[Amps] Workshop Danger

[Roger (K8RI)]

On 9/13/2013 5:48 PM, ZL2AAA wrote:
>
>>
>> OTOH the lowly drill press is really danger in disguise.  When
>> drilling steel or Aluminum that long curl of metal that indicates a
>> sharp bit doing its job will happily remove a finger(s) just by trying
>> to knock it out of the way.
>>
> In a engineering shop I worked in we had to drill 2" holes in 3/4 steel
> in an old Asquith ground mounted drill press this thing had a vertical
> column about 18" dia.and a snail could move faster than the drill.
> I saw the apprentice trying to pull the swath out with his hand and told
> him of the danger in no uncertain terms.

When I have visitors  (other hams) in the shop, I normally make them 
stand where should they reach in, I can hit "the big "stop" mushroom 
shaped switch.  Visitors can reach in so quick they can lose a finger or 
hand before you can move.  So I try to keep them in a position where I 
can see them at least out of the corner of my eye and out of physical 
reach of the equipment.

I'm going to add a pedestal and mount that switch where I can rest my 
hand on it.

With a mill and power feed to the quill that swath can reach a length of 
close to two feet before it grabs itself and just winds up. It doesn't 
hurt to kill the quill feed any time that swath gets to be 6 inches 
long, because it can easily grab you when you try to apply cutting oil.

I use pliers to pull that stuff out AFTER stopping the machine.

That spinning thing is as sharp as a razor and saw toothed. It's so 
sharp it can hit your hand with what feels like it brushed you, but in 
reality has done some serious damage.


The next day he told me he had
> mentioned my rarkup to his father and he said I was just an idiot.
> About three days later after being out on a job my mate and I returned
> to the workshop about 1500 to find the place all shut up.We thought the
> other workers must have gone to the pub for free drinks without inviting
> us.Off to the pub, yes they were there but it was a very sombre place.
> The apprentice had tried to break of the swath with his hand and it

Similar incident when I went to work in my early days.  I had to walk 
through what we called the "small Press Room"  They stamped out door and 
window trim.

The room was empty which was strange, but I soon saw why. On one of the 
presses that formed window trim, lay 4 fingers.

I hated those presses. They were more or less a punch press. You stepped 
on the mechanical release and there was no stopping it until it had 
completed its cycle which was quick.  they had a habit of tripping 
without stepping on the switch, probably due to wear..  The safety gear 
was like a pair of sturdy leather gloves with a lanyard tied on. This 
lanyard went from your hands straight back to a series of pulleys 
starting behind your back and eventually attached to the ram. You sat on 
a stool, placed parts in the press, moved your hands back and stepped on 
the release.

One day as I was placing parts in the press, it tripped! When reaching 
forward your muscles can not relax that fast. It took me right over the 
back of the stool into a backward somersault, to land on the floor, 
shoulders first.  My hands, fore arms, upper arms, shoulders and upper 
back hurt for a week.  It was several days before I could move my arms 
enough to eat with out pain.

We become comfortable around tools which leads to complacency, yet most, 
even simple tools, are quite capable of inflicting very serious, 
painful, or even fatal  damage.

More than one person lost an arm in the old, wringer type washing machines.

73

Roger (K8RI)

> caught the sleeve of his overalls and wound him up and kept bashing him
> against the vertical column,by the time someone had turned the drill off
> he was blue in the face lucky to be alive and never worked again.Morrie
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