# Lathe safety



## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

I learned first hand how dangerous a lathe can be when a piece flew out of my chuck and smashed my safety shied so hard that I thought I had broken my nose. I have since bought a lacrosse mask and helmet and wear it religiously. Here is a sobering experience that happened to Lynn Yamaguchi. The first entry in her blog is bad enough but if you follow it through it gets even worse. Bottom line ALWAYS wear at least a safety shield. For me even that isn't enough.
An accident | My Turn


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## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

I would still be a bit concerned with the lacross mask, as smaller chunks could still get in. There are a lot of options for faceshields out there for turning that offer a lot more protection then the basic 3M.

That said, always always use some sort of face protection when turning.


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

I wear this when I go to the shop. After a bout with bronchitis 3 times I wanted something tough but yet would filter the fine dust. AS-400LBC 3M HEPA Airstream System It is tough and the one piece that did hit me it handled it well. IMHO I am more worried about sanding dust sucked into my lungs than a piece flying off. A lot of that can be eliminated (Yes I understand not all) by cutting down the speed and not turning wood that is suspect. I mean bark inclusions, cracks, punky wood, etc. A old turner of 60 yrs told me one time that life is to short to turn crappy wood. Every piece that goes on my lathe is carefully looked over. If it doesn't look right or I don't feel good about what I see it goes into the firewood pile. The other thing a turner needs to be aware of is not to stand in the line of fire when starting up the lathe or while turning a piece.


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

BernieW said:


> After a bout with bronchitis 3 times I wanted something tough but yet would filter the fine dust.


Bronchitis won't seem so bad once you've tried pneumonia! :bad: I get bronchitis every winter - I regard it merely as a nuisance at this stage. I spoke to a miller lately who fells trees and mills them immediately with a chainsaw mill. He had recently cut up a yew tree and didn't have respiratory protection, only a physical barrier for his face for the usual relatively large flying objects. Despite milling in the open, he was ill for weeks after the yew sawdust.


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Thats the problem John. My Doc doesn't want it turning into pneumonia which she says it can pretty quickly. I know bronchtis is a pain.


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

BernieW said:


> Thats the problem John. My Doc doesn't want it turning into pneumonia which she says it can pretty quickly. I know bronchtis is a pain.


Yep, pneumonia isn't a nice feeling, but they have a great machine called a bipap that will literally blow it out of you in a few hours. It saps your strength to an incredible extent though, and it takes a very, very long time to get it back. I recall one morning in 2003, when I was in hospital recovering from the only bout of pneumonia I've had so far, that I hadn't the strength to open a pat of butter and spread it on a slice of toast, I had to stop for breath half-way through. You think strength is lifting big heavy things etc - it isn't. If you can leap out of bed and walk around your house, you're strong. You won't realise it until you lose it for a time. I caught pneumonia in the hospital, I was admitted with meningococcal septicaemia. The survival rate for that combination is 30%.
See why I don't rate bronchitis!


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Yep gotcha John. My brother had pneumonia and I think they used the same thing because he was home a couple of days later. Stay safe.


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## PaulsonJacob (Feb 19, 2013)

Prevention is better than cure, it's good to take preventive measures earlier.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Art.

Thank you for sharing this. Hope Mrs. Yamaguchi get well soon.


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