[TheForge] About those wire brush safety discussions...

[Andrew Vida]

On 11/8/2011 6:29 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:
> Back scratcher: get your shirt front caught in it and it'll scratch your
> back on the way through.

One day I was at now ex-gf's father's shop.  I was working at the HLV 
lathe and Costin was on the big lathe.  He was wearing one of those 
denim aprons.  I don't know how it managed to grab that apron, but it 
did and the spindle was going well over 1000 rpm, which on a 20" lathe 
is friggin'  HAULING ASS.  It hit him so fast that it tore the bottom 
half of the apron away such that you would have thought it had been cut 
with a scissor.  I just happened to be looking right at him when it 
happened.  He's standing there one second, wearing an apron.  The next 
he is wearing a halter top.  I almost shit my pants... it was such a 
sight to behold... and the fact that that machine didn't manage to eat 
him gave me just one more datum in support of reasons to believe in 
miracles.  Costin was so scared he froze like an ice sculpture.  I had 
to turn the lathe off and get him into the office and sit him down and 
get him a beer to put his nerves to rest.  He was quite understandably 
freaked out.  He never quite got comfy with that machine ever again. 
Cannot say that I blame him.