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?
