As an added precaution I bought a lathe guard (Metal Cage) that is an optional accessory for my Jet lathe. It swivel's over the top and front part of the wood blank. When locked in place for use it is very strong and appears that it would protect against a chunk of wood flying off of the lathe. When not in use It swivels up and an out of the way, Or it can also easily be removed from the lathe when not in use. I don't use it very often so it is usually off of my lathe. I usually only use it during the initial rounding of a piece of suspect wood where I may see a minor crack or some punkiness. I don't hear much about the use of this item from other members on this forum. I did see a video by Mike Peace reviewing the use of this type of guard.