Using gloves of any kind while operating our heavy rotating equipment is strictly prohibited and will result in an instant ban.
The context of this rule is specific to the Drill Press, Lathe, and Bridgeport as these machines can catch onto your glove and wrap you around them.
If you see anyone using gloves while operating these machines you need to either tell them to stop, or go get someone to tell them to stop. Knowingly watching someone risk themselves and the future of DMS and doing nothing makes you equally complicit.
This also applies to loose clothing, hair, or anything else that is dangling that has potential to get caught in a rotating machine.
This is our number one rule and I will be a complete and total jackass enforcing it.
well said. it is a bad habit. I understand wearing them when setting up to avoid the oid or grease, but once the motor starts they should be off, sleeves up, jewelry secured and hair tied back. And safety glasses. Remember - regular glasses are NOT safety glasses.
One of the problems with gloves during setup is that it is easy to forget. Really the only time gloves should be used is when maintenance is being performed or you are doing something in the machine shop not related to any of our spinning tools.
As for glasses, it is not as severe of an issue. The rule is that nobody should be in the machine shop without a pair of safety glasses on and this needs to be followed and enforced but we need to make sure to be especially focused on the no gloves, loose clothing, loose items, or hair rule.
The focus is based on the difference in consequences, one rule not being followed can result in someone losing an eye, the other rule not being followed can result in severing maiming, death, and the possibility of DMS as a whole being shut down.
I don’t think a total ban on gloves is necessary, but will defer to you as the Chair… Just when machine is on is what I’ve been teaching. Parts can have sharp edges or burrs when taken out of machine. As long machine off/not energized, no danger of getting caught.
I have to agree with Chris on this. I find myself forgetful at times, If I would be wearing gloves, there is a good possibility I would forget to take them off. This is a serious matter, we have had a couple people in the past 2 weeks that have worn or attempted to wear them. Most recently was last night of someone wearing gloves & operating the lathe & drill press. (Saw the video) Then either last or the week before, I had to worn someone about it.
Last night I was teaching a Sherline lathe class. Probably a bad idea on Open Tour night … Several times while we were cutting chips and a guide brought a large group of visitors right smack into the middle of the Machine Shop. Flip flops and no safety glasses … Should we try to limit where visitors go / stand during the tours when someone is cutting metal?
On a related note, and I’m embarrassed that I don’t know this, but do we have the Machine Shop safety rules conspicuously posted somewhere in the Machine Shop? I don’t remember seeing them … (yeh, I know, they’re probably on an 8 foot placard and I’m guilty of overlooking them).
Anyway, if we post a safety / rules list, I’d like to add a suggestion for the list. I know this will be controversial, but I’d like to add “No firearm modifications or manufacturing” to the list. Not everyone knows that’s the rule. Not everyone reads Talk. We don’t talk about it in the training classes unless someone specifically asks. I think it’s important to post this rule so everyone knows.
On a tangent here, but I LOVED seeing you teach a class in machine shop
on a tour night I hope it got some of the ladies thinking that machine shop is not just for guys
Or using files with very rough holes from the plasmacam. Needed square holes for carriage bolts, and apparently 1/4" 316 stainless plate warps and you end up with very rough cuts as I found out the hard way. sliced my hand getting it off the machine before I could file it.
I usually keep gloves off in machine shops but I think something like using the hand files with sharp metal should be the exception. Usually something like that would happen on the Blue table away from running machines though. I try to avoid it and have caught myself taking something from metal to machine and not taking them off.
I got some thicker ones for metal work that are too bulky to manipulate a machine with so I managed to stop forgetting that.
I’ll defer to chairs and more veteran members of the shop but thought I’d throw in my 2c
Regarding the tours I agree it’s a problem and after the fact I had a thought of using those extending safety rope poles to guide them around the active work area (I know some people already set it up when using the big lathe and some other things). Alternatively could get some movable 1/8-1/4" poly panels to move around when we have demos etc for non-users like Thursday nights.
Additionally, there is a sign by the new Skark lathe but IIRC not the other shop entrance. It also by typography etc looks like general info and not clearly readable unless one goes up to it. I’d suggest revamping it so it stands out more.
All the equipment I thought was labeled “no firearm parts” which, as much as I am annoyed, is unfortunately the state it needs to be (especially since the ATF refuses to clarify how shared spaces are interpreted for organizations like DMS. Even if we all agreed to machine parts it’s a dubious legal situation).
People walk thru the shop all the time with out safety glasses on. Probably not a big problem unless they hang around and watch. It seems to be a major cut thru.
On another note the loading area has been packed with stuff making fire egress a problem (again).
I’d like to suggest that at some future committee meeting, we end the meeting with a cleaning/ maintenance session like the laser group does. There has been a bunch of stuff sitting around that been there for awhile like a partial box of of drill bits, tools that have been out for days, old drink cups, etc. Some I’ve dealt with but I’m not sure where some stuff goes
Not a big problem but we’re running out of workspace with just the one blue table. The brigeport tool cabinet has bunches of Mills bits and misc stuff just sitting out. It would only take an hour or so to clean it up but it’s going to require someone that knows where stuff goes to instruct people.
Hmmmm … sounds a lot like this mess that was taking up the only workspace on the Sherline table last night. Like you, I put away as much of the stuff as I could properly identify it’s correct location. If anyone is looking for the sine plates, they are on the top “shelf” of the measurement tools roll-around.
