[TheForge] OT -12v motors

[Andrew Vida]

On 6/21/2011 4:03 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:

> Guards on rotating machinery are good ideas but I've had things come through
> some guards and the ones nothing can get out of make it really hard to get
> things in through meaning you are working at BAD angles of attack. Learning
> to work out of the potential ballistic tragectory(sp?) is your best bet. As
> an added safety measure, especially when others are in the same area is to
> put something behind you like a locker to act as a scatter shield.
>

One of the most effective safety features come in basic design where the 
shaft is completely enclosed right to the hub.  A friend of ours in 
northern NJ, we can call him Dick, has a combination grinder/buffer of 
the 5 or 10 hp variety (not seen in a long-ish time).  The grinder side 
is just like a typical large frame pedestal grinder - short shaft 
issuing from the left side of the motor housing.  On the buffer side, 
the motor housing extends rightward at least a good 20 inches, the 
shaft/hub protruding just a few inches onto which the buffs or wire 
wheels are mounted.

I have found that while the wheels themselves pose a very definite 
safety hazard, the rotating shafts are actually quite a bit more 
dangerous.  Anything catching on the shaft will rapidly wind up and pull 
in whatever is attached to the other end.  Think "farm equipment" and 
"PTO shaft".  Bare shafting is hella-scary stuff.