Tooling for the Newbie

[wareagle]

As far as I am concerned, those cheap paper dust masks are useless, and should be taken off of the market. I haven't every seen one that fits right, and certainly can't see any other uses for them. Too many folks over the years (my dear wife included) have worn those things thinking they were keeping themselves safe. Once taken off, the nostrils are covered in the substance that they were trying to avoid.

My wife was in our bathroom going at the shower with some sort of chemical, and she kept coming out saying she wasn't feeling good. I told her to get a respirator before she went back in (I offered to finish, her answer was no, but hell no). I went to check on her a short bit later and discovered her wearing a cheap paper dust mask. I asked her how it was working and she said she wasn't able to tell a difference. : I politely took her to the shop and fitted her to a cartridge respirator and told her to see if that did any better. It did. Funny thing is, I never got that respirator back, but that's okay by me. She uses it religiously, and that's all I could have ever asked for!


For my $.02 on grinding tool bits... I avoid letting the tool bit get hot when grinding. I will quench the bit in water every few seconds or so. One thing to keep in mind is that the thinner the tool bit is, the less time it takes to heat up. As the others have said, I do not let them change colors and have yet to have any problems with a ground tool bit.

 

[Cedge]

A good friend of mine works/worked for a company, here in town, as a heavy equipment mechanic. Part of his job was to prepare retiring equipment like trucks and cranes for sale. The company pre-sold several large items to a company that wanted them repainted and ready to work when the took delivery.

They specified a high tech multi part paint. When he got the order to begin prepping the machines, Doug pulled up an MSDS sheet on the paint and very much didn't like what he read. He protested to management about the safety issues and was bluntly told that his job depended on doing as he was told.

Doug is a large strapping lad... the kind for which heavy mechanic work is very well suited. He had no health problems of any sort and often spent his day pulling wrenches and then put in a full shift keeping his farm going, with no ill effects. He's always been bull strong and a total outdoors sort who reveled in physical challenges.

Doug also gives a damn about his people. Rather than have his crew paint the equipment, he took on the job himself, after hours when no one would be about. He asked for a closed breathing system and was told to use the respirator he normally used. He did so.... along with a Tyvec coverall. About an hour into the job he began to experience trouble breathing. By the time he managed to drive home, his lips were blue and his color ash gray.

He made it to the hospital where they discovered his lungs were blistered, much as if he'd been exposed to mustard gas. We almost lost Doug that night, except for some real heroics from a dedicated medical staff and lots of luck. He spent a week in intensive care and another week convalescing in bed at home.

The company accused him of gold bricking and began to rumble about letting him go. They denied the paint had caused his problems and hinted he had probably exposed himself to something at home while doing his farming chores. That all ended when he dragged himself to work the next day and promptly collapsed a lung while sitting across the desk from his boss.

The damage to Doug's lungs is permanent, as is the numbness in his feet and hands. He is now required to carry an inhaler and has been told oxygen tanks are in his future. The company is now on the hook for some large dollars, none of which will restore a man to his former good health.

No job is worth the cost he paid and no supervisor worth his salt would have ever put him in such a position. Doug felt he had no choice, but rather than put his normal paint crew on the job, he took on the risk, personally. I kinda like having friends of that caliber, but I wish he'd have quit before he lost so much.

Bottom line... if the label says it's got nasty tendencies.... take it to the bank.... it might even be worse than they were forced to admit. All it takes is once.

Steve

 

[macona]

Basically HSS retains it hardness up into it turning red from friction or cutting. Back in the days of carbon steel tooling if you got the tool anywhere close to red the tool would anneal itself into a piece of keystock. Thats one of the reasons you will that small lathes even up to the 30's did not have very high RPM spindles. There was no tooling that could handle the SFM that a fast machine would need. My old Artisan 12x24 has a top speed of about 600 RPM.

When HSS came on the market you started to see lathes with higher speed spindles, and after carbide came out there was a jump again in spindle speeds to the machines you see today.

I have never had an issue with quenching HSS. But I use so little of it. I tend to pick up inserts on ebay or swap meets for cheap.

My tool grinder has a built in vacuum system. I have been trying to figure a way to pipe that to my other machines as well.