were there robot related injuries on your team?

[ZInventor]

we were prototyping a ball-lift mechanism and needed to keep some string centered, so i suggested 16-gauge steel wire (art class stuff)...

later, while we were working, i was cutting a length of the wire off the spool, and it whipped back and tore my hand...

i was bleeding for a little bit, but luckily enough, it missed any major nerves, so it didn't hurt that bad.

i now have a permanent scar on the back of my hand, but that still hasn't convinced me to wear gloves in the shop...

however, i have good reason:

at the local community college, where i learned machine shop skills, one of the students (college) was wearing gloves while working on a lathe, and when he reached in to brush away a burr, it grabbed his hand and tore off three fingers.

now, he has a thumb and pinky, but no index, middle or ring finger.

he was rushed to the hospital, but they couldn't do anything since his gloves were covered in so much grease and dirt.

moral of the story:

NEVER wear gloves!!! (At PCC (the community college) you are now banned from wearing gloves unless you are changing a band saw blade.)

i know too many people with missing fingers to wear gloves, or brush away burrs with the machine running (i usually use burr-breaking cutters)

-Z