machine shop horror stories

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

A simple look at "number of injuries" wouldn't really suffice as many more people drive cars for longer periods of time than stand in a machine shop.

When machining, if you forget something critical you can do some major damage very quickly, a lot more than in a car. I am totally the kind of person who would forget to clamp something down or have a part kick back on a table saw - hence I avoid machining.

Chris, if I can do it anyone can.

I always have someone else double check the set up before I do anything more complex than use a bandsaw. We also have a rule where no one works alone on anything so oversights are pretty rare, we've had a few times where things come loose but nothing flying across the shop.

I have to disagree with your comment about the car. I drive a small car (2800lbs) but it'll do 0-60 in sub 7 seconds. Do some quick math on that, 2.5 tons moving at 60mph compared to a lathe chuck key. You screw up in a car and someone is just as dead as if you embed a lathe chuck key in their head. All you can do is follow the appropriate safety precautions. Don't operate under the influence, don't horse around, focus on what you are doing, and respect the machine. For the longest time I was afraid of the mill, a couple years ago I had to get over that and now I have a healthy respect for it. Until about 2 hours ago I was nervous about using a lathe but turning out a couple pulleys and I got over that.

For those of you who don't want to read a block of text:

Respect the Tools.