Bad mishap with the drill press, could have been worse, more precautions needed?

If aliens from outer space were to land on earth and their first impressions of the human race were to be reading Shoptalk, they could very well get the misimpression that drilling holes is really freakin hard.


:grumpy: :D
 
I think the big thing here is guys like Nathan having an education in machining and a career in it--- whereas a lot of folks are just going into the shop and TRYING to do what they think works best... Stuff like drilling holes is really rudimentary in machine shop 101, but I wouldn't call it instinctive. In the first week of me taking machining classes I learned that other than trying to securely hold my work, I was doing almost everything wrong (rpms, feed rate, etc.)

Having been on both sides of this--- trying to be self taught, and then learning from the machine shop instructor (an old tool and die maker) I can understand most of the posts in this thread. Of course what Jim just posted is correct, but if you don't have an old machinist standing there yelling at you to lean on the quill handle when the drill is sounding pretty scarey (but chomping right through the part)... then I think the natural tendency is to do things like slow the machine down, and drill up in small increments, use girly feed pressure---small chips and quiet drilling.

Now I know the reality of that, is the bit is rubbing, building up heat, warbling out the hole, and takes ten times more shop time to get the same size hole drilled--- But it's probably what I would still be doing if I hadn't ever got sent back to school. ;) :)
 
Good post, Nick! I consider myself fairly competent, with enough common sense to get through most tasks, but a class is never a bad idea. I think I'll look into that myself.
 
This is good to read- I had a pretty nasty accident while trying to ream out a handle pin hole on a 14" bowie. Stupid to start with, but nothing holding the blade except my hand! I got 4 stitches where my thumb meets my wrist due to a 1/2 inch gash. Lucky it didn't gulliotine my hand off though. The blade smashed into the post the motor sits on, if it had of been a bigger press it would have near cut me in two. So yeah, I reckon the drill press is the most dangerous in the shop.

Thanks for all the tips and for starting the thread from all the "learn things the hard way" blokes.
 
To quote Ron Lake- "They all bite" My worst was also the drill press, while drilling out nearly
touching holes with a spade bit in a 5" thick block of walnut it got away and the block starts
spinning eccentric- bends the spade bit and takes my thumbnail off to the knuckle. The thumb
was like a rotten strawberry for about a month.
Ken.
 
If aliens from outer space were to land on earth and their first impressions of the human race were to be reading Shoptalk, they could very well get the misimpression that drilling holes is really freakin hard.


:grumpy: :D

That's sig line material right there :D
 
Just be glad it did not injure you.

I worked with drill presses (and a bunch of much much more dangerous machines at a factory I worked at for 5 years).

I had a near death experience with a lathe......nothing like a 10 lb carbide die shooting past your head in a whizzing spinning flash of death, and bouncing off the 20 foot ceiling and narrowly missing my head on the ricochet back down. Or the time a chain bucket came off the 60 ton crane 40 feet up, and I had to push a new guy out of the way right before it crushed his skull. (the bucket weighed about 40 lbs and the sucker brushed his shoulder and my arm on the way to powering some concrete). Or the time some contractors stacked several tons of cinder blocks on a non weight bearing ceiling in a corner office. The survival of the guy in that room was an honest to God miracle. Everything in the room was crushed flat, including about 10 computers and all the desks and chairs.


Whenever I am around heavy equipment, or power equipment, I tr to be extra careful.
 
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