bret

bret

Well Known Member
Rotating piece of long twisted piece of razor sharp steel drilling's coming off a drill press. So there I was rebuilding the three foot Dia. fan assembly for our loader mounted snow blower, while drilling the stack of the fan paddle mounts, there was this annoying 12 in. drilling whipping me in the arm, so... with my gloves on I grabbed it hard and pulled, it instantly wrapped around the bit and pulled in while I was pulling, 1.5 seconds was not enough time for my brain to say let go, it cut right through the glove and down to the bone in a slow jerking motion. not a building experience, but just thought I would share.
 
Sounds to me like you should call the NTSB as this could be classified as an airplane accident.

OUCH, I hope you heal quickly and didn't bleed on your project!
 
YOU, my friend, are a lucky duck! Thank the lord you still have the appendage attached to your body. We all live and learn.
 
If you were getting whipped, it sounds like your drill might have been turning too fast. At what speed was your drill press operating? I don't mean to sound critical, this just might be something for someone else to avoid. Lots of folks use regular store-bought drill presses for drilling steel. When I was in the market for one, I couldn't find a store-bought model that turned at less than 220 RPM. Many of the cheaper bench top models turn at 600+ RPM on the lowest setting. :eek:

I found an old Dayton model on CL (originally sold by Grainger) that has a minimum speed of 150 RPM, which is ideal for drilling holes in steel.
 
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This was at work, industrial model with shift on the fly speed change, 7/16 bit at 250 rpm, been fabricating and welding for 30 years, I think I just had a Senior moment, never had this happen before, but then again, I am accident prone for all those that work around me, I guess it was just my turn. More beer please, the pain is subsiding.
 
I dont want to sound like an expert, but whenever you are drilling a deep hole you should peck every 1/16 or so to break the shavings. Just put pressure then release pressure quickly every 1/16 or so. The metal should break and fly away when you peck at it.
 
N941WR said:
Sounds to me like you should call the NTSB as this could be classified as an airplane accident.

OUCH, I hope you heal quickly and didn't bleed on your project!
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You should have filed a flight plan. The FAA and NTSB seem to think that if you have a flight plan, all will be ok:rolleyes:
 
benbell4140 said:
I dont want to sound like an expert, but whenever you are drilling a deep hole you should peck every 1/16 or so to break the shavings. Just put pressure then release pressure quickly every 1/16 or so. The metal should break and fly away when you peck at it.
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this was the first thing i thought of. glad you still got the fingers : )
 
Ouch!!!!!! Good story, thanks for the warning.
Brought to mind the use of a fly cutter on the drill press. When I've got that operation going I try to think "one arm tied behind my back". One hand is for "pulling the handle" (or hitting the OFF switch) and my other hand is behind my back. Just makes it that much harder to get any appendage anywhere close to that spinning hunk of sharp metal.
Good luck with your recovery.

Doug
Seattle area
-4, wings
 
benbell4140 said:
I dont want to sound like an expert, but whenever you are drilling a deep hole you should peck every 1/16 or so to break the shavings. Just put pressure then release pressure quickly every 1/16 or so. The metal should break and fly away when you peck at it.
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Take it from someone who has been a machinist for 35 or so years, what Ben said is correct. Also, what Arnie said about gloves. Wearing gloves around rotating equipment where I work, can get you some time off.
 
Another "loose clothing" incident

Just yesterday I was giving a class on woodshop safety.It was surprising how many students thought it was safer to work with gloves on. (Think-slivers). One of the worst accidents I ever witnessed was in a high school woodshop where a student had a drill press snag his necktie and pull him into the chuck. Fortunately, another student saw what was happening and was able to turn off the machine before the student was strangled. Aside from some terrible cuts and bruises, the student survived. Gloves are a no-no except when dealing with extreme heat or cold.
 
woodmanrog said:
Just yesterday I was giving a class on woodshop safety.It was surprising how many students thought it was safer to work with gloves on. (Think-slivers). One of the worst accidents I ever witnessed was in a high school woodshop where a student had a drill press snag his necktie and pull him into the chuck. Fortunately, another student saw what was happening and was able to turn off the machine before the student was strangled. Aside from some terrible cuts and bruises, the student survived. Gloves are a no-no except when dealing with extreme heat or cold.
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I used to work in a shop that manufactured thermocouples (I think that's the word). We hated using gloves, but they sure bought us that precious second around the blast furnaces whenever we were loading items from the furnaces into the spools - slag was a common issue (as was lighting gloves on fire, never a dull moment around 1800 deg Celcius furnaces), not to mention we regularily worked all of 14-16" away from the actual furnace's outlets
 
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