Good Evening Friends,

Boy did I goof on Monday morning. Placed a 6" x 6" timber on my lathe without using a face place and if that wasn't enough I didn't check the speed setting before turning the lathe on. 

When the lathe started jumping I knew that I goofed and as I saw the timber getting ready to fly off the lathe , I jumped to the left but, not soon enough for the timber hit me on the shoulder and I spent the next five hours in the ER at the hospital. I have nothing broken but, my pride, however I do have contusions and a very sore shoulder.

 

So the next time you use your lathe, be sure to check the speed indicator before you turn it on.

 

Respectfully,

 

 

Glad it wasn't any worse than that, Ralph!

 

This is something I'm always forgetting to do. Usually the last lathe operation I do is sanding at a little higher speed. Take the piece off and finish the project. When I return to the lathe, I invariably forget to check the speed before mounting the new project. Thanks for the reminder.

Glad nothing was seriously hurt Ralph...Sorry you have the story to share, but glad you did...a strong reminder to all of us to inspect closely our next step(s) and always be mindful of our surroundings.

jeeeeze Ralph...

Come on now Ralph, you are supposed to be taking it a little easier...

Time off is in order.  Let it get a good start on healing before you go back at it.  Grab the cane pole and go fish up some crappie.  Cane pole can operate with one hand.

Believe it or not I went right back at it Tuesday and today. I figured it was going to hurt either way and it is sore but nothing I can't stand at the moment.

 

Thanks for your concern.

Heal quickly Ralph. I did the same thing YEARS ago with a smaller piece, but it nailed me by my eye. Got lucky though. Forgot to change the speed.

Ralph, you are a lucky man, and thank you for sharing your story about safety. I am glad you made it through this one, it could have been far worse by the size of that timber as you describe it. Here to a speedy recovery.

WOW. Glad it wasn't your head. Glad too, that you're healing well.

As GpaDave said, we all need to be aware. 

I know of a gallery level artist turner who in 2012 hadn't touched her work with a tool and it being spalted came apart and a 2 kilo piece clipped her and she's still blind and crippled from it.