Lathes are brutal, uncaring machines. Not only can they kill you, it’s going to be miserable the whole time as your body is torn apart.

I’ve been in the presence of lathes for a few months during my apprenticeship and I am entirely comfortable leaving it at that.

There are plenty of lathe accident videos out there to see some pink mist if you’re really interested

If you’re unfamiliar, a lathe machine is a spinning rod or clamp, powered by a big motor.

When functioning, it will spin with such a torque (regardless of fast or slow operation) that most things won’t stop it, including your arms, legs and head against the base if you get caught. You don’t want to mess around with it.