The cutting machine, had a safety switch, preventing your hand from getting dragged into the machine and getting cut up.
The noise was very loud in the cutting room and I would be too busy working to notice if I hit the safety switch with my hand or a piece of corn hit it. I would be working really hard, then suddenly I notice the machine had stopped.
Another reason the machine would stop, was because of too many corn husks. Corn husks get wrapped up in the cutting mechanism, and it stopped working. I would have to clean out the blades. Sometimes the helpers come by with a knife to cut the husks out, or they put the mechanism in reverse to unwind the husks.
Another reason why the machine might stop working is, because main the safety stop switch was behind you. Anyone could walk by and hit the switch. That's a good trick to play on a coworker. It happened to me and I did it right back. The noise in the room is too loud to notice that the machine quit. It's funny to watch a person finally realize it.
I was too busy, too tired, and I couldn't hear the machine quit.
The trick I played on some of my coworkers, I threw a piece of corn at their safety switch in front of the machine. It was just a spring in front of the cutting machine's opening to the blades. I watched my coworkers work, then realized that the machine stopped. I watched them open the machine to find out what went wrong.
Then I found out that there were water jets inside the machine, to help corn and husks from getting stuck. I found out that I could adjust the water jets. 💡, I came up with another brilliant idea of trouble for the helper, who also came up with ideas for paybacks.
I adjusted the water jets so they would spray straight up. I would signal the helper, I needed help with the machine. He would come to open the machine, get sprayed in the face. Oooh, that was a good one!!!
I had to learn how to keep too many husks from sneaking into the machine too. That was the supervisor's advice to me. But it happened no matter how hard I tried to stop it. Happened to everyone.
Funny thing is, I learned a lot about the machine, just from all the horseplay. The machine was stopped at all times during the incidents. The only injury that could have happened was a nick to the fingers from the blades, which everyone gets from trying to clean the blades.
Duh, the machine quit!
