machine shop horror stories

[unionylibertad]

anybody have any stories of people getting hurt while machining?

any flying chuck keys blinding people, fingers sucked into mills and grinders, etc etc?

[DonRotolo]

Or long hair pulling heads into spinning chucks?

No, no horror stories. We Take Care Here.

[sanddrag]

I was once machining 1/4" polycarb on an open CNC router, I think at about 6k RPM. I was cutting out a pocket about 4"x6" square. Forgot to put in screws to hold down the scrap piece. When it finished the cut, the endmill grabbed it and flung it 40 feet across the shop so fast I didn't even see it go. I felt the wind off of it as it flew by. Lucky that's all I felt. It was completely shattered when I found it. Polycarb, shattered.

Be careful out there...

[Revant54]

I remember about 3 years ago(I was a Freshman at the time), and I was drilling into a piece of diamond plate. Being a Freshman at the time, and not to bright in the machining sense; I didn't use anything to lock the plate down. To add to this initial dilemma, I unknowingly was drilling a bit too hard into the plate, and ultimately the plate got stuck in the bit, causing the plate to spin with the bit, resulting in my hands getting badly cut.

Fortunately, it has been a few years since my last machining accident and I always let incoming freshmen and members of my past ignorances.

[Peter Matteson]

Not a machine shop per say...
I work for an aircraft engine manufacturer, pictures have been circulating around the office this week of an incdent that happened at an air field where a mechanic trying to save his hat got sucked into an engine on wing. I WILL NOT share these pictures, it is worse than you imagine.

[Henry Williams]

Luckily our team has been basically devoid of serious injuries, but there is one former student turned mentor who practically needs to be followed around with a first aid kit for all the minor cuts, scratches, and burns he manages to give himself. I will not give his name as a courtesy.

[drakesword]

Also not a shop, but I was patching the floor pan in my jeep. Cut a piece of sheet metal and was holding it with pliers. Turned to grab gloves (good for welding) and caught the back of my hand on the freshly sharpened edge. Lets say I could see parts of my hand I shouldn't have been able to see.

I have a good 3 inch scar going from the middle of my and to the first knuckle of my index finger. Probably should have gotten stitches, instead dumped rubbing alcohol on the cut used a few butterfly band-aids as well as plenty of medical tape and went back to welding.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

When I was taking a shop class in college, the lathes were back to back in rows. I was just lucky enough to drop something on the floor (tool or drawing). As I bent to pick it up, the guy at the lathe in the next row turned it on with the chuck handle in place. It went flying overhead where my head and upper body had been. I am alive today because I can't hold onto things. (They don't let me climb towers either.) Needless to say, that guy failed the class.

[EricH]

I was taking a shop class at a community college, and we were all tramming in mill heads. Somebody turned on the mill to move the sweep bar to the other side (you're supposed to just grab it and swing it). 18" long sweep bar... gauge on the end... spinning at whatever the mill was set to. This lasted a couple of seconds at the most before somebody got to the power switch, but the damage was done.

Nobody got hurt, but the gauge was ruined, and the student didn't come back after that, whether by his own choice or by the instructor's I don't know. I found the needle at the near end of the shop; I think the glass or part of it was near the chip bin near where I'd been a few minutes earlier.

[Christopher149]

It was in woodshop, and someone (I don't remember who) was sanding a piece of wood on an oscillating vertical sander, when it caught and was flung into the top of a nearby band-saw. Thankfully the band-saw had a large upper structure so the wood hit only it - and not any person. But it was Loud.

Now, in Robotics, there haven't been any serious incidents, just the usual scrapes. Ironically, First Aid is in the cutting drawer...

[ThatHubrexGuy]

Well... No serious injuries... But I busted my knuckle open with a wrench while doing some lathe work. Did I get a band-aid? Hahaha no. I just kept wiping the blood on my pants. I really wanted to get that part done!

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by Henry Williams

Luckily our team has been basically devoid of serious injuries, but there is one former student turned mentor who practically needs to be followed around with a first aid kit for all the minor cuts, scratches, and burns he manages to give himself. I will not give his name as a courtesy.

I am that guy on my team sadly... I think its just a bad luck thing... I take every precaution and I end up hurt.. 3 times this week sadly...

[perlgerl]

It's not exactly a horror story, but mentor Lyle described (video) how he put a scribe through his thumb! Yuck!

[Brandon_L]

Using the belt sander four years ago on a tiny piece of wood. Can probably guess what happened, but the wood got sucked between the table and the belt, along with my fingers.

Had a nice sized hole in 8 of my nails for about a month, and its still kinda sensitive. Lucky for me the teacher/mentor forgot to change the belt that day and it was an old belt, not as rough.

[nitneylion452]

Today, I was preparing to cut a piece of plastic for a spacer (tough plastic, can't remember the name)and I was going to use a hacksaw to do it. One of our mentors cam up to me and asked why I was using a hacksaw and I said that it was the easiest and safest way to cut the plastic. He then told me to go and use a compound miter saw, for which we only have a wood blade. I informed him of this and he still said I should use the miter saw. I went and tried. The plastic snapped and whizzed across the room, narrowly missing one of my teammates. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and we were all wearing goggles. Just goes to show you: sometimes, mentors don't always know best.