Thread: Bowl explosion

great wood for a resin combo though

I have had only one of these fairly early on in the wood turning game. It literally exploded and threw wooden shrapnel all over the workshop, totally my own fault, too thin, too fast. Luckily I had just stepped away to get some more sandpaper so I was well out of the line of fire. Since then, I turn much slower on dangerous pieces and have learned to turn and be out of the line of fire. Its not hard, now its second nature for me.
Which is a good thing as I have got a passion for the impossible pieces, or air turning as some folk say. This has all come about with some luck initially and these days a fair amount of experience.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Good advice on wearing a high impact rated face shield. It will certainly minimize potential injuries.

However, the real focus should be on eliminating the hazards that contribute to such catastrophic failures - like reducing lathe rpm, inspecting the blank regularly, etc.

Absolutely!

Originally Posted by The Spin Doctor

Don't want to sound like I'm lecturing you, but it has nothing to do with a large heavy lathe. It has all to do with centrifugal force and the defects in the wood (which are extremely unpredictable). You got lucky, this time. You should be thinking the opposite and have such large platters going as slow as possible, but still allow for a good cut and or sand. Sanding is another issue in that so many think you should crank up the speed. When in fact, if you think about how sand paper works, you should slow the rpms down. And if your project lets go, your fingers are right there when it does... Not a pretty sight.

Generally I do sand at lower speeds, Just find that you can get a much better off the tool finish with a scraper at higher speed.
Probably should have had a face shield on I agree. Have worn a motorcycle crash helmet before when turning large heavy columns.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Good advice on wearing a high impact rated face shield. It will certainly minimize potential injuries.

However, the real focus should be on eliminating the hazards that contribute to such catastrophic failures - like reducing lathe rpm, inspecting the blank regularly, etc.

Preachin to the choir mate ��

Originally Posted by hughie

I have had only one of these fairly early on in the wood turning game. It literally exploded and threw wooden shrapnel all over the workshop, totally my own fault, too thin, too fast. Luckily I had just stepped away to get some more sandpaper so I was well out of the line of fire. Since then, I turn much slower on dangerous pieces and have learned to turn and be out of the line of fire. Its not hard, now its second nature for me.
Which is a good thing as I have got a passion for the impossible pieces, or air turning as some folk say. This has all come about with some luck initially and these days a fair amount of experience.

I've had a few over the years. First one was when I was demonstrating at a show. The lathe had a speed control that was opposite to mine. Was going to slow it down to start sanding. Instead I cranked it up to about 2500rpms. I knew to step aside and just as I did the bowl just vanished, it shattered and flew apart so fast.

Had a few at home. One where I was turning a 24 inch spalted oak piece. Something just wasn't right so I stood to the side and sure enough about a 3lb chuck came off and smashed through the drywall. Even a face shield wouldn't have help. At that time I had a 900lb really old Powermatic customised to take 24 inches. The risers alone weighed about 80lb. It was hoping all over the place till I hit the kill switch. I was young and laughed it off and kept on dodging lots of other pieces.

Used to turn for a guy on his really old Oliver. The lowest rpm on that was about 600. I used to turn 6 foot pedestal bed posts. I would mount the head stock end in a chuck to try and help stabilise it. Now you really have to have cat like reflexes when one of those snaps. The end attached to the chuck gets kinda crazy and smashes all over the place till the chuch loses grip. I used to drop to the floor as the tool rest usually stopped it from battering me to death. Good times!!

Originally Posted by The Spin Doctor

Preachin to the choir mate 👍

Probably, but do they listen?