lathe safety

USAbro said:

That is why someone else stands back and pays full attention.

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Nobody actually sits there and watches a guy pull levers for 10+ hours. There is also usually no need as people follow the safety precautions.

While I do believe every safety precaution should be followed, some other safety cutoffs should be installed. Maybe some sort of lanyard that engages a brake strong enough to stop the spinning almost instantly. The problem would be overcoming the torque. Accidents happen no matter how careful you are.

Dr_Evil said:

While I do believe every safety precaution should be followed, some other safety cutoffs should be installed. Maybe some sort of lanyard that engages a brake strong enough to stop the spinning almost instantly. The problem would be overcoming the torque. Accidents happen no matter how careful you are.

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Indeed, the torque is insane, but not the only part of the problem - the entire chuck with jaws weighs a LOT. On my machine, which is a lot smaller than one pictured, I think the chuck is about 10 or more kilograms of high speed steel. I'd imagine the one pictured is at least twice that.

When I press the red button to shut off the machine, it takes some 5-6 seconds more for the chuck to come to a full stop. Even when it's shut off, it could easily break your bone with inertia alone.

On a lighter note, have you guys seen that HowItWorks (or something like that) documentary with a guy who invented nearly 100% safe safety system for a circular table saw? It uses your body's natural electrical conductivity to detect if a circuit is closed between the saw and the ground, and once that connects, it instantly stops the saw using some sort of blocking mechanic.

First they demonstrated how it works by using a sausage, and then the guy who invented it went absolute boss and totally pushed his hand into a circular saw. Walked without scratch.

Eudaimonium said:

On a lighter note, have you guys seen that HowItWorks (or something like that) documentary with a guy who invented nearly 100% safe safety system for a circular table saw? It uses your body's natural electrical conductivity to detect if a circuit is closed between the saw and the ground, and once that connects, it instantly stops the saw using some sort of blocking mechanic.

First they demonstrated how it works by using a sausage, and then the guy who invented it went absolute boss and totally pushed his hand into a circular saw. Walked without scratch.

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I've seen it demonstrated, it's amazing how quick the saw blade stops with that system installed.
The one I saw IIRC, was called "SawStop". The guy demonstrating this received only a very small nick on his finger tip; that beats the heck out of losing that finger!

I saw it and it relies on a block of aluminum that engages and the saw blade bites into. Then the blade retracts under the table and the bearings are ruined. Better than losing fingers though. The lathe is a more difficult situation as mentioned due to the huge weight of the chuck. I have operated a lathe that big and I'm scared to come close to it when running. I just operate the XY controls for the blade and never get close to the chuck.

Maybe where no shirt at all!
Well if the guy will be there for 10+ hours, then maybe some other kind of safety shutoff should be installed, and the operators good judgement shouldn't ever be trusted.

USAbro said:

Maybe where no shirt at all!
Well if the guy will be there for 10+ hours, then maybe some other kind of safety shutoff should be installed, and the operators good judgement shouldn't ever be trusted.

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Agreed. The lathe I use is about the same size and after seeing this my fear of the lathe increased.

I always run at the lowest speed possible. The highest I run is 600rpm for aluminum for getting that clean finish but I still put as much distance between the chuck and myself as possible.

Atm I don't have any lathe stopper ideas as I don't see how you could do anything while your head is being bashed at 1000rpm into your metal shavings.

Scary indeed.

I tell you people just need to be more careful!

Are you serious? That would not help at all; nobody is going to be able to react nearly fast enough to prevent this type of accident.
Nor will any company agree to double their labor costs to have someone sit and watch for a possible once in a lifetime incident!
As an example - That sub $100 473nm laser that you think can be built at WL; well, guess what, it just went to $200.

BTW - Going shirtless while running a lathe is insane, the first time a blue hot chip hits you in the chest and starts to melt into your skin, you'll have that shirt on ASAP!

USAbro said:

Why am I crazy?

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Where did you get that quote?

It's a joke. I forged it. I'm taking it down.

I seen that picture a few years back. Horrible!

BowtieGuy said:

Are you serious? That would not help at all; nobody is going to be able to react nearly fast enough to prevent this type of accident.
Nor will any company agree to double their labor costs to have someone sit and watch for a possible once in a lifetime incident!
As an example - That sub $100 473nm laser that you think can be built at WL; well, guess what, it just went to $200.

BTW - Going shirtless while running a lathe is insane, the first time a blue hot chip hits you in the chest and starts to melt into your skin, you'll have that shirt on ASAP!

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Not sure what nuclear power lathe are you running But mine doesn't produce anything blue hot, or white hot, or yellow hot, or even any hot chips.

During summertime I actually do operate the lathe shirtless simply because it's the safest (and comfortable) way. There are no hot pieces flying around.

I agree about the "supervision" nonsense, though. Five minutes in, the one watching is having worse reaction time than the guy actually operating the lathe, due to being bored out of his mind and daydreaming/sleeping.

Eudaimonium put it right and explained it well.

A terrible accident

During my school time we had excursions to a factory full of big machines. They made chips ~1 in width, long, curly, and colorful. We loved them.
My older friend almost lost his life in a similar accident with the lathe there.

Safety first. Keep distance. Stop a machine and then inspect as much as you like, and close as you can get.

BowtieGuy said:

BTW - Going shirtless while running a lathe is insane, the first time a blue hot chip hits you in the chest and starts to melt into your skin, you'll have that shirt on ASAP!

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It is a sign that safety guards (shields) were removed. Install them back :gun: