Sometimes you have to laugh

[Scott Hackler]

I have continued on my Christmas ornament obsession and have been pushing the limit with pierced ornaments and different designs. So, tonight I just got done thinning (to 1/8") some oak to a "bell" shape. I was getting it ready to be attached with the dremel tool. Sanded it to 440 and decided to touch up the top just a tad with the gouge.

With the dust collector on and sucking up all the dust from the dry oak..... instant catch and watched 30 minutes worth of work fly off the lathe and get sucked into the dust collector tube and got hear it getting ground up in the works.

I just laughed, turned off everything and went into the house. :cool:

[Paul Douglass]

Yep, it happens. You did the right thing. Go at it again tomorrow. Sorry.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thats when it is time to call it a day.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I've had the same thing happen but have managed to luck out a few times because of the 2 stage trash can thingy I have. All the shavings stay in the thrash can and not into the DC bags and manage to cushion stuff when they get sucked into the system.

[alex carey]

the worst part of turning is that with in an instant your work can disappear into a vacuum of space and time. The best part is that tomorrow in just a few hours you will crank out another piece just as good if not better and the feelings of accomplishment and gratification will soon reappear. Turning is the opium of the wood working world. We are constantly getting our next fix.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've been there.

Recently...I was buffing out a baby rattle for my soon to be born twin grandchildren.....buffer grabbed it out of my hands....slammed it down between the ways on the lathe......it landed on the floor in a pile of maple shavings! Whew!

[Gary Chester]

Interesting timing Scott...

Maybe a glass of wine would help... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131876 (chuckle)

And somebody's tag line somewhere is something like "Never under any circumstances make the last cut..."

[Scott Hackler]

Aint that the truth. I knew better. I knew I shouldnt touch this 1/8" fragile dude but I didnt listen to reason. I ruined another one of these a fews days ago by doing the same thing, but I had already pierced it. Boy it was pretty and super delicate. Didnt stop me from touching up a faint divider line only to have it explode into 3 pieces, :)

Sometime we have to learn the hard way.... twice!!!

[John Keeton]

Scott, you have obviously learned the point of this lesson!! When something like this happens, do not, I repeat, do not attempt anything else in the shop that evening.

I have always maintained that there are disaster demons that lurk outside my shop. Their only source of sustenence is shop disaster.

When one is able to squeeze under the door, it is there for its relatively short life - about 4 hours - if not fed any more failures. Should I try anything of consequence, the results are predictable.

You just gotta leave and let the demon starve. Don't feed the demons!!

[Don McClure]

The enemy of good is "better".

[Baxter Smith]

Lost plenty of sandpaper, sanding discs and even a 2" foam sanding pad last week when I fumbled it taking it out of the drill chuck but so far no turnings!:) I always go through the shavings when I empty the cyclone barrel. Lots of still good sandpaper pieces.

[Michael Mills]

After losing pieces of sandpaper I covered the intake with a piece of hardware cloth. The nylon mesh bags that oranges and other things come in works well also. Either will work for sanding, neither would work for chips or shavings.
Mike

[Scott Hackler]

Michael, Thats a good tip. I will look into getting some mess to cover the tube of the project grinder upper. :)