Safety on the Lathe (long with pictures)

[Paul Douglass]

Andy, you are absolutely right, and ain't it sad!

[Randy Meijer]

.....The first time I tried turning I really did launch a piece of wood through the ceiling using a wood chisel. It's been twenty plus years but I think I basically jabbed the chisel straight into the side of the spinning piece. I didn't know anything about bevels or riding them......

The point is that you would have had "EXACTLY" the same result had you been using a "proper" tool. The problem was not the tool; but rather the technique!!

[Bill Grumbine]

Bill,
You're a better man than me. The first time I tried turning I really did launch a piece of wood through the ceiling using a wood chisel. It's been twenty plus years but I think I basically jabbed the chisel straight into the side of the spinning piece. I didn't know anything about bevels or riding them.
Dave Fried

Not at all Dave. My first turning experience, or more accurately, about my third time on my new Chinese lathe, turned into a real disaster. I knew nothing about how to cut, or even that the tool needed to be sharp! I thought they came that way from the factory. If it didn't cut, push harder, and that is exactly what I did. I broke my tool rest, bent the gouge into a hairpin shape, and launched the wood across the room. I scared myself so bad that I did not go back to turning for five more years.

But as Randy has already mentioned, this is exactly my point. Whether bench chisel or lathe chisel, a person can expect the same results for their particular skill level. My skill level was zero at that time, and I got exactly the results I should have expected. But, I did not know enough to know what I did not know (as I mentioned about that other guy in the other thread). Use makes master, as one of my favorite authors wrote.

Very often it is not the tool, it is the loose nut on the handle that is the problem.

Bill

[Gary DeWitt]

Great discussion, Bill and Andy.
Just wanted to add, no matter how careful a person is in trying to impart safe turning techniques, there's going to be someone out there who manages to mangle what is said into some dangerous activity. Hopefully, the person doesn't get hurt and learns in the process. At some point though, people must accept responsibility for their own condition!
The hot coffee warning came about from the person who spilled hot McDonalds' coffee on thier crotch while holding the cup between their legs and driving. They then sued McDonalds as if the fast food chain had any responsibility for their careless actions. I've seen warnings on screwdrivers not to insert them in your ear, and god knows what incident THAT one came from. We've moved from cautious to ridiculous in the warnings over the last generation, costing consumers untold millions in increased printing costs, and probably in lawyer retainer fees and litigation insurance as well. I suppose it'll take an act of congress to put the brakes on this, hope it happens soon.
Stepping down off soap box, and returning to usual lurk.