Chuck Guard

I can appreciate why these are fitted to lathes but how many of you that have machines that originally came with these leave them on and do you find they obstruct the view of the work being turned.

My WM 250 lathe and my Warco VMC both came with chuck guards, I removed them as they were in the way. I couldn't see what I was doing close to the chuck on the lathe, and the one on the VMC fouled the vice.

Mark P.

Same as Mark P, I removed the chuck guard from my Warco 290V, it just got in the way although to be honest it did catch flying swarf, you pays your money & takes your choice.

Tony

Both of my lathes have fold down chuck guards and generally they are a pain. I kept them on but bypassed the micro switch. Now and then I use them to catch flying swarf but mostly I rely on good quality eye protection.

I initially kept the guard on my WM240, but not for long.

Like many others, I removed mine, as I found they were A-P-I-T-A, making it too difficult to see what was happening.

I suppose they have to fit things to comply, but I doubt if many use them.

One of the guys in Chester told me that if you fitted all the guards to every machine, you would not be able to use them !

when I got my Chester Comet lathe it came with a solid steel guard, as I don't have x-ray eyes I threw it away.

I have only ever used a lathe with a chuck-guard at college evening-classes … and as soon as I realised it was not interlocked, I flipped it away and relied upon my trusty visor.

In my personal opinion; typical lathe chuck-guards cause too much obstruction to access and vision.

MichaelG.

My Bantam came with a flip down guard with no micro switch, I use it when drilling or turning with the coolant on to contain the spray. Usually I am working to a stop, so do not need to see with coolant on.

Chris Gunn

I don't have a problem with the chuck guard on my WM250 (yet), apart from bumping into it a couple of times with the toolpost. It does also keep the flying coolant and me apart. The chip guard on my new WM16B might be a different kettle of fish though. It looks too small to do a great deal of chip catching.

My chipmaster didn't come with a guard and the first thing I did was fit a quality industrial guard.
This was based on my experience in industry many years ago, where safety was heavily enforced.
A properly designed and installed guard shouldn't interfere with the majority of operations.

Sounds like the majority take theirs off I might go down the route of disabling the micro switch so that for those times that I need it I can have it either up or down

I realised the value of chuck guards after being hit in the face hard enough to draw blood by a ball of swarf. Completely out-of-the blue with absolutely no warning, wallop. I wear glasses, but the incident made me think seriously about my eyes. After that I put the guard back on and now always use one.

My blood was spilled by a 600W mini-lathe at about 1100rpm. I've upgraded since to 2500rpm at 1500W. The bigger machine is markedly more dangerous if swarf is catapulted, work comes out of the chuck, a tool snaps, or a sleeve gets caught.

Pleased to say Model Engineering is pretty safe compared with wood-working: not that unusual for them to saw a hand off...

Dave

The chuck guard on my WM250 has stayed on (since 2007) and I don't particularly find it a problem. Had to remove it once to turn a large flat disc on the faceplate but other than that it stays. One thing to be wary of is not to use the chuck guard to stop the lathe, it uses a different circuit and may blow fuses (certainly did on my old version) probably does not apply on newer models.

You don't need to do any rewiring of the micro-switch, just remove the two bolts that hold the cover on and it is then easy to replace if required. The mounting shaft can just be turned to enable the switch.

That said the guard does help to stop swarf and coolant flying off the chuck and into the operator.

John

I removed , but in return I fitted 2x specific holders on a swing arm for 1-The Chuck Key and 2-The Toolpost Lock Key. Both activate a switch which if any one of them is not in its place the lathe cannot run, or if removed while the lathe is running it stops and must be reset, in series with the other safety swictches. I thought this may be a bother but quickly got used to it, so far it never bothered me. I also added a foot switch on the ground I can step on if I want to stop it and both hands occupied, same with vertical bandsaw.

Like Rex, I bypassed the micro switch since the chuck guard interfere with the work when turning flywheels or other large diameter work. As long as the guard doesn't interfere with the work I use the guard and an additional shield similar to this.

Thor

My first lathe was supplied with a chuck guard. Nanny state rules - necessary for many, I suppose, in this day and age. I soon removed it. That was about 30 years ago.

My subsequent lathes were never fitted with such safety features and if I need extra protection I can don a visor as well as safety specs. I never stand directly in the line-of-fire except when the lathe is at very slow speed (like threading). After 73 years, I still have all my digits intact - even though operating machinery throughout my life, including some substantial woodworking machines.

My pendant control lives at the tailstock end of the lathe and I rarely reach past the rotating chuck while it is at high speed.

I grew up on a farm. One of my after-school jobs was refitting the governor rod on a Fordson Standard, when it popped off (while the fan blades were rotating at high speed). That was when I was about 7-8 years old. We knew, by that age, that we needed to take care to avoid such dangers - and they were abundant back then.

I would like to point out that I have plenty of PPE I can use when turning without a guard. As some may know I also do woodwork especially woodturning and always wear a protective face shield which incorporates a battery powered filter system which on one occasion was pleased to have it as a piece of wood broke off a blank and hit me full on in the face made me jump but I came away completely safe

Chuck guards have to be fitted to machines used in schools, technical colleges or training establishments

Myford told me that when I explored buying a new machine..

MY larger BL 12-24 came with an acrylic guard over the toolpost, and over the chuck, (operating a microswitch so that the lathe is inoperable with it open..

The toolpost guard prevented seeing what was happening. The one over the chuck had to be modified to clear the Faceplate., and fouls the rear toolpost, preventing working close to chuck with a collet chuck.

So the chuck guard mounting was modifies so that the lathe can be operated without the guard being in place. when using a collet chuck, or sometimes the Faceplate..

Otherwise it remains in place to limit how much swarf or cutting lubricant can escape.

Sadly, the guard on the Mill/Drill came off soon after taking delivery, so that the machine can have work mounted for machining, and has new been refitted.

CARE is the watchword

Howard.

Guards that are supplied with or fitted to a new machine must be fitted when used in any commercial environment. Not just schools or training. The guards are part of the machines approval. In theory a company could remove them if a safety assesment was carried out. If there is an accident they may have difficulty justifying that assessment.

Edited By Robert Atkinson 2 on 03/11/2021 20:10:30