I did a really dumb thing early Sunday morning. Got up about 6;00 am and started turning down a foam core for a handle. I heard a noise that sounded like a bearing going out in the tail stock on my shopsmith. I don't hear very well so instinctively put my ear down a little closer to the tail stock and next thing I was jerked into the tool rest, the 3/8' stainless steel mandrel is bent 45 dregees as I'm struggling to turn of the shopsmith off. There was a softball size of hair wrapped around the mandrel, I have (had) shoulder lenght hair. I lost about half the hair on the right side of my head. I was very lucky that it did not scalped, just pulled the hair out by the roots, it didn't bleed too much. I realize that I still live in the 70's and most of the builders don't have long hair but you do wear long sleves and we all have brain farts once in awhile. Next time your using a power tool or any tool for that matter, remember the stupid thing that I did and work safe!!!!

Hi Keith, good to hear that you are ok and thank you for the safety share. I work in the mining industry and we always like to share incidents to ensure that it doesn't happen to others. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

I would also add to your saftey brief, long shirt sleeves, necklaces or anything loose and dangling as these can caught in rotating machines.

regards Adam

Had a machine shop teacher in high school who did the same thing with a drill press, but he was scalped with a 3 inch patch off the top of his head. Hippies beware around machinery!!....LOL

Tools are wonderful but, VERY dangerous machines. I had an accident a few years back. It was embarassing to give a seminar at the ICRBE with my hand bandaged. It is a constant reminder and I now give my tools the utmost respect. I DO NOT do anything that is not safe or try to push things like I did before. Be glad it is not permanent or fatal. We all do things we look back and say to ourselves "What was I thinking?" I sure have. Glad you are ok and i will bet the bank it will never happen again. Come to the ICRBE(Sticks and Bones) and shake my hand and we can talk tools. I wish you a speedy recovery

I gotta admit I have a finger thats not quite as long as the same on my opposite hand. Long story but power tools can bite you bad.

I have a metal cutting lathe that scares me to death. There are so many spinning gears I always think to myself " What if" Then get a little weirded out.

I gotta admit I have a finger thats not quite as long as the same on my opposite hand. Long story but power tools can bite you bad.

I have a metal cutting lathe that scares me to death. There are so many spinning gears I always think to myself " What if" Then get a little weirded out.

ohhhh MY! First, glad to know everything ended up better than it began. Second, thanks for the good laugh. What was so funny to me was thinking back in my younger years when I had a similar experience. Thank you Keith, and again I'm glad it turned out better than the alternative.

When I was in high school (way too long ago) a guy with a big red head afro caught his hair in the lathe and pulled out a 5" dia. chunk of scalp. I have been telling my students that for 30 years now and they all have the utmost respect for the lathe. I also tell them that the longer you work with tools eventually you will get bit, and generally the safer you are the less you are bit. We all needed to be reminded from time to time about safety. We usually get bit when in a hurry or taking things for granted.

Thanks for the reminder. I've not been taking my tools as seriously as I will tomorrow.

Craig

Thanks for sharing .My lathe still scares the daylights out of me.
Steve

Tie a bandanna onto the lath and this will remind you to ware it - before - you turn it on

All power tools demand respect

Bill - willierods.com

I work for The Foxboro Co. and they had a case of horrors. In the case was a drill bit with human hair wrapped around it. It was a constant reminder of what can happen. At another machine shop some got his hand caught in a milling machine which took off the top half of his hand. The operator got lazy and used his hand to move a oil line instead of a metal rod.
A carpenter friend of mine told me when you get overconfident about a machine that's when you get bit. Careful out there . Bill

I also know what can happen with a lathe in a split second. Sure glad you're OK!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Keith,
Look at this as an opportunity to shave your head. By having all of your hair gone, you will be in good shape, not have to worry about any hair care and be in good shape for a few months.
By shaving your head, you will rebalance the look on the top of your head and be good to go.

Lots of folks do it these days to get the unique look that they like.

I am glad that you are essentially all right and no long term damage.

Be safe
REW

Keith,
Then, after shaving your head, you can keep a baseball hat on your head to shield your eyes from any over head lighting. It will also protect the top of your head. For those of us, who are somewhat hair deprived, the wearing of a hat really helps to protect the top of the head from bumps. With no hair on the top of your head, you lose your bump sensing antenna, so a hat helps to solve that problem.

The other thing to do, is to put a safety hat on and keep it on whenever working.

Take care
REW

I too was attacked as a young long-haired rascal. Culprit was a metal lathe in my high school shop class. I still have nightmares watching my head moving into those protruding jaws on that chuck.

I never would have thought I could screach the belts and stall that monster. It cost a whole lot of hair and blood but I won the battle.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I wear a baseball cap,safety glasses and an old pair of cowboy wrist guards. The guards are used for protecting your wrists when roping or doing other chores involving horses.They are made of leather and I have found them to be great for keeping loose sleeves out of moving equipment.

Blame it on "Long Hair & Rcokn Roll". I consider myself fortunate I have short hair (20 years of getting it cut every other week makes it hard to grow very long). I am also blessed in the fact that I have a hard time finding sleeves long enough for me, let alone long enough to get caught in a lathe. I was working potato harvest one year long ago. I saw someone run his hand through the combine. It took almost every finger off his hand, then rolled skin from his arm & chest around a shaft . Needless to say I watch closely around "Spinny Things". Glad it turned out not as bad as it could have.

Kirk

On the same vein, this subject is exactly why I no longer wear any rings at all.
After a near finger losing experience, I took off all of my rings and put them away for good.

As a matter of fact, my wife had gathered up a bunch of unused jewelery the other day. I combined that with the rings that I no longer use and took them to the jeweler to sell.

Gold right now is selling for about $1750 an oz. So, the trip to the jeweler to sell the unused items turned out to be a very profitable day.

By the way, I had been in a pawn shop last week getting rid of some items from my garage attic. I noticed a lady selling some gold at the shop. so, I inquired what the going price was for a certain style and size ring. She told me her price.

When I went to the jewelry store and sold the ring, I ended up getting nearly 4X the amount that the pawn shop would have given me.
So, the jeweler told me that he charged 15% for the sale. Much better than the 70% charged by the Pawn shop.

So, when your hair is too long - cut it off.
When you worry about machinery and rings, take them off and sell them for the gold.


Then, get back to your wrapper and get the latest project complete.

Be safe and careful every single second of every single day.

Take care
Roger

As careful as I am with the power tools, I find all my injuries come from things that seem very "safe" on the surface. I don't have a lathe, but I also do some woodworking when I'm not building rods. I always make sure I'm wearing the appropriate safety gear and I'm very careful, making test cuts and making sure what I'm doing isn't going to get me injured or killed (table saw kickbacks, skil saw kickbacks, etc.)

So, today I was working on removing the finish from an ulua rod I'm going to repaint and rewrap. I was working on a stubborn spot of rod finish that wasn't separating from the blank. I was working at it with a single edge razor blade. Of course, the blade slips when I'm least expecting it and I send the corner of the blade right into the side of my thumb. The bleeding was quite impressive and it took me a good amount of time to get it stopped. Thankfully after I cleaned it off, it didn't look nearly as bad as it seemed when it was bleeding.

Now I have it covered with some super glue and that should keep it safe for the next few days, and I get to think about it. The only real saving grace of this is the fact that I'm left-handed, and it's my right thumb...

Have to remember to be extra careful...even with the things that seem safe.