Turning Injuries: Learning the Hard Way

Excerpts from a WoodCentral messageboard thread, April 2003

[Editor's note: W.C. Turner asked members of the Turning Forum to 'fess up about their "Turning Wounds". The response was remarkable. Hopefully, these tales of woe - some humorously related - will save a few of us from making at least some of the same mistakes. Three factors seem to predominate: failure to wear face shields, lack of attention (fatigue?), and doing something even when we know it's a bad move. The responses are presented in the order in which they were posted.]

Jay Kilpatrick: I did get a good ol' fashion busted lip (including teeth print on inner lip cut) from 1) standing in the "line of fire" of a bowl I was finishing the outside of about a month ago; and 2) wearing only safety glasses. Luckily the bowl was small (4 in diam., 2 in deep). Now I wear a face shield unless wearing my passive respirator. I also try to correct myself when positioned in a dangerous location relative to the work.

Bill Smith: I went to the grinder to sharpen a scraper. The wheel looked a little clogged so I decided to first clean it up a little with a diamond dresser. This of course left a fine grit on the tool rest. Without turning off the grinder I took a swipe with my finger across the tool rest to wipe off the residue. The tip of my finger got caught between the wheel and the tool rest. It turns out that fingers grind down a lot faster than HSS. I am still short about 1/8 inch on the end of that finger.

Sean Murphy: I saw a turner's web site one day that showed bowls with a copper band around them (really nice stuff). It looked to me like a 12 gauge copper wire glued around the edge so I thought I would give it a try. Never again! I cut a groove around the outside of the bowl about a half an inch from the lip and glued in a piece of standard home depot copper wire using gorilla glue. I fired it up and thought a scraper should cut it down quick. The slightest touch and the wire ripped out of the groove and flew across the shop.

Whoops . . .

So being Mr. Smarty-Pants I thought epoxy would be the key, and I would try using a file instead. Glue it up, cure it, and spin baby, 1800 RPM. I was correct. The epoxy did hold better, and this time I thought I would able to put a flat on the top of the wire. However, the file soon caught an edge and ripped an 8" length of wire free from the bowl.

Now, I basically had an 1800 rpm copper bladed Weed-Eater on my hands which were both close enough because of the file to become weeds. When all was said and done, I counted 9 or 10 long gashes in my hands (this actually means I got my hands out in 1 third of a second, not bad for a big guy). Although both hands were mangled, I was lucky I didn't loose a finger or break anything. After some rough calculations here are the specs on my Weed Eater: 30 hits per second @ 535 miles per hour Ouch! Don't try this at home.

Angelo: I'm by no means a veteran but I managed to have my sleeve catch on the spur drive while parting off a spindle. Lathe was going at less then 1000 rpm but pulled my elbow in fast. Luckily, the belt started to slip when the sleeve got wound up all the way. Walked away with some good bruises and a 2" gash on my elbow.