I must re-iterate the need for extreme vigilance when using a manual crank for threading...
Last night I needed to thread a piece of bar with an M6 thread, out came the hand crank that fits into the spindle of my Chester 9*20, it only needs a nip up with a 13mm A/F spanner and thats it sorted. Thread cut on the bar and I'm ready to clean up....
So power back on the lathe by resetting the Emergency Stop switch and away we go..(there are two other steps required before the machine will run I might add....)
There was a lot of noise and a tin of WD40 fell to the floor before I realised what was happening!!!
I some how managed to catch my left hand on the rotating crank, fortunately I was wearing some thin gloves else the damage may have been worse...
I hit the EM Stop before the machine had managed to build up too much speed......
In my haste to complete the job I forgot to remove the crank from the spindle much to my own suffering!!!
I might add, I usually remove the spindle drive belt to prevent me doing such stupid things, but this time I thought it was only a 2 min job to thread the bar.......
I'd have posted pictures of the injury to my left hand but thought it may have caused some distress, I leave it to your own imagination
Be warned gents, these things can bite real hard if you get it wrong..I've learned a lesson which could have cost me my fingers or worse..
I cant stress how conscious we need to be when operating machinery..
Please, Be Safe.....
John ( aka Fingers... :P )