OUCHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Adam]

Signal
It is so easy to get complacent.

I was wiring the dust extractor back up. It's a "home-made" cable as Scheppach only supply the connector-fitting to couple in the extractor. The other end is normal plug. I'd fed the cable through the new pipe which takes it out to the dust extractor house. Went back in the workshop to check their was enough spare cable, (which their was) plugged it in, and went outside to wire on the machine connector. Just as I reached out - I thought - I wonder if their bare ends are live. :shock: Oh yes, when I'd plugged it in the socket was on. The bare wires were only a couple of millitmeters apart. It'd have been better if they'd touched and fused the trip - as it was - I nearly grabbed them with my bare hands. We do, at least, have an RCD on the house. Not one of my brightest moments.....

Adam

 

[Shadowfax]

Adam said: "Not one of my brightest moments....."

It's just too easy, isn't it? You think everything is all right and then something happens to make you think again. Most of the time we get away with it but every now and then...........!!
Glad you are still in one piece, Adam.

SF

 

[Martin]

Signal,

Wow - sounds like a nasty moment :shock:, but thankfully not as bad as it could have been. I wish you a speedy recovery. Just shows you can never take anything for granted when dealing with machinery...

Martin.

 

[Steve Maskery]

My story:
I have a Clifton 311 3-in-1 plane - rebate, bullnose and chisel. Lovely. I was changing over from one mode to the other when I dropped it. Not wanting it to hit the concrete floor I made a manly leap for it, trapping it between my hand and the front of the bench.

The world took on a warm red glow, and fortunately my neighbour was home and, not having anything better to do, took me to A&E. 5 hour wait. So I rang my wife, who is a GP not far from the hospital. I explained my predicament. Her Professional Opinion could be summed up as Plonker. Could she do anything? No, of course not.

She is also a GP trainer. Her new registrar had had a previous career which involved surgery and offered to patch me up. So half an hour later she arrived at A&E to take me away from all this. Back at the surgery, her reg put in a few stitches, brought me back to consciousness and sent me home.
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
I never expected to be grateful for the services of a gynaecologist.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Chris Knight]

I never expected to be grateful for the services of a gynaecologist.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Alf]

Wot Chris said. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Although, on a woodworking note, that is a drawback to the Cliftons. If they hit the concrete they're toast. Something to be said for ductile iron - saves bleeding, in a roundabout way. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[tx2man]

blimey :shock: , glad it wasn't any worse Sig!

You'll always hear the ''Jaws'' music as you approach
the planer from now on

TX

 

[Signal]

Well just though Id let you know nothing further appears to have dropped off, in fact my index finger is already uncovered and healing nicely.
The middle finger still got aways to go yet though :roll:

Worked out whats happened, the bolt which holds the guard in place has a plastic oujawangy nut thingummy on it. This appears to have cracked, probably through age. Id spun it up from what I thought was very loose to tight, but it was actually just spinning on the shaft and not tightening the bolt. Up shot is as I passed the timber through the guard loosened and tipped back exposing the blades making me jump, then the material started to be pushed back as i wasnt holding it down tight enough which resulted in the poplar disapering along with me finger tips

Im looking to replace all such bolts through out the machine

Finished of one chest of drawers this morning, a mistake. All I had to do was fit the handles, and in true single cack handed ness cocked up two drawer fronts and now have and extra hole in each. Thats what I get for going back to early :wink:

Im either going to make extra holes in each and plug with a different wood to make it a "contrasting feature" or make some eschutcheons (sp).

Signal

ps, Steve, had to get a new keyboard after reading yours, sprayed coke everywhere when I read it

pps, edited cos the first was full of typos, also bit disapointed in the spell checker, i mean come on, thingumy and oujawangy aint even in there :lol:

 

[devonwoody]

Your description of accident gives me the impression that the front end came back towards you bringing your left hand with it?

I've been tempted to lay my hand and pass it over the gurard as timber progresses over the blades, it appears to me I shall have to change my technique, pushstick pad front end, push stick rear end?

You shouldn't have bothered with a new keyboard voice control would make things easier running your PC, perhaps a better investment for the future (only kidding :twisted: )

Anyway no more card playing and shuffling for a while, keep safe.

 

[Martin]

That's an interesting point DW, and something I keep changing my mind over. However, in Signal's case it seems that the guard contributed to the accident rather than preventing it. Signal - if the guard wasn't there at all presumably the mishap wouldn't have happened?

I just can't help wondering sometimes what the effective trade-off is between you using the guard (and therefore having to fumble, particularly in the case of planer guards, potentially contributing to a mistake), versus just not using it all and giving the machine that much more respect (and using pushpads and the like).

I suppose in the end it comes down to the trade vs hobby angle - as a hobby woodworker I don't use the machines frequently enough to ever become complacent (at least I hope not). I guess the same isn't necessarily true when you do it every day...

Martin

 

[Martin]

Incidentally - my take on planer guard technique (my planer doesn't have a kidney shaped guard) - is to expose enough of the blades to let the work past (passing the work to the side of the guard) and using push pads.

I find that having the guard completely cover the blades (and having the work pass underneath) is more dangerous because (a) I end up fumbling when I have to pass my hand over the guard, and (b) for thick stock it exposes more of the blades (that aren't taking part in the cut) than I would like.

Martin

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Here in the UK the bridge guard is the HSE mandated design Martin. The kidney guard is the OSHA approved style in the US, and perhaps other countries.

For surfacing the wide face of a plank the bridge guard should be set to span from the open edge of the machine across to the fence leaving no more than a minimum gap between the bottom of it and the top of the wood being surfaced.

For edging operations the guard should be dropped to the table and cover the top of the blades and set as close as possible to the wood as it's pushed against the right angle fence.

That's the official position. In practice this means setting the bridge guard within about 6- 10 mm of the wood at its widest or thickest part. I keep pretty close to the guidelines.

In surfacing, the left hand should be placed about 250 mm back from the leading edge of the wood, and the right hand about 250 mm back from the left hand with the wood resting on the infeed table. I teach beginners to adopt a closed fist style at the beginning to prevent the chance of fingers getting trapped under the guard-- they can modify the style later.

Feed the wood through until the left hand almost touches the guard, lift it off, over the guard and place it down firmly on the now surfaced wood which has reached and is passing over the outfeed table. The right hand continues the forward momentum as the left hand is moved. The outfeed table of course is the critical table as this is the one that ultimately determines the flatness of the wood—the infeed table primarily sets the depth of cut, although it does have a role in flattening.

The wood should be kept moving until the right hand approaches the bridge guard, whereupon it's lifted, passed over the guard, and placed on the wood on the outfeed side.

From this point on all the forward movement should be done by walking the hands one over the other on the outfeed side of the machine until the cut is completed.

I teach a similar hand spacing and procedure for edging stock too where the hands never pass directly over the blades whilst applying both downward and sideways force to the piece being machined. Not letting the hands pass directly over the cutter head at any point matters particularly with narrow stock. It's all too easy for fingers being used to apply pressure hanging down (particularly) at the trailing end of narrow pieces to get sliced off at the end of the cut.

It sounds more complicated than it is. I could probably get any attentive and keen to know beginner using these machine with some confidence in about ten minutes of one-to-one training—although it would take many hours of usage to learn all the tricks that don’t get discussed and published in articles and books, nor shown in how-to videos, ha, ha.

Whether or not the regulations are well thought out is not really for debate here but the woodworking industry and related types need to operate using the guidelines. The amateur working at nights and weekends can pretty much choose to operate as they feel like as they’re unlikely to be inspected by HSE and sanctioned or shut down. Slainte.

 

[Martin]

Many thanks Slainte,

Your detailed explanation has actually made me realise where I was going wrong before (when attempting with the guard covering when planing) - which was basically the temptation to keep at least one hand applying pressure on the in-feed side all the time as the work is being fed through. The key part of your post being...

"From this point on all the forward movement should be done by walking the hands one over the other on the outfeed side of the machine until the cut is completed."

I'll certainly give that a try next time....

Cheers,
Martin.

 

[devonwoody]

I'm addicted to using push sticks, but I see the problem when the last bit of timber is disappearing under the guard.
I think I might try something like a tool used by carpet fitters that could have some tiny spikes to hold timber down on the outfeed table (in the right hand for r/h people)
I play a keyboard and I am very attached to my fingers.

 

[Steve Maskery]

DW
There is American high-friction push-pad called the GRR-Ripper:

http://www.woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/index.htm

I'm sure it would be easy to make something as effective on a planer from that non-slip rubber mat stuff. Incidentally I recently saw a branded one in a tool shop for sale at £16, whereas mine cost £4.99 from B&Q. Same size, same stuff.

Cheers
Steve

 

[mudman]

I'm addicted to using push sticks, but I see the problem when the last bit of timber is disappearing under the guard.
I think I might try something like a tool used by carpet fitters that could have some tiny spikes to hold timber down on the outfeed table (in the right hand for r/h people)
I play a keyboard and I am very attached to my fingers.

Trying to imagine the consequences of lots of tiny metal spikes coming into contact with the cutters. :shock:
Don't think it would be pleasant. :?

 

[Signal]

Another good and cheap push pad is a tilers grouting float, nice thick rubber pad on the back which grips the wood.

Wish I could find mine

Signal

 

[Anonymous]

HID bought me a full set of pads and pushers after my little (NOT) accident with a tablesaw about 5 years ago. I was nearly at the end of a very long rip cut (8'+) and the wood sprang when the blade hit a knot about 2" from the end. The saw also decided to slip on the drive belt just at the same time so the nice gentle feed rate went totally out of whack. The cut was only part-way through the stock so I didn't actually see the knot until much later when I'd plucked up courage to go back into the workshop and clean up the mess! Upshot was left thumb and forefinger having argument with blade. Not a pretty sight! I still have them, but the thumb no longer bends at the first joint (I lost the joint and the tendon) and is numb in parts. The finger was only grazed and fully recovered with just a little scar to show for it. I can't do really fiddly detail electronics work any more, which is sometimes a pain, but then my eyesight isn't what it used to be and I can't actually see the fiddly stuff anyway! Needless to say I check three times on all surfaces before cutting - bit of overkill perhaps, but I still have ten digits and I plan to keep them.

Before you ask - yes I was using pushsticks - wooden ones. You should have seen them after the mishap too!!!!!

By the way, the blood never came out of the concrete! I ended up painting over it when we came to sell the house...

 

[frank]

sig have you looked in the box with all the tiling stuff in

 

[Vormulac]

And here was me thinking I'd found a nice, safe hobby. Think I'll go back to something a little safer; like freefall wolverine juggling or shark wrestling...

Glad you're alright Signal.

V.