Thicknessers can bite

[lugo35]

i was putting a piece of oak through the thicknesser today first pass was fine. turned it over put it underneath as it started to cut, it jumped back extreamly savagely hitting my hand. im now typing with one hand , 2 hours at A+E nothing broken but bl***y hurts :? . the wood had a big knot one end which looked sound and planned ok first pass, grain the right way and all. the machine is few years old with all safety features.

all i can say is dont take something as simple and easy to use as a thinknesser for granted

 

[JFC]

Ouch , i've never had it happen but i know it will one day . Reminds you to keep your body out of the way but still doesn't save your hand eh .

 

[jonny boy]

I have had loose knots thrown back at me before. My own fault I know!!

jonathan.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Lugo

Hope your hand gets better soon and thanks for the safety warning.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[David C]

Sorry to hear that. The chap who trained me dislocated most of the bones in his hand when pushing a stubborn plank through old Multico non power assisted thicknesser.

Since then my advice has been.

Wear face protection.

Do not stand behind but to the side.

Never push the plank from its end, grip sides if you must.

David Charlesworth

 

[wizer]

A wary lesson learned as I wait for my first Thicknesser to arrive. :? :-k

 

[Vormulac]

A salutary lesson to us all! Get well soon old chap!

V.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

We all know you can't have enough clamps. Likewise you cant have enough safety reminders. Thanks for waking us all up with the reminder. Hope your OK soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Blimey! The one machine you feel is pretty safe to use.

hope the hand heals soon

 

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks for the warning lugo. Hope the hand is soon better.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Pekka Huhta]

Sorry to hear, I hope you get back to business soon.

Do not stand behind but to the side.

Never push the plank from its end, grip sides if you must.

Thinking that I've found it handy to push in the occasional stubborn plank in pushing with my hip. Yikes. :?

Pekka

 

[the_g_ster]

Hi, follow on question for you guys. What are the teeth on the thicknesser for? I have a HMS260, and hoped that the teeth stop this kind of thing. Any ideas?

 

[lugo35]

thanks for replies 24hrs later have a blue hand which cant use

the teeth are anti kick back fingers, like you say to stop the wood flying out but there needs to be some backwards motion for them to work.

 

[David C]

Pekka,

You should never have to push that hard, something wrong with machine setting or lack of wax on rising table.

David

 

[engineer one]

actually a couple of other reasons for having problems pushing stuff through.

1/ too large a bite of material
2/ not only not enough wax but lack of proper extraction from the thicknesser.

i think that we all fear snipe so much on the thicknesser that we hold the plank in the wrong way to reduce that. as has been said before angled cuts are very useful at reducing snipe.

i cannot tell you how much better my mafell ad 160 performed once i had started to use the extractor on the thicknesser. :?

paul :wink:

 

[gasman]

If any one needs it - a reminder of how common woodworking injuries are can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/machines.htm

 

[Modernist]

Many thanks for that. I run an engineering company and was just looking for H & S guidance on a new panel saw we are using for plastics.

 

[woodbloke]

Lugo - hope you are better soon - Rob

 

[devonwoody]

That reminds me not to bend down and look through the tunnel when a piece of board sticks. :roll:

I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[Pekka Huhta]

You should never have to push that hard, something wrong with machine setting or lack of wax on rising table.

True. I usually don't have to push that hard, it's only a bad habit to 'bump it in' with my hip while already reaching for the next plank.

I don't have a thicknesser myself, but our city has a brilliant service for woodworkers. They have a big workshop (about 500 sqm) with all new machinery, benches etc. You have to pay something like 5 € per hour to use the machinery or half that sum for benchwork, but every time I have something bigger going on, I pop in for preparing the stock and come back home with neatly planed and cut pieces. Dirty secrets: I'm not a pure neanderthal after all

They have all new machinery, but as there are so many users they are sometimes a bit poorly adjusted and athough they are quite well maintained, there are dozens of amateurs messing them up daily

Pekka