Barry,
I can relate, even though I haven't had that experience. I have had my
knuckles rapped a few times. One friend of mine glues blanks of
secondary woon onto the square edges (with paper inbetween) so that the
bowl will be round when finished, until you remove the blanks. As with
natural edged bowls, it is better to sand the wings without the lathe
on. Not only because of the hazard of knocks and cuts, but also because
you will round the edges over more than what looks proper.
robo hippy