> As many times as I've tried to help newcomers with safety advice,I was nearly a victim this past week at school. The newest lathe we have has a rather high toolpost,and we were using a toolholder that held the tool up at an angle,where you adjust the length of the tool sticking out of the holder to adjust your center-height.
I was TIRED of having to try and grind more front relief than usual on my HSS threading tools,instead of grinding them on the threading tool fixture I made for the surface grinder,because the surface grinder gets them much sharper,and the form is always perfect. The old toolholder caused the cutter to rub without extra relief on the front,and the tool would often be sticking so far out in front to get on center that it would cause chatter on deep grooving cuts and thread undercuts.
I made a new toolholder,and showed it to the instructor,who was testing it out by taking a .050 face cut with the feed engaged. I'm leaning on the tailstock,where I typically stand to watch facing cuts,and paying close attention to the quality of cut and chip control,like usual.
Next thing I know,I feel a slight tug on my t-shirt,which was bigger than normal,and NOT TUCKED IN!. I disregarded it at first,thinking one of the younger kids in the class was just goofing off like normal. I felt it again,and it was getting tighter. I look down,and my shirt-tail is wrapped up in the leadscrew,so I yelled and stepped on the footbrake. I'm already pondering reaching into my instructor's pocket and grabbing his boxcutter to free myself,as the machine has enough of my shirt I can't stand up straight. At this point it was either cut myself loose or have the shirt jerked off me,or the undesirable 3rd option,getting a hand or worse pulled in.
We got the spindle stopped,and the instructor looks at me like I've lost my mind,before he realizes what's happened. Needless to say,I'm sweating bullets,embarassed beyond belief,and still laughing about it. Jeff the instructor even took cell phone pics of it,saying this was too good to miss,and after I got my shirt loose a good time was had by all with it. I've washed the shirt and plan on hanging it up in the shop as a reminder for future students that accidents DO happen,even when you THINK you are doing things right,and that how you REACT to a dangerous situation can play a role in whether you get hurt or not,and can impact how bad.
I wanted to add that we are not only getting 2 brand new Sharp lathes and mills shortly after this next session starts,we just got a large grant from the Tennessee Lottery Commision that brought us a brand new Haas CNC/manual lathe and mill. These machines can be used just like a manual lathe or mill,while the computer generates the code for that operation,or run under normal CNC control. As long as the operator does his job,it's all good,a crash generates programming for a crash though. These machines also have the computer capacity to allow you to run a program virtually,so you can tweak it and eliminate crashes.
This means at some point,all of our old equipment will be auctioned off or sold for scrap. Most of the old lathes are South Bend belt drives,a couple SB geared-head,and 2 LeBlonds. All the mills are Bridgeports. Tucking my shirt in from now on,Tommy D.
I was TIRED of having to try and grind more front relief than usual on my HSS threading tools,instead of grinding them on the threading tool fixture I made for the surface grinder,because the surface grinder gets them much sharper,and the form is always perfect. The old toolholder caused the cutter to rub without extra relief on the front,and the tool would often be sticking so far out in front to get on center that it would cause chatter on deep grooving cuts and thread undercuts.
I made a new toolholder,and showed it to the instructor,who was testing it out by taking a .050 face cut with the feed engaged. I'm leaning on the tailstock,where I typically stand to watch facing cuts,and paying close attention to the quality of cut and chip control,like usual.
Next thing I know,I feel a slight tug on my t-shirt,which was bigger than normal,and NOT TUCKED IN!. I disregarded it at first,thinking one of the younger kids in the class was just goofing off like normal. I felt it again,and it was getting tighter. I look down,and my shirt-tail is wrapped up in the leadscrew,so I yelled and stepped on the footbrake. I'm already pondering reaching into my instructor's pocket and grabbing his boxcutter to free myself,as the machine has enough of my shirt I can't stand up straight. At this point it was either cut myself loose or have the shirt jerked off me,or the undesirable 3rd option,getting a hand or worse pulled in.
We got the spindle stopped,and the instructor looks at me like I've lost my mind,before he realizes what's happened. Needless to say,I'm sweating bullets,embarassed beyond belief,and still laughing about it. Jeff the instructor even took cell phone pics of it,saying this was too good to miss,and after I got my shirt loose a good time was had by all with it. I've washed the shirt and plan on hanging it up in the shop as a reminder for future students that accidents DO happen,even when you THINK you are doing things right,and that how you REACT to a dangerous situation can play a role in whether you get hurt or not,and can impact how bad.
I wanted to add that we are not only getting 2 brand new Sharp lathes and mills shortly after this next session starts,we just got a large grant from the Tennessee Lottery Commision that brought us a brand new Haas CNC/manual lathe and mill. These machines can be used just like a manual lathe or mill,while the computer generates the code for that operation,or run under normal CNC control. As long as the operator does his job,it's all good,a crash generates programming for a crash though. These machines also have the computer capacity to allow you to run a program virtually,so you can tweak it and eliminate crashes.
This means at some point,all of our old equipment will be auctioned off or sold for scrap. Most of the old lathes are South Bend belt drives,a couple SB geared-head,and 2 LeBlonds. All the mills are Bridgeports. Tucking my shirt in from now on,Tommy D.
..........Tommy D.
