Is Not Having A Hand Wheel On The Head Stock A Nuisance?

[Geoff Whaling]

Aaron, I use a brightly colored Grifiti Band on my chuck if I'm working close to it -- it stands out even in peripheral vision to remind me to keep a healthy distance.

A lot of turners use a piece of inner tube from car / motorcycle / bicycle tyres to protect knuckles from sharp edges on chucks. Its not such a bad idea but be aware that when you do make contact with the band that it is far more likely (than bare steel) to drag you into the machine because of the extra grip / higher coefficient of friction.

[Jamie Straw]

A lot of turners use a piece of inner tube from car / motorcycle / bicycle tyres to protect knuckles from sharp edges on chucks. Its not such a bad idea but be aware that when you do make contact with the band that it is far more likely (than bare steel) to drag you into the machine because of the extra grip / higher coefficient of friction.

What I've found with the Grafiti Band is that it won't stay on the slides of the chuck if they are poking very far out at all, but I try to turn tenons so that I don't have to open the chuck that far. What might be better would be to have very short "whiskers" on the chuck, eh? Tickle your hand just before contact.

[John K Jordan]

... have very short "whiskers" on the chuck, eh? Tickle your hand just before contact.

That is a creative idea. Kind of like the whiskers on a horse's nose. My blind horse makes good use of those.

I got in the habit of never reaching for the chuck to turn by hand. Maybe that's helped me to avoid getting clipped by one. For spindle turning I do like the cylindrical "wheel" on the Jet 1642 far better than the wheel on the PM5320b. The bigger wheel might be better for large turnings. I want to make one for the PM when I find the time.

JKJ