Near-death experiences or injuries during build season?

[DampRobot]

Just today I was drilling some polycarb. Although none of it really had "death potential," it still had "break-things-including-yourself potential".

I was using a hand drill to make some holes in some polycarb panels for limit switches. Naturally, I was using a 1/8" drill bit as an end mill to enlarge my holes. This obviously had the potential to snap the tiny bit in half, so I decided to take a step back from the problem and try something safer.

I managed to find the dullest 17/64ths drill bit in the shop to enbiggen the holes, and proceeded to wander it all over the bottom of the sheet like it was ice skating. After getting the hole started, my friend decided that the drilling was going a bit too slow, so he decided to hold the polycarb flat where I was drilling. The whole time our mechanical lead was telling me to "push, push!"

So. Lessons learned. Polycarb is slippery. My friend almost got a rather large diameter piercing in his hand. And don't listen to the mechanical lead.