Dangerous workshop/general idiocy thread - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: 8086
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2012, 10:37:22 pm
content: So after reading the thread about the idiot Russians and the airbag, I thought it might be worth making a thread for any really stupid and dangerous stories, videos, pictures of foolishness, misuse of tools, either in workshops, garages, labs, or wherever.Please, no gore.Here's one that always comes to mind when I think about this sort of foolishness, some kids playing with a lathe...

author: bilko
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2012, 11:11:21 pm
content: He won't do that again

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 01:02:44 am
content: That video reminded me of that depressing news about a female engineering student getting her hair caught in the lathe and killed as a result. No a nice way to go.

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 02:48:53 am
content: Ouch.

author: dcel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:49:25 am
content: No respect for a machine that can rip your arm off and beat you with it.My dad was a machinist and one fellow he worked with is missing a finger because the part he was working on grabbed his wedding ring and quickly wrapped him up into the lathe. A broken arm, elbow, dislocated shoulder and a missing finger was the result. No jewelery what so ever was allowed after that accident.Chris

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 12:11:14 pm
content: Quote from: 8086 on June 06, 2012, 10:37:22 pmI heard a story of someone poking the side of a large rotating chuck with his index finger trying to hit one of the key holes. The prize for this game is snapping the last joint of your finger (which he eventually won).I liked this onehttp://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cd88174363and this

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 12:43:29 pm
content: Wow I am glad you posted this, I now realize that for the last 47 years I have been operating the lathe from the the wrong side!

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 05:27:21 pm
content: hahh thank you for posting these. i would laugh harder on the guy if the lahe would spin another turn and wrap his leg around shaft. the other one simple deserve iti always treated every power tool etc with respect so i didnt damage one or hurt myself.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 05:34:25 pm
content: Thy tools shall be approached with care, thus beware of thy power lurketh in seemingly non-harmful tools

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 05:42:07 pm
content: That was only a fairly small lathe most likely only a couple of KW max on the motor I have seen some with 40KW motors not something you want to mess with. The last lathe that I had was 7KW that was enough power to rip your arm off without faltering.

author: bullet308
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 05:59:42 pm
content: I have a 13x40 Chinese lathe. One evening it was cold in the shop and I chose to wear a fleece pullover. The sleeve caught in the chuck and the lathe started reeling me in like a fish. Fortunately, the motor made nowhere near its rated power and it stalled when my shoulder hit the chuck without breaking my arm. :-/I learned a lot that evening.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 08:19:02 pm
content: I am not daily lathe user but whenever I turn a big lathe on that start sound shows you how much torque that thing has and it makes me extra aware what I am doing and it freaks me out to be honest so I am glad I am a electrician.

author: Architect_1077
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 08:23:13 pm
content: Lathe - 1 Moron - 0

author: McMonster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:01:12 pm
content: I'm naturally paranoid, I'm constantly focused on avoiding potential dangers since early years. I don't even approach a PCB drill or soldering iron without wearing protective glasses. But it didn't stop me from climbing some trees and doing some other moderately dangerous things as a child, so I had quite standard childhood.

author: MikeK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:29:47 pm
content: Even as a teenager I was never that stupid. Unfortunately, teenage brains aren't wired the same as adult brains. I'm sure teenage cavepeople did stupid things too.

author: Jeff1946
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:31:15 pm
content: Speaking of rings, always take rings off before working under a dashboard. Shorting a car battery across a ring can generate a lot of heat.

author: Architect_1077
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:45:34 pm
content: We all do stupid things as teenagers. However, some teenagers seem to do dumber things than othersAlthough, it is these types of cocky games that get youngsters hurt or killed...

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 10:53:47 pm
content: I've shown this one to a few machinists. I ask them to try to predict the outcome from the first frame. Everybody guesses fingers and arms coming off. Nobody has ever predicted that the youth would end up at the other side of the lathe with his foot jammed in the chuck and not his hand.The exercise proved beneficial with two young machinists who were rather heroic with their lathes.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 07, 2012, 11:22:09 pm
content: Here is another one. I show this one up to 2:25 and then ask the winch guys to tell me the mistakes that they see and predict any accidents that may happen. You are welcome to try as well.The answer is that there is nothing wrong and everything is normal. Only one very experienced winch operator answered that the whine of the brake slowing down the load was not a good sign and that brake will need repair soon. I bought him a beer for that.

author: dcel
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 04:49:48 am
content: Quote from: Jeff1946 on June 07, 2012, 10:31:15 pmYES , but underdash is not nearly as bad as a wrench on a battery terminal, ring on finger coming in contact with frame rail of semi-truck with four large batteries!That poor inattentive man lost a wrench, a ring and a finger over that mistake. It was ugly to say the least.Professional "dash divers" like me know, no jewelery and watches, also pay close attention to where the metal zipper on a hooded sweatshirt is at all times.Chris

author: siliconmix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 09:14:36 am
content: that lathe guy.what a knob

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 09:23:21 am
content: I consider the idiot playing with the power button a bigger idiot. WTF was he thinking turning it on?

author: Architect_1077
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 09:58:50 am
content: QuoteThat was the whole point... they were trying to show how they were stronger than a lathe. Typical "I'm an invincible teenager" crap.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 02:24:17 pm
content: HAL, that is a great video that shows that accidents can always happen (differently than the crazy guy on the OP).Back in the university one guy got his shirt caught by the connecting wheel between a motor and a generator (in the electrical machines lab) - it was a three-phase 380V 3/4HP motor with all the connections exposed in the top, therefore not only he could have suffocated but also electrocuted at the same time... Fortunately the lab bench was designed for saftey, and had the big red "full stop" button.Since then I have been always careful with clothes close to machines... Especially ties + shreddeers.I blew up several electrical and electronics stuff in my teenage years, but never to prove to someone else that I was "the man"... But I guess it always start with the sentence: "dude, check this out!"

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 02:46:31 pm
content: Quote from: HAL-42b on June 07, 2012, 11:22:09 pmThat looks like it was rather expensive Not sure but from the video it looks like the pinion shaft on the top sheaf failed.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 06:27:10 pm
content: Worse is that they left a loose bolt in the turbine housing.......... Koeberg.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 08, 2012, 08:31:18 pm
content: I used to work on offset printing presses. One of these had a 6 kW motor and needless to say turned quite a weight of steel so could be quite dangerous if fingers went into the wrong places and there were plenty of places with all those rollers and cylinders. Fortunately printing presses to have some pretty impressive safety systems when you think that they are simple machines really in terms of automation. There were switches connected to bars in certain places that would stop the press quite quickly, I believe the motor has a built in braking system, although this was as much to protect the press from paper fouling in it as it was to protect us using it. There were in details of we mean getting their hair trapped in them and some people losing fingertips.On our small press I did nearly lose one of my fingers myself, one evening after a long day of many long days I was trying to get the damn paper pickup system to work and get the paper moving. The cover had been taken off the paper pickup mechanism and my finger went into the wrong place fortunately not quite at the wrong time so I escaped with just shopping a fairly large lump of flesh on my finger which I quickly put a plaster round and left to heal for a few days. Had I not moved quite so fast it would have been the whole of my fingertip to go.