Goofs & Blunders You Should Avoid.

When things don't work - always calm down and think before you do something stupid.

Like when I got my new mill. Nothing worked. Could not get it to fire up.
Was all ready to jump on the phone and explode.
Calmed down, thought about it.

I knew it had a lot of lock-outs, but missed the one on the chip sheild *click* all works now!

Saved myself some embarrassment.

Oops - now everyone knows.

Shame.
 
Cut it out, guys. It hurts amost as much to laugh as it does to cough. :D:eek:
 
Don't smoke a joint and run a big bandsaw. Just don't. Ouch. Band-aid.
MS
 
Dumb kids in high school do dumb things. I'm a little wiser now, at 61.
Mark S.
 
Not me, but at the shop today a guy running 80" long 5" X 1/2" steel bars in a 4020 Fadal mill using 3 vices to hold them, these machines have removable panels on each end of the enclosure, he had them off.
After one end is done it rapids towards the front to make it easier to move.

The part sticking outside hit a steel roof coloumn and rotated the machine, it weighs 10,500 Lb's. Made quite the racket.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...YeTPARhJD4InSj0Tc7CdmQ0w&ust=1470173531584744
 
  • When you adjust the tool post angle, ensure the post is tightened enough to avoid it turning on you while you machine. I have ruined a few parts having the post turn on me
  • Don't machine with long sleeves, even in cold weather. It's better to wear a vest than to get your arm ripped off
  • Place a piece of wood or a nylon cutting board on the drill press table then your job on top. When you see different colored swarf it's time to stop. I have seen some unsightly holes drilled into the table that could have been avoided
  • Never forgo safety for convenience. I caught some fiberglass in the eye from an angle grinder disk that nearly drove me crazy before it could be surgically removed
  • Never assume a capacitor is discharged. I nearly rode the lightning into the next life with this one
  • Don't walk away from a machine in operation. Strange things happen the moment you take your eyes off the machine
  • When you see a good deal on a machine, assume EVERYONE has also seen said deal and is frantically trying to organize funds and transport. Buy first, work out logistics later
All goofs above were learned by yours truly either directly or indirectly.
 
In reference to the above post,if you are using an old fashioned lantern tool post,clamp the tool holder in such a way that the cutting tool swings AWAY from the metal being turned,rather than INTO it if it comes loose under the pressure of cutting.

For Aloris type tool posts: If you can't seem to get the tool post tight enough,place a couple of pieces of BROWN PAPER BAG paper under each side of the block that holds the tool. I say brown paper because it has no CLAY in it. Shiny magazine papers have clay in them,and are slippery. If in doubt,just use plain old,dull finished brown bag paper. DO NOT USE brown paper that has had a shiny coat applied to it,as some butcher's papers have(to make them not leak blood). Those papers will slip,too.

I also use slips of clay free paper in my Kurt vise. Slippery metals like brass and aluminum will be held in a death grip by the paper! Really!!!!

I wish I'd done that years ago,(and I KNEW better,too,but was in a hurry,as so many accidents are caused!). I was drilling a hole in a sharp cornered block of brass in the drill press. The block was held in a smooth jawed toolmaker's vise. Clamped TIGHT,too! That brass sucked up out of the vise,spun and cut my finger about 1" from the end quite DEEP. It was at least 10 years before feeling got back into that part of my finger.

I was in a hurry,and did 2 things wrong: 1; use paper in the SMOOTH jaws. 2; grind a vertical flat on the cutting edges of the 1/2" drill so it wouldn't suck up the brass when it broke through. This is GOOD,GOLDEN advice when you are drilling Plexiglass,too. It will shatter when the drill breaks through. Take this advice and save yourself lots of money when drilling a sheet of plexiglass!! Grinding a vertical edge on the drill causes it to scrape rather than cut. It doesn't seem to make the drill less effective when using a drill press. Might hurt when pushing an electric drill by hand. Keep the edges sharp.

I was in a Hi Fi shop where the owners had made a clear Plexiglass speaker cabinet(why see all those wires? I guess to gloat over the expensive speaker!). They remarked that they wouldn't be asking so much for it if they hadn't broken so much plastic when drilling it. I showed them how to grind their drill for the next time. You used to could buy drills for brass. I have some. They are just like twist drills,but their flutes are straight,not twisted. Since brass still has to be drilled,I wonder if some specialist still sells them?
 
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