A Lesson Learned Regarding Safety Glasses.

[Michael Ginsberg]

The other day I deceided to make my own version of a "Rocket Launcher" tool rack. I was cutting my PVC tubes on my Rikon 18" bandsaw using the fence as a guide for the repetitive lengths of the tubes. I guess my tube was not at a true 90 degrees to the blade and it bound up and shattered. I never knew PVC shatters...IT DOES!!! After getting the crap scared out of me... I realized that I had six cuts on my fingers, a cut on my cheek just below my eye and a cut in the middle if my chest where the shard went right through my heavy shirt (that one bruised an area of about six inches-still sore three days later).
I wanted to share my experience so no one else will get hurt.

Michael

[Tim Thiebaut]

I am glad that things werent worse then they were for you, it only takes a second for something like this to happen. I had a scare on my table saw years ago...a kick back that smacked my across the face and split my nose wide open, didnt touch the saw for months after that. Glad you are basicly ok though and that it wasnt worse,lets all be careful in our shops!

[Richard Galloway]

No one should run ANY wood working tool without at least safety glasses, and a face shield is probably a better idea. Glad you were not hurt and thank you for posting a reminder for the rest of us...

[bob svoboda]

Michael. Really glad you weren't hurt any worse. Those kinds of things happen so fast it's unbelievable. Thanks for reminding all of us to be careful around our tools.

[Tim Flynn]

I was planning on running PVC pipes in my shop to have air hook ups at different locations. I read about the failure modes of PVC and discovered that it does shatter! Thats why copper or rubber is a better recomendation. I am glad to hear you are ok. Thanks for sharing!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Michael - stuff like that happens so quickly - there is no way to be prepared other than safety glasses and making sure that your hands are always in a safe position. Glad you were not hurt worse!

Thanks for sharing!

[Russell Smallwood]

Michael,

Reminders regarding safety glasses are always a net positive for everyone IMHO.

I lost an eye to a kickback accident 15 years ago, safety glasses would have prevented it.

[Scott Hubl]

Sorry you got hurt, glad your OK and it was not worse.

I wore my safety glasses, I used my Table Saw to cut the PVC.

I used my Incra miter gauge, it has and extending arm with a flip down piece for repeat cuts, I used it as a Wedge against the pvc to hold it in place. I placed a block of wood along my TS Fence before the blade.

I could then slide the pvc up to that block of wood then slide the miter gauge forward to make the cut, the pvc was Clear of the block before entering the blade, cut them like butter. I used the OEM blade that came with the saw, not my WW II.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I think it's much safer to cut PVC pipe on a miter saw than the bandsaw, for just that reason....

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Cross cutting (or diagonal cutting) anything round is spooky because the beginning and end of the cut is not supported directly underneath by the saw table. Therefore, it can rotate and bind. I know, I did this only one time...one time only. Instead use a v-groove jig to better support the piece.

And Russell...that is a really, really hard way to learn a lesson. Wow.

-Jeff :)

[Lee Koepke]

Cross cutting (or diagonal cutting) anything round is spooky because the beginning and end of the cut is not supported directly underneath by the saw table. Therefore, it can rotate and bind. I know, I did this only one time...one time only. Instead use a v-groove jig to better support the piece.

And Russell...that is a really, really hard way to learn a lesson. Wow.

-Jeff :)yup ... learned that lesson trimming a small log .... gets your attention!

[Neil Brooks]

I've had problems -- serious problems -- with my eyes for all of my 46 years.

At this point, I have to wear fluid-filled "scleral lenses":

http://www.eyeworld.org/images/New_Articles/2005/Mar05/104.jpg

They're actually made out of a polymer that's similar TO polycarbonate, in impact-resistance, and cover my ENTIRE eyeball !

But OVER those, I wear polycarb glasses.

Vision: you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

Glad you're okay, and ... thanks for the reminder !

[Dan Hintz]

At this point, I have to wear fluid-filled "scleral lenses":
Note to others: Do not do a Google image search on "scleral lenses" unless your heart is strong. The majority of them are Sci-Fi effects lenses (think Sith from Star Wars), and with how large the Google images are, it makes you jump a bit when not expecting it.

[Richard Dooling]

I've had a piece of PVC explode in a miter box. Had to change my pants.

Now I use a hack saw or a Saws-all.

Thanks for the safety reminder.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Thanks for the story. I think it is wonderful for people to share stories like this. We all can become complacent when a lot of time lapses between "close calls". It helps us think before we attempt something we have not done before.

[Russell Smallwood]

And Russell...that is a really, really hard way to learn a lesson. Wow.
-Jeff :)

Yeah, it was. But good things came of it in the end. Hardly think about it anymore.

[Gregory King]

Some food for thought here. A few years ago, we were cutting the ends off 6 inch diameter rolls of meat wrapping paper on the bandsaw. We were, without thinking, cutting at the same time as we were rolling it into the blade. I'm sure everyone knows what happened next. In a flash, the blade grabbed the roll abruptly and twisted it out of our hands while shredding the paper at the same time. All in a split second. Lesson learned. Mount it onto a sliding bed with a fence, from that point on. Lucky that our fingers were not near the blade when that happened. Isn't it amazing now that everytime I turn on the bandsaw, I'm reminded of that incident.

[Neil Brooks]

Note to others: Do not do a Google image search on "scleral lenses" unless your heart is strong. The majority of them are Sci-Fi effects lenses (think Sith from Star Wars), and with how large the Google images are, it makes you jump a bit when not expecting it.

LOL !

And the NON sci-fi/special effects pictures ... aren't a whole lot more pleasant !

[Ron Conlon]

I've had problems -- serious problems -- with my eyes for all of my 46 years.

At this point, I have to wear fluid-filled "scleral lenses":

http://www.eyeworld.org/images/New_Articles/2005/Mar05/104.jpg

They're actually made out of a polymer that's similar TO polycarbonate, in impact-resistance, and cover my ENTIRE eyeball !

But OVER those, I wear polycarb glasses.

Vision: you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

Glad you're okay, and ... thanks for the reminder !

I thought you were making the world's smallest martini!

[Dan Forman]

Never cut anything cylindrical on the bandsaw without some sort of jig to keep it from spinning. Often just a clamp will suffice. If you use the fence to measure, set the fence an inch or so too long, and use a block to make up the difference, and measure to the block, so that the workpiece can go through the blade without touching the fence. Sorry you had to learn the hard way.

Dan

[Anthony Whitesell]

I often ponder getting contacts or Lasik and ditching the glasses. Then one of two things make me keep them. Either a story like this, or when I take them off and see how dirty they are or the scratches on them, and to know if I didn't have the glasses on that stuff would all be in my eyes.

For work, I'm required to wear safety glasses and the OSHA prescription glasses are not that much more expensive (usually about $25) than regular glasses. Now that I know, I'm not sure that I will buy regular glasses again. If I'm going to be wearing glasses, I might as well get some benefit out of them.

[Brent Ring]

I often ponder getting contacts or Lasik and ditching the glasses. Then one of two things make me keep them. Either a story like this, or when I take them off and see how dirty they are or the scratches on them, and to know if I didn't have the glasses on that stuff would all be in my eyes.

For work, I'm required to wear safety glasses and the OSHA prescription glasses are not that much more expensive (usually about $25) than regular glasses. Now that I know, I'm not sure that I will buy regular glasses again. If I'm going to be wearing glasses, I might as well get some benefit out of them.

I did recently get LASIK and STILL wear safety glasses. I actually got the magnifing kind and like the shop vision I get now better than my vision with my glasses previous to LASIK.

When turning I wear bot those and face shield.

[Mike Schuch]

I probably have about 10 pairs of safety glasses around... so I always have a pair handy when I need them. They always seem to migrate to the top of the dresser in the bed room. Good thing they are so cheap at HF... I will usually pick up another extra pair when I find them on sale.

[Norman Hitt]

I think it's much safer to cut PVC pipe on a miter saw than the bandsaw, for just that reason....

Dan, I started to cut some 3/8" slices off of 1" Sched 40 PVC collars with my mitre saw for use on an electrical project but the mitre saw only cut about 1/3 through and the collar shattered. The collar was held firmly in place in a jig that I had built specifically for that operation, so I thought I might need to go slower through the cut, but the second one shattered also at the same depth into the cut. I don't know if it was because the slices were thin that caused it to shatter or maybe the TPI of the blade, or what, but I quickly went to plan "B" and drug out my old reliable HF horizontal/vertical, slow turning metal cutting bandsaw, and the metal cutting blade with the higher tpi blade and slower blade speed worked perfectly. Note: I did have all the safety gear on and didn't get a scratch, but the loud bang was a little disconcerting.