I had a close call last night.
I was turning the interior of a green 19" mulberry wood end-grain bowl when suddenly the shaft of my 1/2" Crown brand bowl gouge split from its hardwood handle and kicked back toward my face. My face and left hand got hit with shards of wood from the handle, leaving some scratches, but otherwise I am OK…Thankfully I was wearing safety glasses (I always do) and so my eyes were protected. The tool’s metal shaft is OK, just the handle broke.
I am not sure if I had a bad catch on the bowl (I don’t think so), or if the handle was cracked when I started and the turning caused the split to occur. Since the bowl is undamaged and the lathe did not hesitate, I don’t think that I had a bad catch. When I have had a catch before, it has always caused damage to the work piece…
Well, it scared me enough that I will now purchase a face-shield for my woodturning rather than just safety glasses…and again remind myself that woodworking should not be done when you are tired.
Now I need to fix the handle on my bowl gouge.
Advertisement
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
About mattsanf
Matthew Sanfilippo is currently Executive Director of PSII (Pennsylvania Smart Infrastructure Incubator) and the CenSCIR (Center for Sensed Critical Infrastructure), Associate Director of ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems), and Associate Director of PITA (Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
Prior to CMU, Matthew was Director of Applied Technology for Michael Baker Corporation, a large engineering and energy services firm. Matt managed a technology consulting division for Baker including Geographic Information System (GIS), software and web development, multimedia, virtual reality (VR), visualization, Global Positioning System (GPS), mapping and surveying services.
Before joining Baker, Matt was an Innovation Director for Redleaf Group, a Venture Capital/Operating Company focused on Information Security, Supply Chain, Network and Mobility Solutions. While at Redleaf, Matt managed technical due diligence for seed-stage investments and coordinated relationships between Redleaf and their partner companies after investment.
Prior to Redleaf, Matt was CIO of GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, a Boston-based engineering firm, and operations manager for their Internet start-up division that focused on web-technologies for health and safety and manufacturing metrics.
Matt is current board member and past Chairman of the Board for the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania, a board member of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), and a former member of the Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania State University Beaver. Matt is also a former Vice President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals and former Vice President of the Board of Trustees for Baker Combined Charity of Pennsylvania.
Leave a Comment
Comments (0)