Let us not forget Joan Kelly's death and the lathe guarding lessons that sad event taught us.

[Larry Sefton]

For those who do not know about Joan's death, here is a summary by her husband Ernest Kelly.

"Many of you are already aware of Joan's dreadful accident on May 4, 2011, but I will give a brief account: Joan was turning a heavy bowl blank on her lathe. It flew to pieces and one large piece struck her in the face and forehead causing profuse bleeding and underlying injuries to the face and skull. I found her within what must have been a very few minutes, called an ambulance, and applied a compress. She got to the hospital having lost a great deal of blood and requiring transfusions. She immediately went into surgery. Over the last ten days, her blood pressure and other vital signs have generally stabilized. We hope that the swelling is decreasing, and Tuesday a lumbar puncture lowered the pressure on the brain dramatically. We pray for a good recovery, but she has not yet regained consciousness. She is receiving outstanding medical care."

A few days later, Skip Wilbur (President of MSWG at that time) had to write the following:

"It is with great sadness I report that our dear friend and club member Joan Kelly went to eternal life today. The injury Joan sustained two weeks ago was too much for her body to overcome. Please keep her family in your prayers, they have been through a lot. There will be a memorial service Saturday morning at 11:00 at Balmoral Presbyterian Church."


Lathe Guarding vs Face Shield
Largest Duck Call and Lathe Guard
Read more about Joan Kelly in this book.

 

[Doug Agee]

Thank you, Larry. Sorry I did not get the chance to know Joan Kelly.
.

 

[Ken Vasko]

So sorry for your loss. Hope this is a lesson for us all.

 

[hughie]

One of the simplest and most cost effective methods is train yourself to stand out of the line of fire when turning. I have used this method for years, not hard to learn to do

 

[Brian Gustin]

One of the simplest and most cost effective methods is train yourself to stand out of the line of fire when turning. I have used this method for years, not hard to learn to do

Yep. But, that doesn't help much if the line of fire changes when a big piece bounces off something and comes back at ya. My lathe is situated in a corner, I have had a piece of bark fly off to the side slightly , ricochet off my tool rack , hit the router table and bounced back and hit me in the back... and I have had enough failures to notice, the line of fire could change quickly if a broken piece hit the tool rest, which can easily be angled towards you....So, yeah, face shield would be some added insurance, but even then still not foolproof.

 

[Donna Banfield]

A timely reminder that should be repeated over and over. It was Joan's death that made me rethink what I used to protect myself when turning. Shortly after her death, I invested in an Airmate Helmet with Hepa filter and respirator for my lungs. When replacement parts are no longer available for that system, I will invest in another well-designed system, like the VersaFlow. Yes, they are expensive but my head, eyes and lungs are priceless.

 

[Jay Simmons]

My sincere sympathies to all who suffered this loss. I have not seen a description of what PPE Joan was wearing. Can anyone share this?

 

[Jay Simmons]

One of the simplest and most cost effective methods is train yourself to stand out of the line of fire when turning. I have used this method for years, not hard to learn to do

Something that the overwhelming number of RH turners often do not seem to realize is that there are a few of us who turn LH. I am fairly ambidextrous and rough both LH and RH. Fine cuts usually require LH. Often difficult to be out of the line of fire. Although when turning interiors of bowls and hollow forms I normally stand behind the lathe, all else remains normal. I have a kill switch which attaches magnetically any where on the lathe. Piece’s flying off go to the left. If I had a sliding headstock I would turn interiors on the end of the lathe.
I support the idea that you never know for sure where a fragment is going to fly. Usually because it struck something else first, such as the tool rest, or dust collection duct. Which takes a lot of energy out of the projectile

 

[Mike Johnson]

If you have ever had a heavy billet come off a lathe, you know there is not enough PPE to protect the turner if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. A large heavy piece turning at any RPM's, has the potential to cause injury or death depending on where they get hit. The energy in a heavy rotating piece has to dissipate the inertial forces built up in the rotating piece before it can stop, this usually equates to the piece bouncing off of multiple surfaces before it comes to rest. Every turner has to experience this for themselves before they really respect the power of the lathe.

 

[Jay Simmons]

Mike,

Regretfully many would respond to your “not enough PPE” and say why wear any. Its hot, heavy uncomfortable

Many have responded, as Lyn Yamaguchi did to wearing a riot helmet with appropriate facepiece. Do some research and you will find how much energy they can absorb it is surprising. Our ignorance of what it takes to improve safety worries me.

The items sold as face shields are in no way satisfactory if turning unsound wood, which you may not know is unsound.

 

[Michael Nathal]

Face shields are like seat belts, they are not guaranteed to protect you but they significantly improve your chances, Even on heavy billets, they will provide at least partial protection on all hits and especially glancing blows. Could be the difference between a bloody nose and a trip to the emergency room.

 

[Brian Kopp]

This is so sad. RIP.

Several months ago, an accomplished woodworker, a priest, died in a lathe accident:

MSN

I’m on two blood thinners so I keep bandaids in my wallet all the time, and use them frequently for minor cuts and scrapes related to woodturning.

How common are serious and fatal injuries with wood lathe work?

 

[Brian Gustin]

How common are serious and fatal injuries with wood lathe work?

IMHO, the more PPE and safety training you study, the less common the injuries are. (As opposed to how common the Accidents are that could potentially CAUSE serious or fatal injury)

 

[Mike Johnson]

Mike,

Regretfully many would respond to your “not enough PPE” and say why wear any. Its hot, heavy uncomfortable

Many have responded, as Lyn Yamaguchi did to wearing a riot helmet with appropriate facepiece. Do some research and you will find how much energy they can absorb it is surprising. Our ignorance of what it takes to improve safety worries me.

The items sold as face shields are in no way satisfactory if turning unsound wood, which you may not know is unsound.

A crash helmet will not stop a 200 pound billet of wood if and when it comes off of a lathe. This reminds me of the people in the electrical industry recommending a 100 Cal Arc Flash Suit to protect you from an Electrical Arc Blast. Once you reach a certain level of energy being released, it does not matter what the calorie rating of the PPE is, the arc blast will throw you across the room into another steel cabinet or concrete block wall. The concussion from the blast alone will most likely collapse your lungs and destroy other internal organs during a large arc blast event.

When a large heavy rotating piece of material leaves the mounting on a lathe, it has to dissipate the centrifugal energy built up in the mass of material that is now bouncing off the ways onto the floor and walls and any obstacles in its way. Friction is the only thing that will extract the inertial rotating energy from the moving mass. If you have ever seen a tire leave a car or truck, there is very little that can be done to stop the rotating tire. Once you reach a sizable rotating mass there is very little you can do other than put a steel cage between you and the rotating mass. The other solution is keeping your body out of the way of the direction the rotating mass will be traveling if and when it leaves the mounting on the lathe. A properly mounted billet mounted between centers should not be a problem, when turners remove the tailstock support, they quickly increase the
risk depending on what they are doing. Most wood billets are forced loose from the lathe when the turner incurs a bad catch, the bad catch usually occurs when the wood billet is being roughed into round, this usually means there are rough surfaces, bark and knots on the exterior of the wood billet, when these rough surfaces catch on the ways or the steady rest the rotating energy is converted into directional energy usually towards the front of the lathe where the turner is standing. The danger zone is standing directly in front of the rotating wood billet, standing behind the headstock or tailstock is a safer location. Most fatalities are incurred when the turner gets struck in the head, if you can keep your head out of the
danger zone, most of your risk is mitigated. Very few people die from shark attacks when they are standing on the beach.

 

[Timothy White]

Making sure of your turning blank is the most important safety aspect of all. Old dry blanks can have cracks that are hard to see because the crack is open when the wood is green and closes as the wood dries. A screw chuck can add enough pressure to finish splitting the blank. Turn on the lathe and centrifugal force will finish tearing the blank apart.

 

[Tim Otto]

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw. (murphy)

I use a home/shop built outboard turning lathe for heavy green blanks. If the blank comes apart, the turner is out of the line of fire.