Posted By Karen Todd Hi there, I have been looking at the HSE publication Accidents at Metalworking Lathes Using Emery Cloth (EIS 2). They suggest devices such as a backing board, tool post or nutcracker and there are sketches of these. I would be grateful if anyone has photos of these devices in use, or indeed can point me in the direction of a video, because I have never seen them used in real life and photos or a video would give me much a better picture in my mind. Regards, Karen Todd

Posted By Karen Todd Hi Steve, That is exactly the problem. I have been around a number of engineering workshops and I have never seen anyone use these gadgets to hold emery cloth, they all hold it by hand. Regards, Karen

Posted By Dave Daniel Karen: I was using just this technique to polish up the main roller bearing big-end bearings on my 1934 BSA Three-wheeled car last week. I fail to see how a "nutcracker" would work. I guess the Factory Inspector concerned was not a vintage car buff. I have a vague recollection of at least one engine line at Longbridge in the late 1970's using bands of emery paper to polish crankshafts on an automated machine. The perceived risk is that of entanglement which I suppose could happen if you were foolish enough to wrap the ends of the strip of emery around your fingers and wrap the emery around the work. I've actually used a flat backing strip and this last time a small stick of oilstone, which my Dad acquired as an apprentice at GEC during the war.... Your fingers are of course quite near the rotating parts of the lathe and you do need to use some care and keep the toolpost well out of the way. The technique is useful if you lack a precision grinder. Since my workshop lathe is nearly as old as my car and powered by a washing machine motor which itself is 40 years old, I do not think as a self-respecting safety consultant that I could release a picture of this process...! Luckily it falls outside the definition of "at work" This is not a job for the apprentice! Best regards Dave Daniel

Posted By Hilary Charlton We have just bought new equipment for deburring etc, perhaps you would be best off looking at a manufacturers website rather than try to find something that someone else has for this operation as each operation has it's own specific requirements. We do not allow deburring by hand - we were experiencing a few minor cuts earlier this year but I dread to think how bad these could have been had something gone wrong! Hilary