# 8" to the face



## Spinartist (Jan 26, 2017)

One of the irregulars that comes to my studio a few days a week took 8" of cherry burl to the face today. Fortunately he had on a very good face shield & wasn't injured hardly at all.

He started with a 10" long log, 6" diameter with 9" burl on the side. He has been turning wood a year n half or so & just had a shoulder replacement early Nov. '16 & started using the lathe again about 3 weeks ago.
I gave him suggestions watched him mount the log between centers. Then watched from where I was working (as I always do) to make sure he (or anyone) was starting out safely.
He rounded out blank to a nice shape then, instead of turning the speed controller left to stop the lathe, he turned it to the right to 3,300 rpms.
I heard the lathe ramp up to full speed & jumped up & yelled move. He took half a step backward before the 5 pound piece of wood blasted him in the face at his right eye!

It knocked his face shield off. No blood at first Then I noticed a bit on the side of his nose & the side of his eye, both from his glasses. No major damage. No swelling. No pain. We discussed what happened & remounted the blank & he turned on it for another hour.

I've turned the speed control the wrong way several times before with much larger pieces on the lathe when I got it a couple years ago. Knowing this I added a "stop" nut 1/3rd way to stop the speed control @ about 1,200 rpm's to prevent this from happening.
PITH (short for - Pain in the Herb- is his nickname) turned the dial hard & bounced it over the stop nut which is why this occurred.
You can see by the scuff on his face shield that this would have been very bad if he only had safety glasses on!
If something is going wrong on a lathe move left or right out of the firing line, not backward!!

ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GEAR PEOPLE!!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 2 | Great Post 3 | Informative 2 | Sincere 3


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## Schroedc (Jan 26, 2017)

Always a good reminder. Take your time and think twice with machines you aren't familiar with and ALWAYS wear your PPDs

Reactions: Agree 3


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## gman2431 (Jan 26, 2017)

Couldnt agree more Colin. Problem is we become comfortable with our machines and neglect the safety gear...

I know I do it way to often.


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## Tom Smart (Jan 26, 2017)

Yikes! 

I've been thinking about upgrading my face shield to a more rugged version. This is a compelling/convincing reason to do just that. Maybe I'll start to practice left/right escape maneuvers as well. 

That could have ended badly. I'm glad it did not.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Jim Beam (Jan 26, 2017)

Glad to hear he's OK. Did you loan him a clean pair of underwear?

Reactions: Funny 4


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## NYWoodturner (Jan 26, 2017)

Great post Lee and great reminder. It only takes a second or two to jam you up for months or longer.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Schroedc (Jan 26, 2017)

Took a blank to the chest once, cracked ribs aren't fun. A heavy apron doesn't sound like much but it does help on those impacts as well.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss (Jan 26, 2017)

I hate reading stuff like this, even when the damage is minimal.

Glad he was not seriously injured.


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## woodtickgreg (Jan 26, 2017)

I have had some chunks of bark and wood hit my face shield, but never hard enough to knock it off, but hard enough for me to say to myself boy I'm glad I was wearing my face shield.


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## ripjack13 (Jan 26, 2017)

Very informative....
Glad he's ok.

Would it help to have a sign on the wall with arrows stating the direction of off, behind the lathe?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tony (Jan 27, 2017)

Dang, glad it worked out okay, could've been real bad....


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## Nubsnstubs (Jan 27, 2017)

Lee, it's good Pith only got a bump instead of something more serious. Face shields will do their jobs when in place. That aside, looking at the second picture, what is your contact point at the headstock? I don't see anything.

I used a friends Powermatic once and his way of shutting down the lathe to check progress was to do it like you are doing it, by rotating the pot. I've always heard that wasn't the way, so when I got a remote for my lathe, I made sure I had a Forward, off, Reverse switch. When it's turned off and back on, you're at the same speed you were when it was turned of. Now, my only problem is I sometimes turn it to reverse when I actually want forward. Not an issue because going the wrong direction will not cause any damages.... Jerry (in Tucson)


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## chippin-in (Jan 27, 2017)

WOW! That could have ended much worse. I spun a small piece off twice a while back while I was hollowing it. I kept getting catches down deep. maybe I didn't have enough spigot. its still sitting unfinished. I am looking to make an articulating hollowing tool to keep this from happening again. I let the back end of the chisel move up and wham. fortunately I was perpendicular to the spinning piece. that stuff happens fast.
like I tell people about car accidents. they say well I would just do this or do that. really? if it were that easy there wouldn't be any car accidents...or as we call them, crashes. because most aren't "accidents"

Robert

Reactions: Agree 1 | Great Post 1


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