# Lathe Safety



## skymonkey (Apr 12, 2010)

I am the proud owner of a brand new cheapo HF lathe and it scares me. I just got it last night. I know common sense will be my biggest ally for keeping a chisel from taking off my chin. I have been a heavy equipment mechanic for 14 yrs so I do have a lil common sense about safety. Is there anything I should be watching for that's not obvious like flying debree, small bites with the knife and no loose clothing?


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Sky,
Try and find either a local turner or a local turning club. It is far easier to have someone show you the right way to do things then to unlearn a bunch of bad habits. Pens are usually the easiest thing to start with. You don't need a whole bunch of tools and you are dealing with small blocks of wood. 
Mike Hawkins


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

if you don't wear regular glasses, something for face safety is a must.


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## skymonkey (Apr 12, 2010)

yep I have a face shield that I plan to wear. As far as a local Turner there is only 1 person I know. He doesn't do a lot of turning himself but has agreed to show me some of the basics. There was a Woodturning class I tried to get in but the dates prevented me from attending. I will try to find out if there will be another and make plans to attend. It could be a month or longer and I can't wait that long....lol


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## ash123 (Mar 14, 2010)

I have a seldom used Delta lathe. I wear leather gloves. I use a guard on mine, safety glasses, and a face shield part of the time. I started to fear a lathe when I read about a guy killed by a flying piece of wood that came off the lathe he was operating. I identified the lathe and the variety saw as the two machines in my shop that could kill me. 

I worked with a guy in our shop in 1975 that got a job in a shop after the guy before him was killed by a table saw. I bought a Mattison 202 from a mill in Wisconsin that put a spear all the way through the operator. They cut the ends off and drove him 25 miles to the La Crosse hospital. I never heard if he lived or not.


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## Mr Mac (May 31, 2010)

First and foremost is to not fear the tool, by all means respect it but don't fear it as that's the fast track to disaster! If you read all the instructions and take all the right precautions the lathe can be as safe a tool as anything else. 

Here's a video to help get you started until you can find a mentor in your area.


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

If you like to have long hair then control it with a hat,hair net, pony tail,Lest you be scalped! Itchy


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## Barry Ward (Mar 22, 2008)

*Lathe safety*

For sure get a GOOD FULL face shield.I can attest to the fact that they CAN save you some facial damage.Plus learning the basics can be a huge help.Good luck and have fun.Oh yes,some will dissagree.but I don't where gloves.


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## woody woodturner (Jul 9, 2010)

take off any bark or loose knots:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## MrPulldown (Jul 27, 2010)

The long hair comment is a good one. I'll share a little story.

When I was in school, Cal Poly SLO, I help run the student machine shop for the engineering dept, also known as the aero hanger. In order to work in the shop you had to go through a saftey test. Included in that saftey test was lathe saftey; 3 main rules:

No Lose Clothes, tie up long hair. Do not leave chuck tool in the chuck (if you forget and turn on the lathe with the tool in place then it goes flying this might not applie to wood lathes).

One day, when i was not working, a kid with long hair was fish mouthing on the a lathe. We setup a lathe to cut fish mouths in metal tubes, for fitting together tube frames of vehicles. I forget what club he was part of but was not safety tested. He had long hair. The supervisors told him to tie up his hair but he did not. Lucky for him the fish mouth process used a very slow RPM (tube was held at an anlge in the tool holder, while a tube sized endmill was chucked up and spun). Leaning down for a closer look he, got some of his blond locks caught in the chuck. Lucky for him the slow turning chuck did not instantly suck his face into a spining chuck with protrusions, but slowly wound his hair and drew his face closer to the cutter. In a last ditch, knee jerk, action (rather than hitting the kill switch) he put his hands on the lathe bed and yank back. He pulled out a 3 inch patch of hair. A bloody blond mess!

Like the story. Becareful with your new toy.

One thing that I always forget are the little strings on a hoddie. Tuck them in or pull them out, if you wear a hoodie in the shop.


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## bobpatel (Oct 7, 2010)

*Just be careful*



skymonkey said:


> I am the proud owner of a brand new cheapo HF lathe and it scares me. I just got it last night. I know common sense will be my biggest ally for keeping a chisel from taking off my chin. I have been a heavy equipment mechanic for 14 yrs so I do have a lil common sense about safety. Is there anything I should be watching for that's not obvious like flying debree, small bites with the knife and no loose clothing?



You can have on safety glasses and safety gloves, but if you are not paining attention, you can seriously do alot of damage, and l don't mean the equipment


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

skymonkey said:


> I am the proud owner of a brand new cheapo HF lathe and it scares me. I just got it last night. I know common sense will be my biggest ally for keeping a chisel from taking off my chin. I have been a heavy equipment mechanic for 14 yrs so I do have a lil common sense about safety. Is there anything I should be watching for that's not obvious like flying debree, small bites with the knife and no loose clothing?



The worst thing about those cheap lathes, is the high spindle speeds.
Check out 'My Photos' for the cheap machine I'm rebuilding. Going to have to build a jackshaft arrangement to decrease spindle speeds.

Those machines are OK for roughing out pieces less than 6" dia. The lowest spindle speed is 1100 RPM on the one I bought.

Get your workpiece as round and balanced, at the bandsaw, before running between centers.

Eventually, I'm making a new banjo/toolrest, tailstock, so this machine is an experiment to see how accurate I can make it.

Out of the box, had to make a new spindle from scratch; the original had way too much runout on both axis.

As mentioned before, don't be intimidated by your tools, just take your time and be safe.


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## Scribbler (Dec 5, 2010)

bobpatel said:


> You can have on safety glasses and safety gloves, but if you are not paining attention, you can seriously do alot of damage, and l don't mean the equipment


So right, pay attention or your attention will be on your pain, but save the gloves for work around equipment that doesn't rotate. 

The Scribbler


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## whit (Sep 6, 2009)

bobpatel said:


> You can have on safety glasses and safety gloves, but if you are not paining attention, you can seriously do alot of damage, and l don't mean the equipment


Safety glasses are OK. A face shield is better. Gloves are a no-go. Pay attention and remember - just because it's the wood moving doesn't mean the tools won't do the damage. But the gloves are REALLY a no-go.

Whit


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

If you can't take a class, there are several great videos available. Here is a link to CraftSupplyUSA and the videos they offer http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Videos___Techniques?Args=
Also check out their resource center http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/util/resource_center?Args=
for lots of good free info.


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