Listen to that little voice in your head...

[Mark Bolton]

Yeah, horribly scary story for sure. My gosh, I was wincing reading the whole thing. I think I have seen the video you mention of the guy being pulled into the lathe. Horrific thought. Man you were lucky. When I envisioned the bar coming out of the tailstock and bending I imagined it whipping and beating you to death after it ripped your hands/arms off... good lord. Glad your ok. Ive avoided any shop incidents but it only takes a split second and a momentary laps of judgment than anyone can have happen...

Good your on the mend and intact.

[Brian Holcombe]

It’s great to have the e-switch at knee or foot level. I just wrapped up two control boxes and placing those at knee height was something I placed pretty high importance on.

[mreza Salav]

Here is my left hand after 3 days, much much better.
The more I think about it, the more I realize what a terrible lack of judgment in the moment and how lucky I am...

hand.jpg

[Bill Dufour]

If the control switches are pushbuttons controlling a remote relay it is easy to add as many stop switches as you would like. A rope switch might work well. A light curtain might not do well with sawdust in the air?
Bill D

[Mark Bolton]

Here is my left hand after 3 days, much much better.
The more I think about it, the more I realize what a terrible lack of judgment in the moment and how lucky I am...

That looks pretty darn good for a flashback moment. Way more than a shot across the bow. Man... you are super super super lucky dude.... That could have been a catastrophically life changing moment

[Mark Bolton]

If the control switches are pushbuttons controlling a remote relay it is easy to add as many stop switches as you would like. A rope switch might work well. A light curtain might not do well with sawdust in the air?
Bill D

I dont actually know that I, or anyone other that some freak of nature, would have the where-with-all to knee, kick, hit, reach for, an e-stop in a split second catch. Light curtain or some other "dont put anything in this area" wouldnt work with people commonly reaching over and around headstocks for filing, final emery, etc..

The time from a catch to being wrapped up is likely in the millisecond range. At that point your out of sorts and getting to any e-stop is futile.

[Kris Cook]

Appreciate you for sharing this with the rest of us to learn from. It is certainly a good reminder to listen to that voice. Glad you didn't have any long-term damage.

[Kevin Jenness]

I dont actually know that I, or anyone other that some freak of nature, would have the where-with-all to knee, kick, hit, reach for, an e-stop in a split second catch. Light curtain or some other "dont put anything in this area" wouldnt work with people commonly reaching over and around headstocks for filing, final emery, etc..

The time from a catch to being wrapped up is likely in the millisecond range. At that point your out of sorts and getting to any e-stop is futile.

Yes, in the time it takes to hit the e-stop one may sustain some damage, but it may be limited by turning the machine off, and if the kill switch can be operated by foot or knee that may make the difference if both hands are tied up. One may get tangled up out of reach of the main control and stop the machine with a remote switch. There are situations where you can see a situation developing and forestall an accident- I had a piece bind on a tablesaw and avoided a kickback by kneeing the off button while holding the piece with both hands.

Mreza's original post says "the sand paper and then my glove (in left hand) caught and the whole thing made a very painful situation in a split second. Apparently (I can't recall) I have tried to use my right hand to free my left hand in the meantime and it caught too. So eventually yanked my hands and it made the piece off the tail stock (good it wasn't held tightly) and the whole piece got bent and a bit loose in the jaws. The bad thing was I was sanding at the tail stock end and my left hand caught, so couldn't reach the emergency button with my right hand easily but eventually did it." So the event wasn't over in a split second, and if he had an e-stop at the tailstock end or a foot/knee operable one he might well have been able to get free sooner.

This isn't to say alternative e-stops trump good practice at all, but they might help alleviate a disaster. I think the post title is a good one as many of the dumb mistakes I have made were when I ignored that little voice. The machines we work with will always bite if given a chance. Eternal vigilance is the price of counting to ten digitally.

[Malcolm McLeod]

In case someone is in a DIY mood, light curtains can be had in various designs and lengths: light (width) spacing can be in the finger-, hand-, or body-scale. You choose the one suitable for what you are most likely to 'insert' into some exclusion zone - - i.e. the body-scale could be used on a doorway, if the hazard is more than arms length away. For this 'body' application, the emitter/receptor pairs are on the order of 4-6cm IIRC; you might get a hand thru, but not a leg. If a punch-press is 3" from a curtain, you'd use the finger-scale curtain so nothing but an eyelash can get thru.

I suspect most SMC-ers will find the cost of light curtains to be rather high, relatively speaking - - I recall they start at $400-500 for fairly short units (8-10" length-ish). It has been a few years since I ordered any. Banner is a reputable vendor of such if you want to pursue.

Reading thru Mr. Salav's accident description, perhaps a dead-man switch would be fit-for-purpose? Simply lift your foot off the switch - - wired in series to any existing E-Stop, or other power off mechanism.

...My dad does a lot of work on the lathe, so following along intently. And, I hope the injuries heal quickly/completely.

[Mark Bolton]

This isn't to say alternative e-stops trump good practice at all, but they might help alleviate a disaster. I think the post title is a good one as many of the dumb mistakes I have made were when I ignored that little voice. The machines we work with will always bite if given a chance. Eternal vigilance is the price of counting to ten digitally.

Fully agree. Every option you can have to kill the machine/reduce the severity is well worth a shot. Ive been in the same situation as you many times where the foreshadowing of impending doom is caught with a knee to the switch and wait for wind down. I just dont think I would have ever, or will ever (now that Im in my mid 50's), have millisecond reflexes or reaction time once the event horizon has been crossed.

[Kevin Jenness]

I just dont think I would have ever, or will ever (now that Im in my mid 50's), have millisecond reflexes or reaction time once the event horizon has been crossed.

Absolutely. Bad things can happen faster than I can react. Sometimes they keep happening though. I recall a turning accident recounted in Fine Woodworking where the survivor went to turn a baseball bat after church without removing his tie, which soon got wrapped around the spindle. He repeatedly pulled away and was sucked back in until he managed to cut the tie with his gouge. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to get out of the spot bad judgment put him in.

[Mark Bolton]

Must have been a slippery silk tie lol