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Don't Make the Mistakes I made!

#61
I will NOT start my tablesaw w/o a licensed, sober ADULT in the house(in addition to myself).
On a slight tangent, a cabinetmaker friend told the story of a shop he'd worked at that used to rent the facilities out at night to a medical school, who would use the tools(not sure which- bandsaw maybe..?)to section cadavers for research or w/e- one day he found a loose eyeball in a dusty corner... :eek:

OK- to cleanse the palate: Did you hear about the guy who cut his entire left side off in a horrific accident? He's all right now.
:hiding:
 
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#62
Most shop safety is common sense & keeping your eyes open. A few I've picked up on though...

If it's "the morning after the night before", stay away from the machinery. You might be sober enough to drive, but a TCT blade doing 5000rpm is a lot less forgiving.

When ripping, NEVER stand directly behind the workpiece. When it kicks back it'll try & skewer you. Always go at it from the side so if it gets wayward it'll go past you & not through you.

Push sticks are a really good idea. They're dead easy to make so there's no excuse not to have one in easy reach.

Pete.
 
#63
Something I'm guilty of and try to rectify on a constant basis is just putting something away once I'm done with it. Having a work surface cluttered with a bunch of stuff can be an issue. Just imagine reaching over to grab something your going to use and when you go to pick it up you stick yourself with chisel that was left out or something along those lines. Yeah in general those incidents are usually minor as well but there isn't really a need for them to happen. A clean/organized work area goes a long way toward safety.

Dust protection is a must too, I know there are times when I go "hell , I'm just doing this one thing I dont need to put the mask on". And then that turns into a couple more things ... I didn't quite smoking 18 years ago to get emphysema from wood dust.

The phones a good idea too. I generally keep my cell on me at all times.

Oh, and luckily , (or not depending on who you talk to) I lost my weeding ring on a hike in the woods about 5 years ago and never replaced it, so I got that going for me, which is nice.
 
#65
Good initiative, I'll subscribe.

I used to work at a wood import company and we had all kinds of accidents. I'll just relate one of the stupid ones I can recall. One of the guys lost most of the fingers on his left hand because he put his hand through a sander to try to unjam a huge chunk of wood that got stuck. He figured since he had just turned off the machine the blades would automatically come to a halt.

So I guess the lesson here is blades and moving parts take time to come to a complete stop after a machine has been shutdown. Before trying to work or troubleshoot something, make sure all moving parts are still.
 
#66
The not wearing jewelry thing is also goes for anything electrical. Gold, silver, platinum are awesome conductors. You could probably get away with a plastic ring from the $.25 machine.

Also got to stress the eye protection. I wear "Splash Proof" goggles because I've had dust particles go around the spaces left by "normal" safety glasses.

Can't say I use gloves all that often, unless I'm messing with finishes or other chemicals. And then its usually just latex gloves. I keep a pair of white leather gloves around in case I need to strike up a duel.
 
#67
garmenteros said:
So I guess the lesson here is blades and moving parts take time to come to a complete stop after a machine has been shutdown. Before trying to work or troubleshoot something, make sure all moving parts are still.
Click to expand...

YES! Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes... Always remember this... I had someone helping me in the shop who switched off an angle grinder and set it down on the concrete floor without waiting for it to stop... lets just say I'm glad I always wear steel toes, grinders skip.
 
#68
SAFETY GLASSES! SAFETY GLASSES! SAFETY GLASSES!

And don't leave sawdust and clutter on the floor around your tablesaw. I saw a co worker slip on sawdust and put his hand on the tablesaw top to catch himself. Unfortunately the saw was running and cut his hand to pieces. Also, leave off the gloves unless you are stacking lumber and tie up the long hair in the shop. I got mine caught in a drill one day and learned my lesson.
And one more thing. Wear your damn safety glasses!
 
#69
Power cords are a bad one to watch out for, tripping while holding a running power tool is scary at best. The best advice an old guy gave me was to use the right kind of protective equipment for the right kind of hazard. For example, there are lots of occasions where a full-face shield is not only practical, its preferable to glasses.

Another big one is to slow down and think it through before you do it. Just about every shop or jobsite accident I've ever seen has been related to either improper use of the tool (wrong application) or from rushing through the work without a complete plan.

My icky stories:
A guy cut the tip of his thumb off using a table saw, rushing to get a bunch of plywood strips ripped before coffee break so he could do a different job after we came back.

A guy I worked with and learned tons from was loading lumber into the shop and a youngin was about to mess up using the drill press, and he rushed over and showed him how to do it without removing his gloves and caught his glove in the bit and ended up twisting the middle finger of his right hand into oblivion. It ripped the knuckle right out of his hand. Lucky he didn't lose his whole hand.

A foreman I learned tons from was using a drill press with a wood bit to drill metal (yes it works), but it overheated and broke and a shard went right into his cheek. He had to have surgery to remove it. Would have been seconds to have put the right bit in the chuck and nothing to be wearing a face shield instead (although I'm often guilty of that one as well).

Another guy caught his wedding ring on a nail stuck in a board that got thrown and the ring "degloved" his finger. Would have been 5 seconds to have pulled that nail before cutting. And even easier not to have worn that ring.

Another guy fell 40 feet through 2x4 lattice being literally tossed around like a rag doll and landed on an 18" wide walkway suspended over a 16' deep tank of water. He'd been wearing a harness, but he tied off to an old 2x4 instead of moving his rigging down six feet to where he was working. When he slipped, it could not hold his weight and broke. It would have taken him 15 minutes to have moved his rigging. Rushing to be done for the day. It was a few months before he was back at work, he was lucky to have survived. I saw the whole thing and it made me sick to my stomach. I'm queasy just thinking about it again.

Please, take your time...
 
#70
I've never done any luthiery but have worked in construction, remodeling and maintenance fields for many years. One of the most important things to me is to be fully aware of my surroundings and to never become too comfortable. A few other things to keep handy are tourniquets and slings. If I do happen to get injured, I woodn't want to bleed out while waiting for medical attention.
 
#73
As an apprentice I was taught :-

Always keep a tidy working area to help minimise accidents.

if you are going to use a tool of any sort, hand or power, always take the correct stance first. e.g. Feet slightly apart, one forward of the other for stability.

If you think to yourself 'I shouldn't be doing this because .....' Stop immediately before ..... happens. Like when you are using a screwdriver and your other hand is where it will be pierced if it slips.

Don't wear loose clothing that could get caught in power tools.

Remove any watches or jewellery that could get caught up.

Tie back long hair when using power tools. Not a problem for me now but as an apprentice we were issued with hair nets. Very uncool.

Don't use damaged tools, e.g. files with cracked handles, chisels with a 'mushroom head' and only use tools for their intended purpose.

There are probably a lot more but it was a long time ago.

There was a display cabinet in the apprentice training section full of exhibits, drill bits with hair wrapped round complete with a piece of scalp, tools with bits of finger stuck to them or covered in blood, etc. Just to remind us to take safety seriously.


Not directly related to guitar building but still about safety....

I do a lot of car restoration and always wear leather work gloves, there is nothing like rusty metal for carving your hands up, plus it makes them a lot easier to wash. Freshly cut metal can be razor sharpe. I once foolishly decide it was not worth putting my gloves on to 'just grind this bit off'. The grinder slipped and took off half the callous on my right hand index finger down to flesh. Very sore for months especially when I played.

I wear all the protective clothing, ear defenders, respirator, and face mask when grinding, even though at times it is hot and restricting. Steel toecap boots, fire proof overalls (I saw a college's overalls catch fire while he was welding and he did not realise until we shouted to him). Baseball cap on backwards to stop weld splatter going down my neck. Baseball cap on forwards when working under a car on the lift, to stop grit dropping behind my glasses and into my eyes.

I still manage to get minor injuries despite all my precautions but not as many as I would get otherwise.

I agree, always have a phone handy, especially if you are working on your own. I was in the loft above my garage and accidentally knocked the ladder down. I had my phone in my pocket and was able to ring my neighbour who came round and put it back up for me. I have since modified it so it cannot happen again.
 
#74
It seems that a lot of these accidents occur when people are hurrying or keen to get the job done.

It's that 'last one before I stop' that does it.

"Oh I'll just cut this wood balanced on my leg" rather than go back to the bench.

"I'll just look away whilst using this grinder, googles are steamed up"

"I can reach if I stretch, moving the ladder is annoying"

The story I like the best is two guys fitting doors on a house they are renovating - circular saw to trim the doors to height - cutting, setting saw down on floor after, still spinning, but spring-loaded guard flips up at end of cut, thus protecting floor when its set down. However one time the guard does not flip back - sets it down on floor, saw skips up still spinning nicely sawing carpenters man parts and undercarriage. Also arteries and other major blood vessels nearby. Made a full recovery I'm glad to say, but not nice!!

I love power tools, but they can hurt you!

Will be really careful when I start my build.
 
#75
This one is simple to remember, and overlook. My grandfather lost an eye by taking the second path.

Saftey glasses do not make you invincible, and will not stop a flying chunk of wood. Be sure to not stand in the line of fire if your table saw decided to turn your project airborne. He used to do intarsia, and was working on this 6" long teardrop shaped bit of some exotic hardwood, and needed to make a quick cut. He sticks it on the tablesaw, it caught the thing and threw it point-first through his steel framed saftey glasses and shattered the lenses into his eyes.

This goes along with having a someone in the house that is awake and sober when running your big boy tools. There was no way he cold have made it to the ER like that, or even found a phone.


Being blind is a quick way to end your woodworking career, and he tells me its a significant handicap while golfing as well.
 
#76
I`ve never done any luthiery - yet. But I used to do alot of woodworking. I`d say the #1 thing that leads to injury is haste. Unless your day is open - ended and you don`t have a deadline, don`t start anything big. I was rushing to finish up on the bandsaw once, finished my cut, hit the switch, and reached across the table in haste. Blade was still moving and caught my pinkie. I now have a nice raggedy scar to remind me to slow down.
 
#77
Never set a hand held router down on it's top while the motor/bit is still running down.
I had it catch my rolled up sleeves on my shirt, glad it's speed was slow as it wrapped my sleeve up tight with a spinning router hanging below. No damage to me or the router, but learned a lesson early in my wood working experience.
 
#78
Sharp blades. I was a professional cabinetmaker for nearly 20 years, and had two relatively minor accidents with power tools. Both of them were at least partially due to dull cutting tools. A sharp tool cuts with much less resistance and is far less likely to bind and kick back.

Re: gloves. I never used to use them for woodwork beyond moving materials, but now I hardly do anything in the shop without them. I really really like the Atlas Nitrile Tough gloves. Properly sized they fit like a second skin and prevent a lot of general wear and tear on the hands. The nitrile palm surface is much higher friction than bare skin and I feel gives better control of tools and materials. And- they are incredibly tough, far outlasting any leather glove I've ever owned.
 
#79
Here's one no one has mentioned yet. We work around dry wood, make piles of sawdust, store flammable chemicals, use steel wool and grind metal too. Grinding metal kicks up showers of sparks. This a perfect way to start a fast moving fire. Please make sure those sparks aren't flying into something that will burn, which happens to be nearly everything in the shop. And make sure there's a fire extinguisher at arms reach. BTW, steel wool will burn if a sparks hits it.
 
#80
Andanotherthing...

Blade changing/machine maintenance. Not only switch them off but make sure they're isolated as well. If that means unplugging the router, so be it... if that kiddy fires up while you're fumbling around with the cutter, you won't be making a phone call for a while. If it's a plumbed-in machine, flip the isolator on the wall and twist-lock the red killswitch. (I had an instructor do this to me... there I was, up to my armpits in a 30" ripsaw doing a blade swap & he casually asks "It is switched off, isn't it?" just as I'd got the big spanner on the locknut. It was, but I nearly went damp when he dropped that one.)

Speaking of spanners etc. Most power tools come with their own specialist spanners for changing bits/discs/blades & that. Treat 'em good & don't lose them. Resist the urge to use a pipe wrench, pliers or a-spanner-that-nearly-fits. Surest way of not only ruining a power tool but rendering it dangerous.

Router Bits (or for the advanced crowd, Spindle Moulder sets). They're balanced. Very finely balanced. They have to be to spin at 20,000rpm without causing disaster. NEVER attempt to sharpen them when they get chipped or seriously dull as there's a very good chance you'll throw the balance off-kilter & that would be bad. Honing 'em on a strop is OK, but major re-sharpening is best subbed out to the pro's. Same goes with tipped saw blades.

P.
 

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