Woodturning fatality in Waterdown, Ontario

[Mike Brazeau]

On Tuesday's local morning TV news I first heard of this and there has only been brief mention of details in respect of the family in the Hamilton Spectator paper. A 52 year old Waterdown, Ontario man was fatally injured working at his lathe on Monday afternoon. Waterdown is a town within the amalgamated city of Hamilton,at the western end of Lake Ontario. The article in our local paper today says he was struck by a piece of wood. http://www.flamboroughreview.com/news/article/267516 A pretty solemn reminder to have correct safety gear and wear it and use safe turning practises. Also that clubs and guilds keep hammering on the aspects of safety at every opportunity. If you haven't looked at them for a while, take a moment now to review the AAW guidelines. http://www.woodturner.org/resources/safety.cfm

 

[odie]

There really isn't enough information there to make an informed guess as to what went wrong.

As with most of us......I get an occasional catch, or bowl gets two thin and shatters.....but, not very often anymore. I can't remember sending a large chunk of wood into outer space for a long long time!...decades, probably......and this is likely the scenario that it would have to be in order to give a death blow to your head like that.....

I guess I'm a natural born chance taker sometimes.....and, turners like me, who sometimes tend to push the limits, NEED a reminder to tone ourselves down once in awhile.....

Thanks for the reminder!

OOC

 

[Jake Debski]

Odie, I think article gives the most important details, a fellow turner was killed by a chunk of wood. Regardless of the how and why it happened. All of us are capable of error but hopefully it won't be as tragic as the incident reported in the article.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Google found another report ( http://thespec.com/printArticle/599455 ) that indicates a "piece of the machine came loose." More than likely written by someone who doesn't understand his subject.

Even so, fair warning of potential accidents.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

If it is your day to go, it might not be a bad way to go. Just bury me with my 5/8 bowl gouge at my side.
Frank

 

[hughie]

It would be nice to know the circumstances, so as to avoid them in the future. Such as, was it bad practice or bad luck? Accidents are caused they don't just happen.
We are unaware of the turners experience or ability all these are factors that would be nice to have on hand.

I agree its a warning to the rest of us, but with out some details its hard to be aware of every thing that can go wrong. Details give a us the ability to analyze and avoid that particular danger or practice in the future.

 

[Rob Wallace]

What can we learn fom this? Can we find out more?

It would be nice to know the circumstances, so as to avoid them in the future. Such as, was it bad practice or bad luck? Accidents are caused they don't just happen.
We are unaware of the turners experience or ability all these are factors that would be nice to have on hand.

I agree its a warning to the rest of us, but with out some details its hard to be aware of every thing that can go wrong. Details give a us the ability to analyze and avoid that particular danger or practice in the future.

I agree. This is precisely why there are "black" boxes on commercial aircraft - where the situation leading to the disaster can be studied, and necessary changes made to equipment and/or practice. Although it is not possible to change the outcome of this unfortunate event, at least it can serve one useful function - to allow the woodturning community to learn from this situation and take appropriate action in practice and continued training for both new and experienced turners.

I spent some time searching on the Internet for more details about this fatality, but could find nothing more than has already been posted on The AAW Forum and Woodcentral. I am hoping that fellow woodturners in Ontario can seek out the details of what actually happened (if they can be ascertained from the evidence left - apparently the person was alone while he was turning) and inform us of the circumstances that led to or resulted in the tragic loss of life. I don't know to what extent the Hamilton Emergency Services staff can release information on this case, but it would be helpful to a large number of people if we could learn exactly what happened (or appeared to have happened). It is not necessary to know the name of the person, etc. - just the circumstances and conditions that gave rise to the failure.

It would be good to be able to learn from this situation so similar things might be avoided by other turners who are made aware of the circmumstances that gave rise to this loss.

Rob Wallace

 

[KurtB]

Woodturning Fatality

I have contacted both the Hamilton Police and the Hamilton Spectator, and have had conversations with both. I expect some additional information shortly. Toward that end, please limit any attempts to contact either because it may delay getting some answers. Thanks.

 

[KurtB]

Fatality

I just received an email from the investigating reporter for the Hamilton Spectator. According to the Hamilton coroner's office, the individual died of a blow to the head with a piece of wood. Apparently, there was a catch, a broken chisel, and the piece separated with the larger half coming back at the turner.

Needless to say, woodturning can be a dangerous activity. Please follow all safety rules and recommendations, including face shields, sharp tools, proper mounting methods, and correct lathe speed for the piece in question!

I would like to extend my condolences to the family...

 

[waltben]

So how large a piece, what was his experience level, etc., etc. This is still in the realm of urban legend stuff. I've spent forty years driving motorcycles and managed to hurt myself on occasion, but have seen many idiots do much worse very easily. This is the first 'reported' death from woodturning that I've ever heard about. Compared to biking, woodturning is close to walking your dog down your own street. The AAW should spend some effort to find out the facts behind this whole thing.

 

[robo hippy]

I was turning a 12 by 6 inch piece of Madrone a month or so ago, at about 1,000 rpm, and about 1/4 of it came off and went into the wall going totally through one piece of dry wall, and part way through the other side. The rest of it bounced on the bed a few times, and hopped off onto the floor. Good thing I have developed the habit of standing out of the line of fire. That could have been deadly. I always inspect a piece of wood before turning for cracks, and won't turn one that has cracks. I didn't see this one. It was hidden in a color streak that looked very typical.
robo hippy

 

[Bernie Hrytzak]

Fatality

I had presented a tip to our local club last year, I think it is worthwhile to display it here as well for some turners who , might not yet be familiar with the hidden dangers. The tip shows a picture of a crotch piece that had ingrown bark that caused the piece to separate while being turned. Luckily there were no dire consequences.

Bernie

 

[Bruce Wallace]

This is something that we can all take notice of, and ensure we are doing everything we can to enjoy our hobby while staying safe at the same time.

Fo me it is a reminder of a piece of juniper that pinned my face shield to the wall behind me as it flew off the lathe a couple years ago. Too cocky and too sure of my limited abilities on a different lathe and different chuck (still not sure it was servicable) and had the piece take the face shield off my head and brush my hair for me. Next action was to clean out my shorts.

I am happy to have learned a lot since then and realized I need to learn a lot more. I Hope the AAW can get all the details so we can learn from this tragedy so it never happens again.

My condolences to the family, may peace be with you.

 

[MichaelMouse]

I had presented a tip to our local club last year, I think it is worthwhile to display it here as well for some turners who , might not yet be familiar with the hidden dangers. The tip shows a picture of a crotch piece that had ingrown bark that caused the piece to separate while being turned. Luckily there were no dire consequences.

Bernie

That is NOT a "hidden danger." Any area with embedded bark-enclosed branches is inherently unstable and should be treated with glue and respect. Helps to test with the thumb for any hidden movement as early as it is encountered.

Protective gear and and protestations aside, too many people start too fast and with poor or no instruction. Stuff the nose of a tool far out over the rest into a poorly-mounted spinning piece, or one with a crack or a slash knot and you'll lever it apart. Allow the wood to slide down and fall off the edge of a tool when cutting and ignore the "click," and it may still fall apart as you "turn up the speed until it begins to..." because you can.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I am saddened to hear about the fatal incident and will use that as a reminder to take safety to heart and give it the serious consideration that it is due. There have been a couple very serious lathe accidents and one tablesaw accident in our club with the last two months.

On a different note, I feel that there has been a bit of morbid curiosity expressed about this particular incident. Underlying safety concerns being the likely motivation for the interest in further details might seem rational, but I see several problems with that approach.

1. The law enforcement and medical postmortem investigations determine the likely reason and cause of death. It serves the purpose of determining whether a crime was committed or whether it was an accident or natural causes. EOS
2. Only the deceased, if anybody at all would have been able to give the specific type of detailed information that some woodturners seem to want.
3. The AAW is not an investigative body.
4. This is unnecessarily intruding too much into the personal affairs of the family of the deceased.
5. The lesson to be learned is to not do anything that is unsafe while turning -- not just the one specific thing that caused the death of this person. In fact, it is better to not know the specifics because it, hopefully, leads you to consider safety more seriously for anything that you do and not just one tiny facet of the overall safety picture.

 

[Ron Sardo]

Well said Bill