Adequate Hobbyist Drill Press?

[jwmay]

Can you give us a little more info on this college girl who got her hair caught in the lathe?

Yale Student Killed as Hair Gets Caught in Lathe (Published 2011)

Michele Dufault, a senior weeks from graduating, was found dead in a machine shop in a chemistry lab.

www.nytimes.com

I think it’s behind a paywall. But I took some screenshots for you.

I say if you have an average spacial appitude - which is required to want to tinker on a lathe or drill press in the first place, If you Practice good situational awareness at all times, if you are Prudent in your use of guns, motorcycles, lathes, tractors and drill presses and realize they Can kill or maim you, and you endeavor to work SAFELY while using those things, you can pretty much dismiss the fears of those who tell you that that a big hammer is far more dangerous than a small hammer because it can mash your finger harder.

@Ultradog MN I am not trying to prove my opinion is right and yours is wrong. I do not care that you want to straw man a metal lathe into a hammer to minimize my position. I do not care if you believe it, and that you believe I’m less intelligent than you. I do not care if you want to believe there’s no difference in destructive power between a Taig and a Turnado. I’m just saying that every time the topic comes up, I will recommend a small machine to a new person. You’ll just have to tolerate that I can have an opinion too, or go up to the top of this page and “ignore” my posts. Makes no difference to me one way or the other.
You aren’t being realistic about humans in general if you think “not making mistakes” is a safety protocol. And I notice you aren’t willing to use 9A versus Turnado, or bullets versus pellets, but rather “hammer or bigger hammer”. It’s false equivalence intentionally used to maintain your stance. Tell me a .50 cal bullet is not more destructive than an air rifle pellet. You can’t. So you wrap it in some chicanery about getting hurt being impossible if you happen to know everything and always do it safely. It’s not reality. But again…the ignore button is right up top if my opinion is so darn triggering for you.

 

[stupoty]

@jwmay,
Can you give us a little more info on this college girl who got her hair caught in the lathe?
Like how she could have been left alone all night to have died like that? Or is this just another story that is meant more to instruct than actually be truthful?
I see those tales on the tractor boards I frequent too but the guys who post them can never give details.
Millions of workers have put billions of hours working on machinery yet the safety record is actually pretty good.
I say if you have an average spacial appitude - which is required to want to tinker on a lathe or drill press in the first place, If you Practice good situational awareness at all times, if you are Prudent in your use of guns, motorcycles, lathes, tractors and drill presses and realize they Can kill or maim you, and you endeavor to work SAFELY while using those things, you can pretty much dismiss the fears of those who tell you that that a big hammer is far more dangerous than a small hammer because it can mash your finger harder.

I have a pal who sends me all the instagram reels of workplace accidents. Cable winding machines seems to be quite bad for an accident, this one guy managed to hit the emergency stop button with his face but unfortunately only about 10 seconds after he hit the turbo speed wind button with his face.

owch , very messy.

Stu

 

[toprecyler]

You only need to search up accidents on machines on you tube. There are some gruesome videos out there. I cringe when I see some of them for sure.

But, I will watch one every so often just because I need the powerful reminder of how dangerous the equipment I run daily can be.

Honestly, the days that things just seem to be going great and smooth, are the days that I get a bit careless and then will accidentally put my finger in the chuck and take out a fingernail or get a slight cut. I’ve found out that in my advancing years that I do not heal as fast as I used to 20-30 years ago. But, I am not as motivated to hurry jobs either. I am in a marathon, not a sprint. I need to save some energy for tomorrow too.

I used to ride a motorcycle years ago, until I had an accident. I take most of the responsibility for the accident, or at least why it ended up the way it did, other than the deer jumping out in road that started the chain of events.

I heard it said back then, there are 2 types of Motorcycle riders. Those who had an accident, and those who have not had an accident yet.

Same will be true of machinists. We just hope and pray that the accidents we have are just minor paper cuts at the worst.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pontiac428]

Now that we've all been reminded of what power equipment can do, I hope that we get to see pics of @455dan's sweet new drill press once he gets it home and set up. It sure is a beaut, I'd be proud to have one in my shop! I'm jealous that my Powermatic doesn't have power feed or a moveable head. That's a drill press you can run a boring head with, pretty nice.

 

[455dan]

@jwmay,
Can you give us a little more info on this college girl who got her hair caught in the lathe?
Like how she could have been left alone all night to have died like that? Or is this just another story that is meant more to instruct than actually be truthful?
I see those tales on the tractor boards I frequent too but the guys who post them can never give details.
Millions of workers have put billions of hours working on machinery yet the safety record is actually pretty good.
I say if you have an average spacial appitude - which is required to want to tinker on a lathe or drill press in the first place, If you Practice good situational awareness at all times, if you are Prudent in your use of guns, motorcycles, lathes, tractors and drill presses and realize they Can kill or maim you, and you endeavor to work SAFELY while using those things, you can pretty much dismiss the fears of those who tell you that that a big hammer is far more dangerous than a small hammer because it can mash your finger harder.

I can think of a couple
mixing machine accidents. where the machines were not tagged out and disabled.

Now that we've all been reminded of what power equipment can do, I hope that we get to see pics of @455dan's sweet new drill press once he gets it home and set up. It sure is a beaut, I'd be proud to have one in my shop! I'm jealous that my Powermatic doesn't have power feed or a moveable head. That's a drill press you can run a boring head with, pretty nice.

Thanks Pontiac 428 - Have Ponchos myself.
It is home and needs a Good cleaning, some previously broken levers need replaced.
I knew it needed a new power supply since I only have split phase 240, So ordered a VFD from Vevor, and since it also needs a chuck ordered a Shars 5/8 MT4 keyless ( may regret that )

Today I need to take the Central Machinery floor standing press back to the HF store and return it

 

[pontiac428]

I can think of a couple
mixing machine accidents. where the machines were not tagged out and disabled.

Thanks Pontiac 428 - Have Ponchos myself.
It is home and needs a Good cleaning, some previously broken levers need replaced.
I knew it needed a new power supply since I only have split phase 240, So ordered a VFD from Vevor, and since it also needs a chuck ordered a Shars 5/8 MT4 keyless ( may regret that )

Today I need to take the Central Machinery floor standing press back to the HF store and return it

I have a Shars "precision" keyless R8 chuck, and I've been happy with it for 5 or 6 years now. It's the only R8 chuck I have, but I have 4 Albrechts for Morse tapers. I'd say it holds its own in comparison, to be honest. I haven't felt the need to replace it, since its TIR is very low and it locks/unlocks about 95% as nice as the Albrechts do. That's big praise from me, I really don't like allowing generecised Chicom tools in my shop. So I think you'll be pleased.

Make sure you read up on the instructions for the VFD, and start a thread here if you need advice. There are a few really knowledgeable people that can help you get it set up how you want it. I'd order an E-stop switch (the recent chinese ones from Amazon are fine too) with an panel plate to mount front and center on the head, and maybe a speed control knob too (that's where asking for help comes in). Otherwise, it looks like you're a bottle of simple green and an oil change away.

Here's to never looking back!

 

[455dan]

I have a Shars "precision" keyless R8 chuck, and I've been happy with it for 5 or 6 years now. It's the only R8 chuck I have, but I have 4 Albrechts for Morse tapers. I'd say it holds its own in comparison, to be honest. I haven't felt the need to replace it, since its TIR is very low and it locks/unlocks about 95% as nice as the Albrechts do. That's big praise from me, I really don't like allowing generecised Chicom tools in my shop. So I think you'll be pleased.

Make sure you read up on the instructions for the VFD, and start a thread here if you need advice. There are a few really knowledgeable people that can help you get it set up how you want it. I'd order an E-stop switch (the recent chinese ones from Amazon are fine too) with an panel plate to mount front and center on the head, and maybe a speed control knob too (that's where asking for help comes in). Otherwise, it looks like you're a bottle of simple green and an oil change away.

Here's to never looking back!

Thanks!
yeah I likely put the Shars and the Vevor in the wrong order, as far as being a mistake. Shars has pretty good reviews from what I have read Vevor is a mixed bag although so far no duds in what they sent me.

Should also say I ordered an Operators Manual from BEAM equipment for the E 830 which should be helpful. Like having a manual for every piece of equipment.

The return at HF went OK. they did raise an eyebrow on returning an order item. I was truthful with them and said I did give it a chance and that the column being so thin was allowing flex and also pointed at the two support pieces in the picture on the box and said in addition these are aluminum, which compounds the flex while drilling steel. He saw that and said they made those supports out of Aluminum??
I said yeah, He just shook his head asked if the press was functional otherwise I said yeah the head unit works OK. I put it all back in the box in each plastic bag and even the ties exactly as it was sold to me. It's all there Should be fine for wood drilling. Since I did order it in it was easier for them to gift card it so that is what I did bought a big clamp and already have a 6" X/Y drill press vice.

All Good, HF is still nice to have available and sure that card will be spent down quickly.

 

[SouthernChap]

If you have any reservations about operating a particular piece of machinery, I recommend contacting your local technical college. Often times they have evening classes for hobbyists and those considering entering the field.

Most countries have their pros and cons and I'll always love England (which isn't to say I have a 'my country, right or wrong' perspective) but dear God alive, in this regard at least, US citizens are very, very, lucky.

The only non full-time machining classes (other than welding classes) in the UK are up in the North or Midlands and they're expensive and not really aimed at hobbyists at all.

 

[Larry$]

non full-time machining classes

The local Community college has evening classes and a nice selection of lathes, mills and assorted other equipment. A lot of the guys are there just to use the equipment on the cheap rather than take a course. There is an instructor available also.

 

[SouthernChap]

The local Community college has evening manyclasses and a nice selection of lathes, mills and assorted other equipment. A lot of the guys are there just to use the equipment on the cheap rather than take a course. There is an instructor available also.

Many educational establishments in the UK sold off their machine tools years ago. The UK's industrial base pretty much disappeared in the 70s and 80s. Where's the point in teaching kids the skills for jobs that no longer exist?