chrisk said:Turn it off at the switch if you've got kids around!
I came home after a week away, to go into my shed to find the lathe running! What the?
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# 2 daughter (4 at the itime) had hit the "nice green button" when getting her scooter out!
Needless to say, she got a very quick lesson about the big red button, and the lathe is now, and has been for years, on the same circiut as the radio, when the radio has power ..... lathe, mill and drillpress are armed and ready to go. (I always leave the radio switched on and turn off at the wall)
TF, she wasn't dragged into it!
Grant said:When you say future operations is that some admission by Myford that you will end up in A&E????![]()
veravista said:#2 - get a spring loaded chuck key, a must for the inexperienced.
Dellortoman said:I'm not a lathe expert by any means, but I've enough experience to develop a dislike of spring loaded chuck keys.
The tech college I used to attend (a long time ago) had a lathe with a spring-loaded chuck key. It was a pain in the arse. I reckon that key jumped out of the chuck and landed on the floor, or down the back of the lathe bed about 100 times. If it had been my lathe, I would have thrown that bloody spring into a far corner of the workshop. While it eliminated the risk of leaving the key in the chuck, it created other risks like partially disengaging when you didn't want it to, so it slips out when you try to tighten it and you bash your knuckles in the chuck guard.
I reckon it also had the potential to compromise student training. Students didn't need to develop the habit of thinking about the chuck key. Many of them would have gone on to use other lathes that were not so equipped and expected the chuck key to do the thinking for them.
If you believe you need to idiot-proof your lathe, an interlocked chuck guard might be a better option.
The simplest and best solution is to be vigilant with your safety procedures and develop good habits. The best thing about this solution is that it goes with you when you use other machines.
Cheers,
Cam