General Machine use training

[mudman]

"Stepping aside to allow some ladies up the steps"................please tell more

More embarrasing really. Jumped up onto some rocks next to some steps down to the beach in Devon. Unfortunately rocks were slippery. Trouble is you then have to try to regain your cool by jumping back up and making like it didn't hurt. :?

Barry, are you in fact Frank Spencer's long-lost brother? :shock:

:lol: :lol:
I do wonder myself sometimes.
I seem to be a trifle accident prone. No wonder my wife looks at me like I'm daft for going out and playing with sharp things, not to mention the caving. :roll: [/quote]

 

[Anonymous]

I was shocked the other day in Tesco to see a huge stack of Tesco's own brand circular saws at £20 a pop! Perfect for Dad this Xmas.

Now I don't know about anyone else, but I don't consider a hand-held circular saw as everyday DIY kit on a par with a cordless drill. Mine is used as a weapon of last resort when I can't think of another way of doing a job.

The thought of thousands of inexperienced DIYers being let loose across the country with cheap, unreliable finger liquidisers bought by unsuspecting kids and wives under the illusion that 'if Tesco sell them they must be OK' is frightening.

Or am I being a wuss?

Brad

 

[WoodStoat]

Does anyone remember the Kenny Everett character, Reg Prescott I thnk it was, the inept DIY tutor? He would begin every slot with a selection of power tools, and end swathed in blood-stained bandages.

Perhaps those excerpts should be shown again, as public information films.

 

[wrightclan]

The thought of thousands of inexperienced DIYers being let loose across the country with cheap, unreliable finger liquidisers bought by unsuspecting kids and wives under the illusion that 'if Tesco sell them they must be OK' is frightening.



Brad

Then again, they can sell Flymo's all day long--which are banned in the U.S. on safety grounds. :roll:

Anyone buying/using power tools/machinery should take responsibility to learn how to use them. Whether that be formal training, learning from other experienced users, learning from books, etc. And while learning, they should engage their brain, so as to understand how things work as opposed to blindly following a set procedure. (Because there will always be exceptions/alternatives to the set procedure.)

Brad

 

[Colin C]

Brad

There is one small problem with that as in a circular saw I bought a few months ago went straight back as it did not have a proper lever to lift the guard :shock:

As it was ( I did contact the manufacturers about it and have heard nothing back :shock: ), it was dangerous as it was but I have now seen the saw being sold in a different shop ( was being sold in screwfix but is no longer).

Some one new to tools would not have known this and I would not have they fault for not knowing, but you do have a point on whole.

 

[Freetochat]

Some one new to tools would not have known this and I would not have they fault for not knowing, but you do have a point on whole.

Perhaps a case of research before you buy a new tool or machine that you are unfamilier with.

 

[mudman]

Barry, are you in fact Frank Spencer's long-lost brother? :shock:

More proof that you may well be right.

I have been experimenting with a CA finish on pens which can be quite incredible when it goes right.
Thought I'd try a pad of tissue to apply the CA last night to see if the finish came out any smoother. Then thought that I'd wear a latex glove to stop my fingers getting covered in the stuff. Then also tried a different CA and applied it to the pad instead of the wood.
Well, it looked at first as if all would be well until the CA cured in an instant securely fixing the pad to the wood. No problem normally as you just let go of the pad. However, this stuff is superabsorbent and the CA had gone straight through onto the glove that was now very firmly fixed to the paper that was rapidly winding into the pen blank. :shock:

It's a good thing that the lathe was on slow and that the gloves aren't very strong. :? Fingers did get a bit strangled though.

Learnt some valuable lessons though, one of which did lead to a better finish.

Bent my mandrel though.

 

[Argee]

What an interesting thread!

I would like to see some locally-available courses for the purchasers (even prospective purchasers) of a number of readily-available power tools, but I doubt that there would be many takers.

Norm regularly says "Be sure to read, understand and follow all the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your power tools properly greatly reduces the risk of personal injury."

Unfortunately, some of the latest "safety instructions" are so ludicrously obvious that they lessen the impact of the viable and important points. Watching someone else use tools is no guarantee that you will use them safely yourself, but that's what seems to drive a large number of purchases, if my experience at the shows is anything to go by.

I heard a member of B & Q's staff advising someone who had just bought an extension cable reel to unwind it fully before using it, as there was a "big fire risk if it was used wound on the reel." I can't, therefore, imagine stores placing any burden of responsibility on their staff to pass on safety instructions. In this litigious society, probably the reverse is true.

Ray.

 

[mudman]

What an interesting thread!

-- snip --
I heard a member of B & Q's staff advising someone who had just bought an extension cable reel to unwind it fully before using it, as there was a "big fire risk if it was used wound on the reel." I can't, therefore, imagine stores placing any burden of responsibility on their staff to pass on safety instructions. In this litigious society, probably the reverse is true.

Ray.

This is actually good advice.
Whilst coiled, the extension lead is a big inductor (trying to remember my physics here) and can create a large amount of heat. The extension lead should have a maximum rating when coiled and another for fully extended. Saying that though, has anyone any experience of one actually going up in smoke?

 

[Alf]

I have been experimenting with a CA finish on pens which can be quite incredible when it goes right.

Oh yes? Info? Link? New thread in woodturning?

Bent my mandrel though.

Thank goodness it wasn't your fingers. :shock: You know I'm beginning to think your wife may have a point... :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[mudman]

I have been experimenting with a CA finish on pens which can be quite incredible when it goes right.

Oh yes? Info? Link? New thread in woodturning?

Bent my mandrel though.

Thank goodness it wasn't your fingers. :shock: You know I'm beginning to think your wife may have a point... :lol:

Cheers, Alf

:lol: :lol:
And I've just remembered the incident with the cosmic ray telescope (I was building in college), the needle nose plyers, the desolderer and the 1500V power supply. :shock:

Your wish is my inducement... New thread about to start over in finishing.


Barry Spencer

 

[Colin C]

Some one new to tools would not have known this and I would not have they fault for not knowing, but you do have a point on whole.

Perhaps a case of research before you buy a new tool or machine that you are unfamilier with.

I know what you mean but I have used them for years and it was not until I went to use the saw that I saw what was wrong, plus the picture on the box showed the part in place :roll:

 

[Freetochat]

Some one new to tools would not have known this and I would not have they fault for not knowing, but you do have a point on whole.

Perhaps a case of research before you buy a new tool or machine that you are unfamilier with.

I know what you mean but I have used them for years and it was not until I went to use the saw that I saw what was wrong, plus the picture on the box showed the part in place :roll:

Sorry Colin, I may have been misunderstood. I was not critising you, we all get caught out. I was pointing out that all too often people buy without knowing the tool or machine that they are getting and then use it for completely the wrong purpose because they didn't do any research before buying.

 

[Argee]

-- snip --
I heard a member of B & Q's staff advising someone who had just bought an extension cable reel to unwind it fully before using it, as there was a "big fire risk if it was used wound on the reel." I can't, therefore, imagine stores placing any burden of responsibility on their staff to pass on safety instructions. In this litigious society, probably the reverse is true.

Ray.

This is actually good advice.
Whilst coiled, the extension lead is a big inductor (trying to remember my physics here) and can create a large amount of heat. The extension lead should have a maximum rating when coiled and another for fully extended. Saying that though, has anyone any experience of one actually going up in smoke?

The point I was trying to make, Barry, is that there is not a BIG fire risk per se. It would depend upon the electrical load as much as the winding, hence the advice was flawed - even though well-intentioned. As you point out, the "up in smoke" experiences must be very thin on the ground - I've never heard of one either.

Flawed advice is not necessarily better than none. If it's seen or proved to be flawed, then genuine advice could well be ignored too.

Ray.

 

[Nick W]

Whilst coiled, the extension lead is a big inductor (trying to remember my physics here) and can create a large amount of heat. The extension lead should have a maximum rating when coiled and another for fully extended. Saying that though, has anyone any experience of one actually going up in smoke?

Errrmm - yes Can't remember the exact circumstances now, but I do recall that it happened pretty quickly.

 

[wrightclan]

-- snip --
I heard a member of B & Q's staff advising someone who had just bought an extension cable reel to unwind it fully before using it, as there was a "big fire risk if it was used wound on the reel." I can't, therefore, imagine stores placing any burden of responsibility on their staff to pass on safety instructions. In this litigious society, probably the reverse is true.

Ray.

This is actually good advice.
Whilst coiled, the extension lead is a big inductor (trying to remember my physics here) and can create a large amount of heat. The extension lead should have a maximum rating when coiled and another for fully extended. Saying that though, has anyone any experience of one actually going up in smoke?

The point I was trying to make, Barry, is that there is not a BIG fire risk per se. It would depend upon the electrical load as much as the winding, hence the advice was flawed - even though well-intentioned. As you point out, the "up in smoke" experiences must be very thin on the ground - I've never heard of one either.

Flawed advice is not necessarily better than none. If it's seen or proved to be flawed, then genuine advice could well be ignored too.

Ray.

That's the type of thing I was meaning when I wrote 'engage your brain' in my earlier post. I was installing a kitchen some time ago and had a circular saw plugged into a partially coiled lead. Some wiseguy who had just been on a health and safety course 'informed' :roll: me how dangerous that was. I 'informed' him that:
A. The circular saw uses less than a third of the rated capacity of the lead.
B. I was only using it sporadically for maybe 30 seconds at a time.
C. The lead in question is equipped with a thermal cutout switch.
(And I was thinking):
D. It's none of your...business.

Brad

 

[Scrums]

I plugged a 10 gallon water boiler into a coiled lead once on a catering job - everything apart from the water got rather hot and smelly.

Chris

 

[BrianD]

Intersting read about coiled cables.

I always unroll a cable reel as the following experience relates: my wife used by reel and plugged in a oil-filled radiator. Well, it was going fine until there was an almighty bang. "A bit of lightning shot across the floor" and all the power died.

The radiator was among the deceased.

Amazingly nobody got hurt, considering my kids where nearby.

When I got home that evening I had to explain to her the concepts behind induction heating and coils. Now she is reformed, I can tell you , a fanatic who unrolls every coil even on the vacuum cleaner , even if the spill is right there next to the cleaner and will take 2 secs. . :roll:

Cheers.