ya' GOTTA' be careful...

[markmarkmark]

i guess i haven't been working with tools long enough to really shake the stupid belief that "it won't happen to me..."

i just got a new wire wheel and was so excited to hook it up to a junk motor that i found that i didn't bother to even notice the direction of rotation...(it was rotating TOWARD me!) to top it off, i reached for the nearest piece of metal to test it out on, which happened to be a razor sharp planer blade laying on the workbench...took all of about 1.5 seconds before the blade shot out like a rocket into the palm of my hand...fortunately the angle was such that it didn't get in too deep...

was i mad? hell no...i was grateful to get such a mild "warning"...it could just as easily have been launched into an eye...

thought i'd post the experience...maybe writing it out will make it harder for me to forget just how easy it is to screw myself up in a bad bad way if i'm not careful...

 

[Chuck Gedraitis Knives]

Mark,
All 3 of my belt sanders, and my buffer, and bench grinder turn with the rotation twords me. The buffer, which is probally the most dangerous tool in my shop can grab a blade faster than you can blink. The trick is to hold whatever your working on below the centerline of the wheel, that way if it does grab your work, it throws it away from you. If you hold it above the centerline it will throw it at you. I also don't wear gloves cause the wheel can grab the glove and pull your whole hand into the machine.
Just be careful.