as the subject says this only concerns hose who us lathes.

i started making the front wishbones out of stainless steel last wednesday, the jig was complete and i was polishing the tube prier to welding with emery paper.

just as i was completing the last section of tube the emery became snagged on the tube dragging my fingers into the lathe (spinning at 770 rpm) causing me to loose most of my little and ring fingers on my right hand.

after an emergancy operation my hand was sown up but without the two bits as they were in a right mess.

remember when using rotating machinery that there is always a danger and no matter how many years you have been using them they can still surprize you at any time.

it will not stop me from making my locost, just delay me but a few months.

you have been warned....

P.S. more importantly as i am on antibiotics foe the next 10 days i have been ordered not to drink beer

holy sh1t..... unlucky. hope you get back in the garage/well soon.

Christ!

Unlucky mate! A worthwhile word of warning...

get well soon!

James

Ah yes...the fingers in a rotating part deal....VERY dangerous, and sadly you have found out the hard way....VERY sorry to hear that...

So as Chris says DONT do it....

Have I ever done it?.....yes of course, but that doesn't make a sensible idea....

So guys, lets learn from this...

Chris, hope you get better soon...and thanks for sharing.

Thinking about it- I remember my teachers in CDT getting us to do this!

James

wow

sorry to hear that

mr staples coulda riveted them back for you....





all the best

steve

hehehehe

mr staples would be useless anyway as the tips were squashed then ripped off at the knuckle. I also managed to snap the tendions half was down the forearm so even if the finger tips were reattached they would only be a floppy mess and get in the way.

For everyone else - the correct way to do it is to glue the emery onto a flat stick, which is held against the underside of the work. If it should snatch then it is pulled away from you.

I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, as I've held emery against the work in just the same way as Chris.

Makes me ill to think of it...

Best wishes for a swift recovery,

David

that made my body squirm in strange new ways

made your body squrm! should of seen my bosses face when i walked into his office. told him to get a first aider and when he asked why i showed him. never seen a grown man go white that quickly!

Ouch heres to a speedy recovery, just as bad as getting smacked in the heid with the chuck key
Shug.

classy

Won't even go into having my overalls ripped off and entangled in the chuck.... thats another story....

wow

heard of ripped tendons like that before.

respect. dunno how id react. Bit like the old joke - how ya gonna say goodnight to the boss now?

atb

steve

Chris, at least its not wucked up yer typing mate NO missing letters
Shug.

thankfully i am left handed! capitals are a small problem though

Chris -

Like everyone, here's wishing you the speediest of recoveries. Your description sounded awful, but it could easily have been worse.
In my old apprentice school, ('bout 40+ years ago), we were shown films of industrial accidents, to warn us of dangers encountered with moving machinery. So, on reflection, could've been the whole arm!! S-s-s-s-s-sHH!!!
So your boss's face went white? Should have seen mine when I read your message.

DJ's comments re the flat stick with glued-on emery, are a timely reminder of the recommended method.
ATB
Dick

can't agree more, wise words. tried to get a picture taken but the girl friend refused - don't know why

Sh1t mate. Hope you get better soon.

I have polished stuff that way before as well. Ummm my grandad always told me to just support the emery under the work as its spinning and not hold onto the emery. If that makes sense...then if it grabs it it just snatches out of your hand and doesnt take your hand with it!

The safest way is obviously not to do it at all....or use the stick idea.

Anyway...hope you make a good recovery

David

Chris, sorry to hear of your accident.
It just reminds me of all the near misses I have had over the years. Angle grinders near the B*ll*cks, splinters in the eye (cos this job won't take 2 mins!), hairs on my fingers brushed by a compound slide saw.
I also had a college teacher who showed us pictures of what happens when you are a teenager around 1974, and you lean over a rotating lathe with your long locks. You get the 1974 equivelant of waxing. I bet that guy's eyes watered!
The college kept the lenght of bar that still had his locks attached.
Nice.
PS. Do as I say not as I do...
The same instructor was demonstrating 'the cold chisel' ...don't hold it too shallow or it'll slip...and it did right into a guy on my course's eye socket.

THAT'LL LEAVE A MARK.

quote:

---

For everyone else - the correct way to do it is to glue the emery onto a flat stick, which is held against the underside of the work. If it should snatch then it is pulled away from you.

---

just like mine except further down the fingers below the second knuckle, also had about 6 mm of bone standing proud on the little finger, amazing how small my bone was.....no jokes please

Sorry to here the gory news, best wishes for speedy recovery etc.

The worst i can remember is the chuck key hitting me on the foot (well, at least i remebered to put the safety guard down before turning on the lathe). The other time was grappling with sharp edged piece of metal that i thought better of than to clamp down to the pillar drill.

i hate wasting time, especially when you're really getting on well with something, but some safety procdeures just aren't worth shortcutting (maybe that should read all safety procdures just aren't worth shortcutting!)

ATB

Ned.

Chris sorry to hear of your accident

come on guys dont wear rings or chains when working on lathes etc

done the same trick meself when polishing up billet alluminium in a lathe - leanrt my lesson, but not so harshly - feel for you as it aint nice at all having summat like that happen.

I don't know if its been mentioned, but do not use flourescent lamps above a lathe, they strobe at 50hz.

I was working in an engineering works as a welder, one of the CNC lathes had a tube illumination with a electronic gizmo to prevent the strobe effect, but the little black box failed. The lathe operator went to undo a workpiece from the 2' chuck which appeared to him to be spinning at about 2rpm. he tried to stop the chuck spinning with the chuck key, butit was spinning at about 9000rpm! the chuck key was launched vertically at mach12 through the asbestos roof, leaving a 10" hole 50 feet above our heads, lathe matey was severely shocked but totally unhurt.

Hope the throbbing stops soon

Mark

Just shuting the barn door as they say!
These events, albeit a bitter experience for the victim, serve to remind us all to respect our power tools. I know as an experienced operator that all too often the temptation (especially when your in buzzing and near to completing an item) to take a short cut is there.

get well soon

[Edited on 4/3/04 by Terrapin_racing]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mark Allanson
I don't know if its been mentioned, but do not use flourescent lamps above a lathe, they strobe at 50hz.

---

The posts still there.
Emerying in the lathe is a dangerous but widely accepted practice in industry. I have done so for the last 25 years with only minor mishaps but a sfer way is to do as you say and attach a strip of emery to a wooden stick with a piece of double sisded tape, if not doing it this way always use a short strip of emery of less than the circumference of the work piece so as it cannot wrap around a nother alternative is to use a garryflex abrasive rubber block which is good for blunting edges etc.
Of course whatever method used keep clear of the chuck and make sure you have no loose cuffs etc to get caught up.
Some people insist on filing in a lathe which in my opinion is equally dangerous and is considered bad practise in industry.If anyone must do so make sure the file has a good handle fitted and be very carefull not to contact the chuck jaws.
Paul.
P.S. I sent a post a little while ago about the professional view about using abrasive paper/cloth in a lathe, but it's vanished... am I going nuts? Or did anyone else see it?

Hi,

Sorry to hear of your accident Chris.

IMHO working in the garage on your own
is potentialy dangerous. I have a land line
in mine, and always have my mobile in my
top pocket.

I'v also managed to persuade the wife that,
purely as a safety measure, she should pop in with a cup of tea every hour or so.

Paul G

ps Don't use a treadle guillotine with one foot while the other foot is under the
treadle bar.

Ouchhhhhhh

Hope they heal up soon - maybe I'll stop cutting RHS with the .8m disk on the angle grinder over my leg now!

BTW - if you really want a picture check with your A&E, they usually take photo's b4 surgery like the picture above.

Bloody hell ....... if i didn't already feel sick after being out on the beer last night I'm sure i would now!

When I used to polish stuff on a lathe at high school we'd get a really long peice of emmery cloth, hold it between finger and thumb and pull against the item. If things got caught it just whipped it out from between your finger and thumb.....

Of course its just made me realise how stupid that could be if you wrapped it around your finger and thumb.....

Hope you get building soon.

my girl friend is trying her hardest to make me stop building my kit car after my 'slight problem'. she just don't under stand the concept of by building it you can save shedloads.

went to the hospetal for a check up on thursday and for the firsdt time I saw the 'finished' fingers. better than i was expecting although the little finger is only about 1 cm long now, with the ring finger about 2cm.

thanks for all the great comments under this thread, good to hear all your support.

Hope you have all learnt your lesson to respect everything in your woprkshop from a simple drill or grinder to large industrial CNC machines.

I have had constant 'finger' jokes for the last week, any new ones are welcome....

we had a trainee in our woodworking shop a few years back who was blowing some dust off the bed on the 22" disk sander, some spit came out of his mouth onto the bed and decided he'd clean up with a rag, didnt stop the sander first tho. next thing- BANG! the rag was pulled in along with his hand and he was lucky to escape with a deep manecure which only hit the bone on one finger.
worse thing tho is that his mother made him change career after that, so the lesson learned was pointless.
tho, the blood spatters are still on the ceiling to remind us!
im glad your accident hasnt put you off from your build or from using machinery.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hellfire
David sorry to be contrary - but as a qualified risk assessor in an engineering factory there is NO CORRECT WAY of placing your hands near rotating machinery at all.

---

Stainless wishbones? Rather you than me mate............

sorry to hear about the accident chris,bad new regarding the antibioticsno beer for 10 days OUCH.

not that i am counting but only 5 more 'elephant sized' tablets to go, ready for an ice cold pint of heaven....dribble dribble... on wednesday

Chris - your experience is completely mind-blowing to me. I am so very sorry to hear that it happened to you.

I've gotten all 'anxious' just thinking about it and I want to thank you for talking about it openly here on the forum. I will most certainly be err'ing on the side of caution from now on.

Get well soon and don't let your GF stop you from doing what you love. (hmmm, that could be taken 2 ways I s'pose - I mean regarding the car building )

Bloody tragic...

Steve

I was wondering if the GF might miss those fingers.....

sorry to lower the tone




atb

steve

quote:

---

Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
I was wondering if the GF might miss those fingers.....

sorry to lower the tone




atb

steve

---

she might be, although for those of you who have heard of 'ghosting'...

one good point is she is going to help me with the car now, but I had to draw the line at having fluffy floor mats!