# I survived my first Wood Turning Explosion!



## LisaC (Oct 10, 2009)

I'm really glad to have that out of the way…

My tool caught and the project snapped at a thin point. The whole thing went slamming into the garage floor.

At least it didn't go flying into my face shield or anything. WOO!

I got my wings! And no blood! No pictures because it was not spectacular and I want to get back on the horse.

Your favorite near misses?


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

I can't remember any "near Misses" my blow outs usually do hit me first. Never gain enough confidence to try turning without that face shield, never!


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## Hix (Jun 4, 2009)

I'm with Dan, I never turn the lathe on without the face shield. Best blow up? Probably the bowl that broke off at the tennon (bigger bark inclusion than I thought!) and missed me but hit my wife's bmw…..nice round dent. Lesson: no more turning with the car in the garage.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Wow glad your alright.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Certainly glad you were not hurt.

My near misses usually result in blood drops on the lathe or a trip to the emergency room!


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## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

Haven't had any yet…............Just lucky I guess. Glad you weren't hurt.


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## ropedog (Mar 26, 2008)

the one good thing you get out of seeing things fly of the lathe is you learn not to stand in that path. best explosion is hard to say but it was probably when i started doing hollow forms and i cut right through the bottom, you only do that once. be safe and have fun.


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## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

Have had several. But when you use old pallets for wood, sometime those cracks are hard to see. Have not been hit yet (thankfully) I think the worst was finishing a bottom on a small bowl and have it come off the lathe. Did not fly but it sure danced across the bench and floor a while before it slowed down.(3000 RPM) Had a LOT of sanding to remove dents from that one, but it was saved.

Glad you weren't hurt. ALWAYS use that face sheild.

Scrappy


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

I don't have a lathe (yet…. ) but I have had a few incidents that could have been near misses with the table saw - when a piece decides to shoot back out on you. Luckily, I took classes before buying a machine and learned the right way to stand - outside the line of fire. It sounds like common sense, but I have seen and still see plenty of people taking their chances.

I also tend to "break in" new knives and carving equipment as soon as I get them by getting a nice deep cut. Over-enthusiasm (with a bit of stupidity).

Otherwise, most of my accidents are outside of the sphere of woodworking.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

Glad you werent hurt. Those things are always scary.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

My first one DID fly off and into the face shield, which did its job splendidly, no blood, no bruises, just rung my bell a little bit.


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## baller (Nov 14, 2008)

i really need a face mask, guess i've been living dangerously, or more appropriately, stupidly…lol any suggestions on best money for the buy? i'm near Broke, haven't even gotten the new live/spur centers i need…been out of commission for a while…but those cheap ones don't seem like they'd do much. sometimes i wear my wrap around glasses and respirator mask, so i suppose my only fear then is a broken nose or somethin to the forehead. lol


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

Chris, the one I use was about $10 at home Depot. Been using it for 8 years and hasn't failed me yet.


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

This is what I'm using.

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=SAS&PartNumber=5145&Description=Safety+Face+Shield

I had it knocked off by a spindle between centers. It was over before I knew what happened. We both survived.

If the lathe is running, I wear it.


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## grained (Nov 13, 2008)

Haven't gotten a lathe yet. I may in the next couple weeks though until I have my hand back to 100%.

This happened Saturday AM. Second time I have had a bad cut with this hand. Never carve when distracted. I was using a pelican knife and turn my hand holding the wood and the knife at the wrong time. I call it a close call because it could have been a lot worse than it is. A few weeks of typing with half a hand and no real use of the thumb.


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

Ouch! maybe one of those chain maille gloves. Really shows that safety gear pays for itself. Glad it wasn't worse and everybody seems to safe.


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## dustygirl (Mar 11, 2008)

Wow you better practice safer working there girl.Glad you weren't hurt tooooo badly.


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## tamboti (Oct 19, 2009)

Hi Glad not hurt. My worst was a plate no 95 of 3500 that hit me in the face broke specs and 13 sutures later,
went and bought a nova chuck and gave the record chuck to a friend. no design oppurtunities since. the plates were over a 3.5 year period. Could do with a order like that now HA HA
kind regards Roger in SA


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

congratulations! what's next on the list?

my fav near miss was when I didn't give my bandsaw the respect it deserves after everyone is stating that it's the safest tool in the shop - I was cutting off 4" off of a log as a test cut, and pushed the log on it's round side… blade cought int, tried to spin the log on the table, and it went flying by, knocked my fingers real good. luckily, other than a sore finger (no, not that one) nothing major happened.


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## glynn (Apr 23, 2009)

It happens when we are not all there.I was working on a job once and my job was to shoot metal door jambs to a concrete floor. I shot one down backwards so had to pop it up and turn it around. Hammer and chisel safe enough right I did a full swing with a 22 oz estwing hammer glanced off the chisel and hit myself in the knee that knocked my leg out from under me and my chest hit the concrete floor,knocked the wind out of me.So Im moaning and gasping on the floor and a coworker comes up to me and asked me if I was alright. When I could breathe I said yes and he asked me if I could do it again he missed it.


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## rustfever (May 3, 2009)

i tried to cut my hand off witha contractors worm drive 'Skil' saw. Nearly made it. Spent a nite in the hospital and 9 week doing almost nothing useful.
OUCH
Ira


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## pkdman (May 11, 2010)

Glad your OK Lisa.
My most 'memorable' near miss happened when I was rough turning a green burl one day. I happened to be wearing a long sleeve shirt, gloves, faceshield, and had the lathe guard in place. I was concentrating on the tip of the gouge as I moved from left to right when suddenly my sleeve caught. It ripped my whole sleeve off of my shirt. I wasn't hurt in any way, fortunately. But it is something I'll never forget.
Needless to say, turning green, narly, burly wood that is not even close to round has it's dangers, not to mention the ocassional chunk of bark, or cracked piece, that suddenly erupts from the turning. 
Stay safe, be safe. A guard that protects you from the 'line of fire' is priceless.


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## hazbro (Mar 19, 2010)

I love seeing these old threads dug up since I haven't been a member that long.

When I was in the sixth grade woodshop class I took a special liking to the lathe. Turned bowl after bowl.

And I thought I was hot ******************** at it. Until I got too comfortable and too aggressive and bit in too hard and had the gouge catch and fly up directly into the bottom of my chin. 6 stitches. No lawsuit.

the good old days.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

My most dangerous near miss was when the wife almost caught me moving another new tool into the shop. . . . I'm still using the "Yeah, it's kinda scary, I don't know where all these things keep coming from, it's almost like those things multiply" ploy.


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## HanselCJ (Feb 11, 2010)

I too just had my first explosion last week. A little spooky, but that is what safety gear is for. Glad you weren't hurt!


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## 4woodturning (Mar 28, 2010)

Glad to hear your OK Lisa, we all have done it or will do it some time in the turning world. after purchasing my Oneway I wasn't used to the controls yet and not looking, i bumped the VS to 2700rpms while reaching for the stop button and shattered a 23" splated platter all over my shop, pieces stuck in to my ceiling, broke some lights but after repairs were done, turned a 22" bowl and my confidence was restored. I left the holes in my ceiling just as a reminder. we just have to learn form our mishaps to keeps us safe and make better turners out of us. Ride that horse like you stole it


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## Yekrub (Mar 9, 2010)

In my junior high shop class, a lot of years ago, I was turning a oversized judges mallet head and the tool caught on a nail that somehow was glue into the sheets of wood. The whole thing exploded off the chuck and hurl across the shop into the 4'X12' safty glass window between the shop and the classroom that was 10-12 feet away. The glass shattered but restricted the piece from going thru. My shop teaching gave another class on saftey the next day. Luckily no one was hurt.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

My first was also my first attempt at turning a bowl with a tenon. I managed to turn through and found a HUGE crack I wasn't aware of, right where the tenon met the main part of the blank. before I could even notice it looked or felt funny there was a loud popping noise, and the blank went whizzing by my head, skipping ever so slightly off of my face shield and scalp, then went on to the shop light and smashed out a bulb. I had about a 2" scrape / cut on my scalp. Not much blood, not too much to worry about…


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## miles125 (Jun 8, 2007)

I've had a few shaper knives break and go flying . I recall an old timer i used to work with had one break and punched a hole through his cheek. He kept working the rest of the day while dabbing at the blood with his handkerchief. Lol…They don't make em like that anymore.


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