Lathe accident, Tool organizer, bad idea.

[Hopper]

I think I posted a pic earlier in this thread of my tool rack behind my small Drummond lathe, at the tailstock end, away from the moving parts, which works just fine for me. No leaning over required on small lathe like this. HOWEVER, even I would draw the line at mounting the stop/start switch exactly behind the chuck as in this below pic from eBay. Puts your watchband and cuff of your long sleeve right on the chuck at every start and stop. This would have to be the absolute worst location possible, I reckon.

 

[editor123]

Editor123


How do you think anything ever gets done in machine shops in cold climates? I've never seen one yet where the boss will spend the money to heat a machine shop to short-sleeved temperatures in winter. Long sleeves are widely used around moving machinery all over the world. Flapping, unbuttoned sleeves, well that's a different matter. But overalls with the wrist snaps done up are just fine.

Whether people do it or not, it is stupid to do so. And on top of that, if the machine shop is that cold, it must be difficult to maintain accuracy given that dimensions and measuring tools are set up for a 68 degree environment.

 

[goldstar31]

Whether people do it or not, it is stupid to do so. And on top of that, if the machine shop is that cold, it must be difficult to maintain accuracy given that dimensions and measuring tools are set up for a 68 degree environment.

Here, this bright and bonny morning is 10C or 50F in old money!
Again it is 19C indoors with a semblance of heating on.
For the rest of the unhappy world, it is struggling with an average debt of £13000 excluding mortgages. This is the UK, arguably one of the so called rich countries.

From what can be deduced over more years than enough, the average reader here has a lathe which either dates from being secundo mano' which is rather more than second hand or something that came from the bargain basement of some factory where people are managing on perhaps rather more than a bowl of imported rice. Whatever the outcome of today's factory, it seems that there is no way that one can achieve National Physical Laboratory standards or Georg Schleisinger ( Sp)

Sorry, but this is a world of people who are not far removed from their old shed in the garden or the back of the kitchen bench where the old ML or Drummond was probably pedalled. And then came washing machines and one could cannibalise them for 1/4HP 1440 rpm motors.

Wow!!!!!!! That Miracle from the East promised long ago materialised.

Whatever happened the with a borrowed 0-1" mike or a cheap Chinese one now, it does not approach these ethereal aspirations.

As for safety or whatever, most of us have no option but to conduct our affairs with caution.

We know the dangers- but real life itself is one of far more danger.

Sorry, I have stolen the post but feel that reality is something that is actually REAL.

Norman

 

[Hopper]

Whether people do it or not, it is stupid to do so. And on top of that, if the machine shop is that cold, it must be difficult to maintain accuracy given that dimensions and measuring tools are set up for a 68 degree environment.

Oh! Were the world such a perfect place!

Ever tried turning your office thermostat down to 68 degrees and seen how comfortable you feel in short sleeves?

Not sure which side of the pond you edit your honorable publication on, but OSHA (USA) guidelines for lathe operators call for tight fitting clothing, no mention of short sleeves required. Simply and absolutely not practical to wear short sleeves in most commercial machine shops in the winter. Nor home shops.

 

[editor123]

In the two biggest training schools here in Silicon Valley, the clothing rules are:
Short close-fitting sleeves ending above the elbow
Clothing of cotton fiber because synthetics melt and stick to your skin.
Leather shoes preferrably with steel toes. No synthetic materials because they will melt and stick to your skin.

An office at 68 degrees F is a bit cool but a shop at 68 is OK if you know how to dress for the temperature. Yup, a T-shirt is probably a bit light unless it is of good heavy cotton.

Most cal labs are kept very close to 68 degrees and the one very large machine shop I've been in at Lawrence Livermore Labs is kept at 68 degrees as they are looking for ultimate dimensional control. In fact, the lathe for making the laser mirrors is bathed in oil.

So take your choice, risk your body or not. But I won't promote anything that increases the danger of an already dangerous job or hobby. To do otherwise is not really right because too many hobby machinists don't know their way around machines in the first place.

Sorry if some of you disagree but that's the way I see it.

 

[Hopper]

Methinks winter in sunny California is not the same as winter in the UK, or even in most of north America (having spent more than one in Montana myself). And Silicon Valley labs are not exactly typical machine shops. But if that is the target audience of your publication, it's all horses for courses I guess.

 

[editor123]

The magazine is delivered to amateur machinists all over the world. Mainly focused on building operating scale model engines, gas, steam and Stirling.

Many of the readers are beginning machinists and have no access to formal training so we try to provide some of that.

 

[abby]

Perhaps the post named "a DIY bandsaw for the shop" should be renamed as "a DIY bandage"