc. But it's amazing how quick an accident can happen. Fortunately, I had very few incidents when I taught - and all were "minor". However, when I worked Ambulance and Rescue - I saw some pretty nasty industrial accidents - and all could have been prevented.

A good example would be polishing a workplace with a strip of emery paper. If held between both hands, stretched and applied against the rotating workpiece (with the tool rest, etc. out of the way) - it's pretty easy to polish a piece - no harm, no foul. BUT - I have seen several who think that it might work better to "wrap" the emery paper "around" the rotating piece. BAD NEWS - it will almost always "catch" and you have no time to react - before you know it, your fingers and hands are pulled into the workpiece. Again - common sense prevails.

And if you're tired . . . stressed . . . had words with the better half . . . wait and do it tomorrow when you have a clear mind and can concentrate on what you are doing.

[Clark]

I started using wood and metal lathes over 40 years ago.
Only recently have I visited the emergency room a couple times for treatment from injuries from my one of my metal lathes. Both times involved polishing a part with sand paper and getting my thumb or finger smacked by a chuck jaw.