Drill Press

**pblaauw** · 02-07-2022, 07:08

Originally Posted by atunguyd

Just a warning. Never wear gloves with machine tools. They have a habit of being caught in the spinny part and pulling you into the machine.

Never thought about it that way. When I use a grinder or normal drill with my hoodie on I always tuck the strings inside the hoodie. Guess its better for the cutter to nick some skin than lose a hand

**Tappets** · 02-07-2022, 08:05

Originally Posted by atunguyd

Just a warning. Never wear gloves with machine tools. They have a habit of being caught in the spinny part and pulling you into the machine.

On a drill press it will probably break your hand or possibly remove it (depending on the torque of the machine). On something like a lathe or mill it has been known to pull you into the machine and make you one with the workpiece, pretty much beating the operator to death.

Gloves actually have no place in a workshop, if you don't believe me do some research yourself.
For that matter neither does loose clothing or long hair (plenty a woman has been scalped by machine tools)

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I worked at a tool and die place for a few years... One winter I kept my gloves on as I was using the mill..I was just doing quick cuts and swopping parts. Cutting bit caught me glove and thankfully ripped it right off... Co-op quality gloves... For once I was thankful they were cheap and had rubbish stitching... Never wore gloves again on a machine.

**Sean KZN** · 02-07-2022, 16:58

Originally Posted by Tappets

I worked at a tool and die place for a few years... One winter I kept my gloves on as I was using the mill..I was just doing quick cuts and swopping parts. Cutting bit caught me glove and thankfully ripped it right off... Co-op quality gloves... For once I was thankful they were cheap and had rubbish stitching... Never wore gloves again on a machine.

Moons ago the transport company I worked for had a fairly decent lathe. I had a crankshaft in the lathe which I planned to polish with some emery tape. I had the normal 2 piece overall on, the emery tape was the last of the roll so a bit too short but usable.
Lathe was on a nice slow speed, nearing the last journal, I was a bit too close, crank web hooked my pocket and pulled most of the overall off, except for my left arm which was all wrapped round my arm and the crank. Fortunately, as I got pulled closer my free hand came within range of the stop button.
Had it not been where it was, my arm would have been mangled or worse.
Leaves a person with a healthy respect for rotating equipment. It happens fast when it happens.

**Sean KZN** · 02-07-2022, 17:01

Originally Posted by Ds J

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement table for a drill press?

Depends on size and make. They can also be made without too much effort.

**str8shootr** · 03-07-2022, 10:09

Originally Posted by atunguyd

On something like a lathe or mill it has been known to pull you into the machine and make you one with the workpiece, pretty much beating the operator to death.

This reminded me of an occasion where a corporate exec who was on a tour of the plant, leaned over a running machine to pose for a photo-op with his necktie dangling. He was extremely lucky to survive but suffered major neck and facial injuries and lost a number of teeth in the process. OHSA officer had a lot of explaining to do.

**Dick** · 05-07-2022, 19:31

Originally Posted by pblaauw

Never thought about it that way. When I use a grinder or normal drill with my hoodie on I always tuck the strings inside the hoodie. Guess its better for the cutter to nick some skin than lose a hand

My dad was a fitter, and a well kitted machine shop was a big part of his work. They got a new guy who insisted on wearing a tie. One day the tie got caught in a big fast spinning chuck. My dad said that it was just luck that he happened to be in the workshop and near enough to switch the lathe off. Otherwise ............. All sorts of things can take you by surprise. An obvious one is chuck key still in the chuck when the lathe is started. Less well known is the propensity for chuck jaws at maximum radius working loose and flying like bullets. As for band saws ..............

**Bushcourt** · 05-07-2022, 20:00

Never understood my grandpa in his machine shop. If you had any loose hanging clothes on while ANY machine was running, he would politely request to go and ask grandma if you can't help in the kitchen!

My uncles party trick is to count on his fingers all the way to 7 and a half... Carpenter but same dangers!

**Dick** · 07-07-2022, 20:08

Originally Posted by shooty

Now have the Martlet 900w Semi industrial . Way over kill for my needs but so handy and alot of power on hand. And takes up to 22mm chuck.

Went further and bought a small lathe over 2ndhand. The smallest MacAfric one. And the two together is amazing. Ive made my own sizer and small parts.

I've seen the Martlett. Nice machine and worth it for a lot of use and probably has a lot less run out than the cheapies. Nice to hear about your small lathe - be glad to hear more when you can. One of the problems with American info (as well as their refusal to believe that metric exists) is that they bring big expensive equipment to the party. Most of their home workshop videos have lathes twice as big as anyone can afford elsewhere in the world, and milling machines with collets etc. Last night I watched a guy telling us how to make accurate 1-2-3 blocks. He rough machined them on a big Bridgeport mill and finished them on a surface grinder !! What most of us need is how to accomplish such things with smaller and simpler equipment. If I had to make 1-2-3 blocks I'd face them in the four jaw or flycut them in my little Myford and bring them dead to size by hand on a surface plate. And my surface plate would be a piece of thick plate glass.

**oafpatroll** · 08-07-2022, 10:44

Mate of mine trained as a machinist in the 80's. One of his tests was making blocks to some terrifying tolerance and he was only allowed to use files and a surface plate. I'm much more impressed when someone conjures something up without the benefit of a million bucks of machine tooling. Allen Millyard is such a one and is well worth a look if relatively low tech mechanical wizadry interest you.

**Dick** · 08-07-2022, 11:47

Originally Posted by oafpatroll

Mate of mine trained as a machinist in the 80's. One of his tests was making blocks to some terrifying tolerance and he was only allowed to use files and a surface plate. I'm much more impressed when someone conjures something up without the benefit of a million bucks of machine tooling. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/allenmillyard" target="_blank">Allen Millyard</a> is such a one and is well worth a look if relatively low tech mechanical wizadry interest you.

I'm going to look him up. Most of what I've learned has been from reading such guys. I'm a believer in brain picking - why reinvent the wheel? Another little safety example I forgot to mention is machine on-off switches. My little Myford sits on a steel cabinet, attached to which is a Dewhurst drum. A Dewhurst drum is an on/off/reverse switch. The lever is off at six o'clock, forward at 9 o'clock and reverse at three o'clock. I've seen photos of them attached to the front of the cabinet or the headstock where it is terrifyingly easy to knock the lever while setting up a workpiece in the chuck or worse, a slitting saw. Mine is installed on the left side of the cabinet where it is easy to reach but out of harm's way. If you spend a lot of time in a workshop this sort of thinking has to become routine and even then you'll be lucky not to get a few war wounds. My failure to observe this rule recently got me into trouble in my kitchen. Not risk of injury, just a hell of a mess. I liquidise oranges in a little blender. I had loaded it with peeled and sectioned oranges and switched on the wall socket without the lid on the blender. Shouldn't have been a problem because the blender wasn't switched on, right? WRONG. It has a peculiar switch like a big paddle which can be switched full on in one position but spring loaded for quick on-off operation by finger pressure in the other position. I'd knocked it full on when setting it up, and in seconds it liquidised the oranges and spewed the contents over half the kitchen. That's what can happen in workshops with worse consequences than a mess.