Rick500 Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 (edited) Thought it would be good to post a shop safety reminder; I don't think we've had one lately. Here's a thread I found on another forum recently. Watch those fingers, use push pads and featherboards, ask yourself "Is this the safest way to do this?" and be safe! [Warning: pics in the thread linked above are not for the squeamish.] Edited February 14, 2009 by Rick500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcissism Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 o.O woah... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Thanks for sharing this. It's a good reminder for me not to piss around with tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotYou Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yikes. This is especially important for luthiers. I'd like to be able to play guitars, not just make them. I had a nasty accident a few months ago while trying out a Dremel router bit. I've never been convinced they'd work, so I tested one out. I just held the piece in my hand (it's just a Dremel, Right?) and did a small cut just fine. I tried a second one and the bit caught the wood, rolled down the length of the piece and over my left index finger. Needless to say, it was pretty mangled. I drove myself home from my shop covered in blood and wouldn't let my wife look at me until I cleaned up (I have a lot of family members who work in medical fields, so I didn't bother with a hospital. One of them took care of it). It looked like I stuck my finger in a paper shredder. I got lucky, though. It healed okay, with minimal permanent damage and scarring. Scared the crap out me, though. I thought I'd be one of those luthiers with a missing left finger who can't play guitar anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I had a bit of a run-in with my oscillating belt sander a few weeks ago. "It's just a sander!," right? The belt slipped up on the spindles about a quarter inch farther than it should have been, I got my left index finger too close to it, and the bottom edge of the spinning belt caught my finger and sanded a nice little cut into my fingertip, and sanded the last few millimeters of the nail down to paper-thin. Bled for probably 15 minutes before I finally got it superglued together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 I had a bit of a run-in with my oscillating belt sander a few weeks ago. "It's just a sander!," right? The belt slipped up on the spindles about a quarter inch farther than it should have been, I got my left index finger too close to it, and the bottom edge of the spinning belt caught my finger and sanded a nice little cut into my fingertip, and sanded the last few millimeters of the nail down to paper-thin. Bled for probably 15 minutes before I finally got it superglued together. Oh yeah? Well, the other day I was working with a random orbital sander at the end of a long day of work, and found myself asking, "I wonder if this would hurt if I touched it." So I did. And then I decided I was too tired to work safely anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 Oh yeah? Well, the other day I was working with a random orbital sander at the end of a long day of work, and found myself asking, "I wonder if this would hurt if I touched it." So I did. umm...I once was feeling amorous towards my router...so I made love to it... What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJE-Guitars Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 The one tool in the whole of the shop that regardless of how often I use still scares the bejeebus out of the is the router - it really is a lethal weapon! Bandsaws, table jointers, sanders are nothing compared to some razor sharp bit spinning at 23,000 rpm - which at any point in time could catch a knot or similar and throw the whole thing flying out of control. A really versatile and useful tool but you have to have nothing less than 100% concentration to use otherwise in the blink of an eye you could be in a very bloody and painful mess! I don't use router tables - the idea of having a razor sharp bit spinning at 23,000rpm point upwards at me is something I can happily live without! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 The table saw and router are the ones that put the fear into me. I just flat-out don't use the table saw if there's any way around it. I use the router constantly, but I force myself to constantly be aware of where my fingers and body and the workpiece are in relation to the bit. And I've made it a habit to always wear a full face shield in addition to safety glasses when I'm using any power saw (including the band saw) or the router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotYou Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) Routers used to freak me out. They don't anymore, but I still hate using them. I hate knowing that a giant tear in my body, or whatever I'm routing, is even possible. I also rent my shop in an building with a lot of artists, so I don't like running it in the daytime. It's by far the loudest tool I have. I use a laminate trimmer for most jobs now and reserve the router for big jobs like chambering. Edited February 21, 2009 by NotYou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yeah? Well, the other day I was working with a random orbital sander at the end of a long day of work, and found myself asking, "I wonder if this would hurt if I touched it." So I did. And then I decided I was too tired to work safely anymore. I did that with my orbital sander (the vibratey type with the rectangular base). It's kinda massagey and it makes your fingers smooth. I'm gonna miss that sander. It's the safest tool i have and the motor's going on it (it works fine for the first 10 seconds then it starts to slow down and make burning smells). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Its just simple common sense, but it doesn't exist in many instances. Lots of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" circumstances just don't pay off. So think about what you are doing a little longer and from a few more angles if you aren't quite sure about anything. Its a bad scene whan you have to say to yourself..."oh yeah...thats what I forgot to do, look at, fix, learn (or whatever) before switching on that little 30,000 rpm finger nibbler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJE-Guitars Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 I also rent my shop in an building with a lot of artists, so I don't like running it in the daytime. That'd be the reason for me to run it MORE in the daytime! But I guess that's just me! But yep they are loud things - my jointer and router are about level in volume stakes - you can't hear nothing over them when running and cutting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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