Wally Dickerman in Arizona
There have been a number of posts in recent threads on lathe safety that mention Death as a result of a lathe accident. I know that it's possible. Other than the recent post about a schoolgirl turning on a metal lathe, has anyone ever actually heard of someone being killed while using a wood lathe?

I am in no way making light of the possible dangers while using using a lathe. Especially after the recent posts telling of very serious accidents. One was by an experienced turner.

I have never heard of a way to make woodturning completely safe. Using safe and sane turning methods plus some luck is the only way I know.

In my many years of teaching I have had some problem students who were over aggresive in their turning and refused to adhere to my rules of safety. In a very few instances I've kicked some out of the class because they were a danger to other students as well as themselves. They were a bad accident waiting to happen.

On the other hand, accidents happen to experienced turners who are always cautious. Well, nearly always. A friend called me one day to tell me of an accident that he'd had. He likes to turn big burls and had mounted one on the lathe. He flipped the switch and some time later woke up on the floor in a pool of blood and a smashed face. Results..some new teeth, over 100 stitches, a broken nose. He considers himself lucky it wasn't worse. The cause of the accident? He forgot that he had recently been turning some pens at about 3000 rpm. He didn't check the speed setting when he mounted the 50 or 60 lb. burl.

We should all have a strict routine with safety in mind for everything we do at the lathe. Plus have a little luck.

I've been lucky in my 70 plus years of woodturning. A few accidents but nothing serious. No scars. In fact the only woodworking scar I have is a scar on my thumb where I cut into a knuckle with the bandsaw...after I had turned the saw off!