Goofs & Blunders You Should Avoid.

AlbertNakaji said:
This doesn't apply to experienced folks, but for newbies (we were all newbies at one time): Don't adjust the crossfeed dial (to whatever amount) and expect that it'll remove that exact amount. I did that many times, thinking there was something wrong with the machine, until someone explained to me that there was something called, "tool spring". Perhaps it's not too bad with really stout machines, but for "normal" home shop size lathes (and milling machines, perhaps), tool spring can account for quite a bit of "error".
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I think there is a corollary to Murphy's Law which states " on a final pass, whatever you set the feed advance to be will actually be doubled'.
 
I think the new guys can get hurt on the drill press because they don't fear them. And the part spins as they break thru part. If part not clamped down.

Also see new guys leave a small dia bar hanging out of back of lathe under power and bar bends. Acts like a weed eater.

Jimsehr
 
Yep, that reminds me of something my old boss did many years ago. Was coming on springtime and he was gearing up to set his boat back in the water and do a bit of fishing. Figured the line on his salmon reel was kinda old, so maybe replace it. Well, that was just going to take way too much time unspooling it by hand, why not chuck a bolt in the drill press and take the line off on onto that?

Fortunately I wasn't there, but his son said the yells for HELP from the shop could be heard down the whole valley. It started off nice, of course, but the more line the bolt took on, the bigger the diameter so the faster it unspooled the old Peetz reel. And you know, a salmon rod is kinda long, so by the time you figure out what's going on you realize that you're the only thing holding that rod and you're dang near eight feet away from the OFF switch with no way of letting go!

Son said his dad's eyes were as big as dinner plates when he got there to turn off the machine....

Poor guy, he died rather young but was like a father to me for the years we worked together. And he makes for a good story now and again, yes?

-frank
 
I heard about a high school shop student who got killed on the drill press. He was trying to drill out one end of a lead ended old fashioned auto battery cable. Not properly clamped down,and lead is not the safest stuff to drill! The cable swung around and hit him on the elbow. He bent over with the pain,and when the cable came around again,it hit him in his head,killing him. This happened pretty fast.

Thank heavens I never had an accident happen in 6 years of teaching shop. Bet that teacher got sued.
 
Here's another one: I had become friendly with a student while doing my student teaching at a high school. The next year,I was teaching shop(mostly because I wanted access to the machinery after hours). The student had come to the shop that night and was using the table saw. He called out to me"Hey,I've figured out how to tell if the teeth on the blade are facing the right direction; just put it on so the brand name is on the outside,where you can read it". I was busy at something,and did not pay much attention to him. A few minutes later,smoke was coming out of that saw in VOLUMES!!!! And,he was STILL trying to push the wood through!! He had put the brand name on the outside,but the teeth WERE BACKWARDS!! So much for his theory! You'd at least think that a LITTLE THOUGHT would tell you which way to put the blade on!!!:) I guess I had thought he was smarter than he was.
 
had my right middle finger cut open below the skin. 1 inch scar.

supervisor put me on an unfamiliar machine, had two grinding wheels for
sharpening end mills. Showed me how to operate it, needed the parts done.

Have used the regular grinding machines for stuff, one wheel.

So forgot to turn off, one of the wheels, reached in to remove part.

Nurse is always there at this factory, so thats where I went, for care.

as I worked there for 6 years,
recall 3 or 4 employees, their fingers where cut completely off.

Charl
 
Back in high school metal shop..1975...cutting a v-groove in a drill press vise jaw on a horizontal mill. 45 RPM, climb milling. We used old-fashioned oil cans for cutting oil and I was "thumb-pumping" oil ahead of the cut. The class joker, Henry, came up behind me and says "hey, Wilhelmi- why don't you stick the tip of the can in the cutter and see what happens?" Sure enough, that was enough distraction- I ended up getting the spout into the cutter- pulled my hand through and cut the tip off the third finger on my left hand. Scared the crap out of the shop teacher- more than me. Two years later, I had to have CRS chips excavated from 1/8" below the end of the finger. I always wondered how my middle and index fingers went unscathed; all I can think is that I pulled my hand out so fast that I ripped the tip off the third finger as it was running through the cutter.
 
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