Shop safety, more than basics

MTBob said:
X2 on that comment. If you've worked in a shop very long, things get piled up & cluttered. Mine does about every day. Personally, I can't work that way, I've got to stop and clean, even if it's only one machine or an area. In my normally muddled state of mind, I find I can concentrate better with a clean shop.
If it rotates it's dangerous, particularly if it has lots of energy and has rough edges. Case in point - 6" wire wheel on a bench grinder. Those things can kill you in an eye blink. A while back, I got careless and had the wheel grab a small pointed piece and roll it around the rear guard and shot it directly into my chest. Fortunately I was wearing my leather apron and it didn't penetrate. Otherwise I might not be typing this - damn that hurt.
And as I ranted on a recent post - little thin disks (cut off disks) that rotate over 10,000 RPM will explode launching bone cutting shrapnel.. Next time you shape a blade with a cutoff disk, use the right protection.
There are 50 ways of losing a body part in a well stocked shop (or is it a 100) - and boy do I get nervous when people visit who have no clue what they are looking at, or how to use it... (did I hear somebody say liability insurance?).
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I have to work in a clean shop, a cluttered or dirty shop causes me too much anxiety for me to enjoy my work. Anything but a clean shop to me is uncivilized!
 
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Sean Jones said:
I think my biggest reminder on shop safety was when I had a piece of wood eject from my table saw, hit the garage door, ricochet off the ceiling and then stick in the back wall. All in about 1/2 second. I've used a push stick ever since.
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I use a push stick all of the time, this type (photo) works very well, plenty of control and keeps my hand away from the balde far enough to give me plenty of relaxation when making even a small rip. I also have a shop built table-saw sled that I like for cross-cuts that adds a nice bit of a safety margin to my cuts. .
 

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So I'm digging around in my shop breaker box, I need to hook up a new 120 and 220 volt circuit and this thread crosses my mind. The box in my shop is the main box on the property, it comes from the pole to the shop and then runs underground to the house. As I am installing a new breaker this thread pops into my mind and I begin to think, hmm, is that 440 or 660 volts coming into that box? Maybe I ought to get my hands out of there and disconnect the power!
 
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I had a picture but can’t find it ... but one cold morning I was ripping wood for some newel posts I was making. I know better than to wear gloves around spinny things but ... did I mention it was cold? Anyhoo .. as luck would have it, my saw grabbed my glove and sucked my finger into the blade. It didn’t hurt and at first I didn’t think anything really happened ... then I took my glove off. About 1/4” of the corner of my index finger looked missing.

Went to urgent care and the nice doc there said it would heal so well I’d forget which finger it was. Well, I CLEARLY remember which finger but you’d never know by looking. I was extremely lucky that day.
 
Abbott said:
So I'm digging around in my shop breaker box, I need to hook up a new 120 and 220 volt circuit and this thread crosses my mind. The box in my shop is the main box on the property, it comes from the pole to the shop and then runs underground to the house. As I am installing a new breaker this thread pops into my mind and I begin to think, hmm, is that 440 or 660 volts coming into that box? Maybe I ought to get my hands out of there and disconnect the power!
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That reminds me of an incident at another shop in the corporation I used to work for. Some guy decided it was OK to work on a live 880 Volt panel. (I think. This was in Europe so it might have been slightly different) He lived, but he managed to do some incidental welding while he was at it. His tool arced and melted right to the panel.
 
I've never replied to a FIF post here but I'd worry if my couch potato neighbor decided got into forging just from watching TV. If I knew the man was already adept I wouldn't worry. But it'd still be worth checking it out. Folks need training not just for their own sake but for the people they live with. Non knifemakers should hold people accountable. I don't see why cities couldn't reasonably regulate what goes on in garages.
Don't shoot me!
 
soundmind said:
I've never replied to a FIF post here but I'd worry if my couch potato neighbor decided got into forging just from watching TV. If I knew the man was already adept I wouldn't worry. But it'd still be worth checking it out. Folks need training not just for their own sake but for the people they live with. Non knifemakers should hold people accountable. I don't see why cities couldn't reasonably regulate what goes on in garages.
Don't shoot me!
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Well, I don't want to store that 80lb sack of Tannerite in my house! :p

People want the government to stay out of their bedroom, they can sure as hell stay out of my shop!
 
soundmind said:
I've never replied to a FIF post here but I'd worry if my couch potato neighbor decided got into forging just from watching TV. If I knew the man was already adept I wouldn't worry. But it'd still be worth checking it out. Folks need training not just for their own sake but for the people they live with. Non knifemakers should hold people accountable. I don't see why cities couldn't reasonably regulate what goes on in garages.
Don't shoot me!
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OMG! IF cities implemented "safety" laws/rules based on those who have gotten into this via FIF......Lord help us all! :)

Does anyone remember a year or two ago, when some knucklehead in NY (I think) burned down a whole city block because he had watched FIF and decided he should do that?

Many of the things that have been mentioned individually..... I have seen in person over the years. One area that drives me nuts are yahoos trying to build their own forging press, and cheaping out by using a small diameter hydraulic cylinder (2-3" cylinders pushing stupid high pressures to get the tonnage they want) and building nothing but a deathtrap.
I've actually walked out of hired teaching gigs because I didn't trust the tools provided....even after I'd tried to make sure they tools provided were up to the tasks I would teach.
 
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