Don't take shop safety for granted.

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Joined
Dec 10, 1998
Messages
4,860
My friend Johnny Stout posted this today on FB.

"Made a bad mistake yesterday of not wearing gloves and not clamping down my work while drilling titanium...the drill grabbed the work and sliced my thumb to the bone. It cut the tendon, seeing a hand surgeon tomorrow to repair the tendon, as of now only 20 stitches, and lots of pain."

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BE CAREFUL out there.
 
Woooooowwww ugh
Not good, hope you have a quick recovery my friend
 
Geez .. That looks real bad. Shop safety is real important. I don't have a picture but last week I was roughing out a blank and I was bearing down hard on a old 36 grit belt on the 10 inch wheel and the blade kinda twisted and my thumb went right to the belt and ground off half my thumbnail. I did not like the feel of that one. Im still waiting on it to grow and now it seem everything I touch somehow wants the bump it. I went through and just tossed all my worn belts. I'm not going through this crap again if I can help it.

I wish your pal well !!
 
A drill press can be really nasty. When I've given informal instruction to people for using a drill press I tell them that the piece can break loose and rotate and to keep their hands clear of it. I've had lots of experience with the bigger drill press in my father's garage with minor injuries, nothing more than little scrapes and cuts though.
 
Marko3 said:
Geez .. That looks real bad. Shop safety is real important. I don't have a picture but last week I was roughing out a blank and I was bearing down hard on a old 36 grit belt on the 10 inch wheel and the blade kinda twisted and my thumb went right to the belt and ground off half my thumbnail. I did not like the feel of that one. Im still waiting on it to grow and now it seem everything I touch somehow wants the bump it. I went through and just tossed all my worn belts. I'm not going through this crap again if I can help it.

I wish your pal well !!
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I did the same thing last April while grinding Ti. Makes you feel like a real doofus:confused:
 
I cut a finger almost all the way off through the base of the fingernail in January. I'll never again play guitar like I used to, though the feeling is coming back (got fairly successfully reattached.)
It's amazing how often you see people holding things that they're drilling or grinding in tutorials and videos. It's just plain dumb and careless, in most cases.
Chuck, I hope for a speedy recovery for your friend, and that someone is saved from the same by seeing this! Thanks for posting.
 
I don't understand why folks aren't in the habbit of using those vise grip style drill press clamps. Its so fast and easy. If you set it up right, it holds the work down, and impedes the part from spinning.

I have a dvd of a guy making a folder, and he drills all of his drill holes without clamping one time.

I used to stop a lot of the new engineers from doing this in my previous lifetime designing antennas. The shop actually had no clamping tool to use when they hired me. Engineers. A whole lot of school, and no experience with machines. I think the drill press gets passed over when the 'fear of a tool' gets handed out. Its a bad one to underestimate too.
 
I wish Johnny a speedy recovery. :thumbup:
I keep two C-Clamps on my drill press table - 1 on either side. Whenever I drill anything, I clamp a stop right next to the workpiece.
I have a friend that says when shop equipment gets blood on it - it goes FASTER! :eek:
 
Fiddleback said:
Engineers. A whole lot of school, and no experience with machines. I think the drill press gets passed over when the 'fear of a tool' gets handed out. Its a bad one to underestimate too.
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Uhh, I'm an engineer and I have vice grip clamps on the drill press, being careful to orient the jaw opening so if the work piece slips loose, it catches in the jaw. But I know the type of engineer you are talking about, a lot of them are like you describe. My drill press is store bought, but I build most of my own machines (belt grinder, power hammer, vacuum chamber, heat treat oven, forges). I'll post some pix if I ever get my belt grinder cleaned up and painted.

Drill presses seem deceptively slow, but are one of the more dangerous shop tools. Besides slinging work pieces around, I've had small drill bits snap and stick in my gut.

- James B
 
Quick healing Johnny!

Seems like most of the "shop safety reminder" threads are inspired by drill press injuries.... I think they rack up more injuries than buffers and wire wheels!

I have several holes in my drill press table, where I can stick dowels into to act as stop pins. Clamps would be added security. I also have belt driven "spinny" tools that aren't stronger than me. Any binding usually results in a dull hum and the smell of burning rubber.... as opposed to guttural cursing and a trip to emergency.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Seems like most of the "shop safety reminder" threads are inspired by drill press injuries.... I think they rack up more injuries than buffers and wire wheels!
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I think we just use drill presses more often... at least I do. Familiarity breeds complacency.

I do prefer clamping over just a stop... not just for safety, but also because I use a lot of corby bolts that require stepped holes. Having the bit grab the workpiece and pull it right up, blowing out the shoulder, will make you say bad words and frighten the shopcat. :grumpy:
 
I sold my drill press after I bought a benchtop milling machine, it's more accurate anyways, and I don't have to get my hands too near to anything that can hurt me bad.

I've been metalworking for about 20years, and haven't had a severe injury as of yet (one that required stitches, or there was permanent/semi-permanent damage). FYI I am repeatedly knocking on wood as I type this post out.

After a few near misses over the years, I use a milling machine for drilling if it all possible, and if I must, I always use a large, heavy drill press vise, one that would snap the bit before moving/flying anywhere.

Situational awareness is HUGE, I'm really paranoid when in the shop, I don't even like other people working in the same vicinity (even though I like company).

I've spent most of my career on heavy manual mills and lathes, which can literally kill you. There is little margin for error, and to be completely honest, I'm happy I'm off those machines now because even though I can still easily be terribly hurt, there's an extra little layer of paranoia that comes along with running that type of equipment.
 
wow that's down right nasty there.... not a shop accident but I literally poked a hole at the bottom of my ring finger where it meets the palm with a really sharp knife, didn't even feel it... until the next day, and gradually afterward it got worse.... turns out I poked the tendon, took a year to heal... always felt weird in my palm when opening and closing hand, like a rubber band...

cutting a tendon is bad news, and being complacent behind power tools is even worse.... Thanks for yet another eye opener...

and I like the dowel Idea, better then stopping it with your finger...
 
Clamp down work: Yes
Wear gloves: No

I use to think gloves were a good idea too... Until I saw what it looks like when your glove gets wrapped around a drill bit with your hand still inside it.
 
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