High-quality black-and-white photographs of large old machines and tools

**kb4mdz** · Jul 29, 2021, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by hemmjo

I do agree that kind of thing can be dangerous, but any reasonable person can clearly see the danger and be smart enough stay away from it. "Back in the day", people were smart enough to not stick their fingers into places were they did not belong. The open gears allowed the operator to monitor the lubrication situation and to reapply when necessary.

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I don't completely disagree with you about people being 'smart enough to not stick their fingers were they don't belong, but I don't completely agree either.

Case in point: My Dad, (born 1916) was a hugely intelligent guy, member of Mensa (yeah, he was in the top 2% of the population in terms of IQ), widely read, knowledgable on a wide range of subjects, and very very good with his hands. Carpentry, mechanical, etc.

He spent some time in the early 50's working in lumbermills in Vermont; This was way before OSHA & other such bothers, obviously. One time he was operating a veneer shear in a plywood plant, and had a female partner at the other end of the 8 ft. plus bed to help move the sheets under & away from the huge blade. Operating switch was next to his knee, all he had to do to cut was to flex his leg a bit and the blade would cycle. He had to keep yelling at his partner to not put her hands under the blade to clear out debris. He got tired of that pretty quick, not wanting to take her fingers off. He walked up to the foreman and told her to 'get that dumb cow off my machine before she gets her because of her own stupidity!!'

Now the real point: He once reached into the middle to pick up a stack of 8 ft long 2x4's coming off a 4 ft diameter circular blade. He heard the blade go 'TING!!' in that way saw blades do. Dropped the stack, looked at his left hand and his middle finger had a small chunk taken out at the last knuckle, on the ring-finger side. Didn't separate the end, just took a divot about 10% across. Finger was saved, but for the rest of his days his middle finger did a little side-track at that joint. Made him giving The Finger an interesting visual.

Yup. Mensa material. Always safety conscious. And just a moment of lapsed attention marked him forever.

It's not like dumb people are dumb all the time, and smart people all the time. it's easy to be really really smart and still do dumb things, or have someone else's dumb thing hurt you.

**cmarlow** · Jul 29, 2021, 07:55 AM

The fingers of my left hand are a bit mangled because of a momentary fit of complacency while working with a table saw. It only takes a moment.

**cmarlow** · Jul 29, 2021, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by kb4mdz

I don't completely disagree with you about people being 'smart enough to not stick their fingers were they don't belong, but I don't completely agree either.

Case in point: My Dad, (born 1916) was a hugely intelligent guy, member of Mensa (yeah, he was in the top 2% of the population in terms of IQ), widely read, knowledgable on a wide range of subjects, and very very good with his hands. Carpentry, mechanical, etc.

He spent some time in the early 50's working in lumbermills in Vermont; This was way before OSHA & other such bothers, obviously. One time he was operating a veneer shear in a plywood plant, and had a female partner at the other end of the 8 ft. plus bed to help move the sheets under & away from the huge blade. Operating switch was next to his knee, all he had to do to cut was to flex his leg a bit and the blade would cycle. He had to keep yelling at his partner to not put her hands under the blade to clear out debris. He got tired of that pretty quick, not wanting to take her fingers off. He walked up to the foreman and told her to 'get that dumb cow off my machine before she gets her because of her own stupidity!!'

Now the real point: He once reached into the middle to pick up a stack of 8 ft long 2x4's coming off a 4 ft diameter circular blade. He heard the blade go 'TING!!' in that way saw blades do. Dropped the stack, looked at his left hand and his middle finger had a small chunk taken out at the last knuckle, on the ring-finger side. Didn't separate the end, just took a divot about 10% across. Finger was saved, but for the rest of his days his middle finger did a little side-track at that joint. Made him giving The Finger an interesting visual.

Yup. Mensa material. Always safety conscious. And just a moment of lapsed attention marked him forever.

It's not like dumb people are dumb all the time, and smart people all the time. it's easy to be really really smart and still do dumb things, or have someone else's dumb thing hurt you.

The fingers of my left hand are a bit mangled because of a momentary fit of complacency while working with a table saw. It only takes a moment.