Safety tips

[Myford Matt]

A few days ago I asked for some advice on choosing a compressor and made an only slightly light-hearted comment about pushing swarf around with compressed air. Quite correctly this was pointed out as being a potentially poor idea and I am grateful for the tip.

Given the surprising number of newbies who pop up hear (myself included) what other top tips for not ending up in casualty are there? All suggestions welcome: from using a grinder or propane torch to drilling and hammering.

(I'm sure there are lots of witty answers about common sense, but what may be obvious to you may not be obvious to me, let alone a young lad (or lass) a bit too eager to get started on a machine tool, silver soldering or a spot of grinding.)

We want this ;D not this

I'll kick the ball rolling with:

1. Always safety specs, buy the best you can.

2. ... oh yes, and don't push swarf around with compressed air.

Cheers

MM

[Deleted]

No. 1 Has to be eye protection, despite this I have had 2 trips to casualty over the last 30 years as a professional engineer due to swarf going over the top of my specs!
No.2 Is also pretty obvious; never, ever, leave a chuck key in the chuck. I've seen the result of someone doing this and it was not funny. Fortuantely no one was hurt.
No. ? About one ever 2 years check all your 13

[alanstepney]

1.Eye protection, particularly when using wire brushes

2. NEVER use a file without a handle

3, loose clothing when using machinery is a recipe for disaster


Lots more, which I am sure others will add, but mostly come down to common sense and thinking "what can go wrong".

The one tip I would add, is stop BEFORE you get tired. Its all too easy to think "I'll just finish this before I stop", when, WHOOPS.

[Deleted]

Oooops finger slipped!
As I was saying about plugs; the terminal clamp screws have a habit of coming loose, well at least mine do.
Use a barrier cream, some people seem impervious to oil and coolant whilst most of us end up with dry skin or worse.
On occasion it may be necessary to clamp a chuck within a chuck, be very careful and support the work with a centre if possible. I heard how one flew out of a lathe on a mezzanine floor and narrowly missed someones head at a machine on the floor below.
As far as our model making is concerned I guess silver soldering is one of that many of us might not think of as too dangerous. Just don't breath in those cadmium fumes! I do all my work outdoors.
One more; buy decent quality bi metal hacksaw blades, those cheap ones can shatter with unpleasant results.

[lancelot]

Hello all,
most of the nails have been hit on the head, but here is one to ponder on...
some few years ago I worked in an establishment where the department I worked in required ''ear'' protection but not ''eye'' protection[optical quality]. I had occasion to use a high speed metal router and some times the cutter would break, thus requiring a high speed ''duck'' out of its path. The point I am making is that although I wore optical quality glasses, [normal bifocal] all that was provided for me at that time were safety ''goggles'' which went over the glasses. I did some research at a number of obticians and found that the wearing of ''goggles'' over ordinary glasses, bifocal or not, reduced the optical quality of the lenses thus posing a danger to the wearer. I then approached the health and safety people at work with my findings the end result being that optical quality safety glasses were provided for the department and eventually company wide.
This is surely something to think about if operating a mill or lathe in the environment which most of us ''Model Engineers'' are used to.
All the best for now,
John.

[houstonceng]

Apart from the already mentioned - my 10off and not in priority order.

1. Keep your hands and body behind the cutting edge of tools - seen a few nasty gashes from wood chisels where the user - not me - did the opposite. Chisel slipped. Day in casualty.

2. Don't wear finger rings in a workshop - if they get caught, your finger may be ripped off.

3. Don't hold metal in your hand - especially sheet - whilst you drill a hole with a pillar drill. Drilling M/C accidents were (are) the highest single cause of injury in workshops.

4. Keep your hair short - or wear a hat/hair-net. "Scalping by lathe or pillar drill" ain't nice.

5. Don't clear swarf with your bare hands. Especially if the M/C is running as well.

6. Have some form of "lone person alarm" - if you don't have a buddy with you in the 'shop. A mobile phone, extension of the house phone, cheap baby alarm, etc. If you do injure yourself, you can call for help instead of waiting to be found.

7. If you dont uderstand electricity - don't mess with it. Consult a competent person.

8. Don't use a tool for a purpose for which it wasn't designed. If you use a screw-driver as a lever or punch - for example - it could break or slip and a soft part of you may "stop it" (See 1)

9. Treat everything in a workshop as potentially dangerous and don't relax your guard just because "you've done this a thousand times". The 1001th time may take your arm off.

10. Don't use any tool that you aren't familiar with. At the least RTFM (Read the F*****G manual). If you are still not 100% certain, ask someone who is. Better to look a fool with all parts of you intact rather than proving you are a fool with a missing finger, toe, arm, leg, eye, etc.

[Lurkio]

Common sense as mentioned by alan of course.
To echo others, eye protection has to be number 1. Eventually you'll get to feel naked without your safety specs. It's hard to believe they were once not worn (just take alook at some old industrial film footage).
Don't be in a hurry - that's a recipe for some sort of disaster. Think the task through.
Keep fingers away from swarf, especially as it comes off a cut. Common sense of course, but I've seen injuries from it.
Wear decent footwear. Keeps you sure-footed around your machinery and provides protection.
The list goes on......

Lurkio

[steamjohn248]

No one has mentioned using a file on a workpiece in a lathe chuck. Perhaps the reaction will be NEVER do it. Well yes in an ideal world but I'm sure we've all been tempted take the sharp edge or a burr off a job, etc.
I am tempted and sometimes do it, but always with the job running backwards. The obvious danger of the far end of the file being hit by a chuck jaw going in the normal direction about 1000 rpm does't bear thinking about if its going to propel it towards you, no handle on the file and it would probably kill you! If your lathe doesnt run backwards put the file UNDER the job, (I know files dont cut on the back stroke but it works well enough).

John

[paul]

If anyone requires advice about safety prescription eyewear ask away or PM me, I'm a qualified optician with 31 years experience

(Shameless plug: If you live in the area bounded by Birkenhead-Nottingham-South Birmingham-Worcester I can also offer you a good deal PM for details as I'm sure advertising here is a no-no).

My dad worked on milling machines in the 60's and almost everyone at his works ended up at the eye infirmary on a regular basis; almost none of them wore eye protection.

If anyone would like graphic details or images of the sort of injuries that you might sustain just let me know - I can assure you you will be wearing armour-plated specs in next to no time!

One thing that concerns me is tiny fragments of metal that become embedded in the skin. About three years ago (before I started making models) I had to go to hospital with a hot/swollen/painful calf - turned out there was a blockage in the vein at the back of the knee. The consultant thought the most likely explanation was a 'micro-puncture' that could be picked up (and subsequently enter the bloodstream) even by wiping your hand over a surface with sharp particles!

I wonder whether latex gloves should be worn except when using heat?

[jhaines]

Check your route before carrying heavy things, On a couple of occasions I have nearly tripped whilst carrying a 2" TE, or alternatively got to where I thought I wanted to put it and found the bench too cluttered to put it down.

[greasemonkey]

Wear the right clothing!! As a teenager I had a 'warm' leg when I felt it was to hot to put the overalls on before using a large angle grinder. To make matters worse I wasnt wearing gloves either so putting the nylon based trousers out left me with some uncomfortale burns. I was lucky but I learnt the lesson, now its never to hot.
Ear protection is another necessary, I use the disposable plugs when grinding.
Before using the gas torch check what is above the hearth area. I have an intresting shaped lamp above my bench now!!
Andy

[alanstepney]

paul said:

If anyone requires advice about safety prescription eyewear ask away or PM me, I'm a qualified optician with 31 years experience

(Shameless plug: If you live in the area bounded by Birkenhead-Nottingham-South Birmingham-Worcester I can also offer you a good deal PM for details as I'm sure advertising here is a no-no).

Whilst advertising is frowned upon in this section, there is the "Buy,sell,exchange -Trade" section and as it is ME related, I am sure a post there wouldnt go amiss.

[cardiffpat]

If you must use one of those nasty 'pump screwdrivers' around the house, don't store it in the closed 'loaded' position, anyone, children ect could pick it up, look at the end & release it.

Have a couple of 'in date' fire extinguishers properly positioned, not stuffed under the bench amongst odds & ends.

[SteveW]

Guys,

I wear glasses and have problem of condensation if I wear goggles. Instead I use one of those polycarb visors. These have the double benefit of deflecting hot swarf from going down my shirt.

My other favourite and already mentioned is ear defenders or as I refer to them "BRAIN CLAMP". These combined with thick gloves allow you to hit things harder. These things, although more extensive than simple plugs, don't need routine replacing or even finding the other one. A surprise to me a while back was to require ear defenders while arc welding, I assume because of the high frequencies from the air exploding around the arc.

Then there is having good illumination and finally keep it tidy. This last one is my biggest sin. Oops!

[Jo]

Always respect your tools and equipment: the most simple will bite you if you come complacent. Something as simple as wiping off the swarf from your steel rule with your fingers will quickly teach you that even the most innocent of tools can cause injury.

Swarf has a natural tendency to be friendly even when when you are not using the equipment. It attaches itself to your clothes and then seems to reappears at the most awkward moments, in my experience often when you are in bed.

Jo

[jgb7573]

Take care when changing belts. I have a Super 7 and went to change the speed without stopping the motor as I was in a hurry. Having shifted the belt, I then operated the wrong lever (clutch instead of belt tensioner) and my finger ended up between the pulley and the belt. I ALWAYS turn the power off now!

[Deleted]

When the inevitable happens and you get a bit of swarf stuck in your finger, try this tip given to me by an old toolmaker: Rub your hacksaw blade teeth in the cutting direction (for the saw if you get my meaning) across the effected area, I was dubious at first but it works every time and far quicker than fumbling with tweezers, if you can remember where you left them.
Whilst on the subject of swarf, I moved over to using paper towels instead of rags about 10 years ago as the potential for picking up hidden bits of swarf is much reduced.

[Peter W.]

Yes, paper towels seconded.
Also, use a cheap 1" paint brush for clearing swarf.

( Or a BIG brush for a BIG machine !)

[abby]

never wear loose long sleeves when drilling on your drill press , I was drilling a quarter hole in a thick steel plate and the swarf was coming off in a long spiral , the end snagged the sleeve of my jumper which then wrapped around the chuck. Fortunately the belt was loose enough to slip so no injury, but the switch was on the left side of the drill and I couldn't reach it , I had to yank the plug out by the cable

[dogioio]

Hi All Have been blowing swarf for 40 years with a few small mishaps ! A recent purchase was a VAX VO3000 Vac cleaner from B&Q [£30] Excelent for cleaning after major swarf has been removed also for cleaning miller. Original purpose was a extraction for clarkson grinder. Work well for modest outlay There...Ive done it !st Post Superb site