Cautionary Tales: Shop Safety

Glenn Howland - 11:28am Mar 29, 1999

A little message to all . . .

The other day, on my way home from work I met my good friend and neighbor on his way to the hospital. He had encountered a disagreement between a fingertip and a router under load. He'll be ok, but he was a pretty good fingerstylist; we just don't know how that'll work out.

Just remember, folks, routers are particularly unforgiving. Be careful out there.

I worked with a guy in a furniture shop who had funny-looking tips to the fingers on one hand. Turned out he had been running wood along a shaper once, and had gotten the tips too close... he said he was wondering where that red line on the wall in front of him had come from when his fingers started to hurt.

Anything with a motor can get you.... and a lot of things without.

I got a fingertip in a jointer 16 1/2 years ago. I still prefer to walk at least 6' away from them. I can laugh about it now but boy was I STUPID.

When I was a sysop on CompuServe's Craft Forums, someone in the woodworking section had an accident and described it as happening in "the blink of an eye." A doctor on board then went and looked up how long it takes to blink an eye (1/5 second), did the math on spinning objects (router at xx rpm with two cutting surfaces, tablesaw blade at xx rpm with xx teeth, jointer with three knives at xx rpm, etc) and posted the numbers. They were chilling -- the lowest was, I believe, about 500 cutting surfaces flying by in 1/5 second.

Those 500 cutting surfaces also produce 500 "chips" in 1/5th of a second. That's the worst part about jointer/shaper accidents, there is nothing to reattach except for thousands of small bits.

The story about the red line on the wall makes me want to draw a line in blood by every machine just so I'll never get careless. I got the shakes when I read that one.

These stories just scare me stiff , I have lost a bit of my left thumb to a relatively safe power tool : a belt sander ( the belt came out ) . So , what can be done ?

I think that the first thing to watch is the " experience paradox" I mean the tool is dangerous for the person who has little experience of it , ( borrowed or rented tools , working in someone else shop etc) A little bit of fear is a good thing here . Unfortunately , when someone is very experienced , they may be less carefull and danger level rise again ( also exposure ). There are no guaranteed safe zone ,so I think of myself as an eternal beginner .( hope it will keep me young <g>)

Second thing is time of day , many accidents happen before noon, before 5 pm and around 11 pm . The obvious caution would be never use power tools when one is tired , but again it is very difficult to evaluate , and for some reason there are often deadlines or simply the fact that for many of us it is a hobby ,done at night after a working day . So I stop , I mean really stand motion less for at least 5 second ( feels like an hour )and think , is it really the good time to do it ? can I do something else tonight ? etc. and if I think it is OK, I try to be in a very defensive mood : "What safety mesure can I take " I try to turn it into a game ( like chess or poker ) " What can I do to be smarter than adversity ?( using those guards,bouble checking the drill chuck, not standind in the way of a kick-back etc )

And finally , very important , I always congratulate myself after the job <g>.

Since we are on the subject, I will tell everyone that I work for a workers compensation insurance company. In addition to seeing many of these work accidents on paper, I have to go out and personnally inspect the accident scenes and interview the injured (or the former co-workers of the deceased) for the bad ones. Everyone should think about the fact that OSHA was created almost THIRTY years ago. They told us what kinds of guards would be necessary to do a job safely, and almost 30 years later, we still haven't installed those guards. If we did install them once, we took them off a year or so later.

I have to thank Henry Boucher. I think his approach is dead on. I've had two accidents and they both conformed to his specs on when they happen and why they happen. I was in a hurry both time.

Curious thing is, unless I'm mistaken I had a feeling I was taking a big risk. I recall thinking, you shouldn't be doing this. Now I just won't do certain things and I've made a deal with myself that I will take the long route. I don't, however, make things for a living and, because, I love playing the instrument so much I am almost always a bit scarred when I hit the switch. I now always look for the oh, oh feeling. If it's there, I shut everything down and wait just as Henry suggests. Cause I do Buddhist open-eye sitting meditation I sometimes do that to slow me down. I know. If you're meeting deadlines you don't do that, but I do. Thanks for the advice.

Jim, you just hit on a really important issue. I hope the mystical and religious is not out of place here. Often in life (and luthiery) we get feelings that we ought to do or not do something. Most of us ignore it. After we screw up, or miss the chance of a lifetime, we say "I KNEW I should/shouldn't have done that". I believe we are all here on this earth to get better and learn from our mistakes. Try and key into that "hunch" feeling. The next time you have it TRUST it! Don't worry if it seems logical or stupid or weird. If you don't trust then after the fact you'll slap your forehead and say "Wow, I coulda had a V8". Know what I mean Vern?

If you are not at ease with the " mystical/philosofical/whatever" part of the previous message , a friend offered me a good substitute "5 minutes of clean-up in the shop " . 5 minute will not set you back that much, you are still doing something important ( show me a shop that can not use 5 min of cleaning and I will show you a shop where not much is done anyway <g>), just important enough to change your mind of what you were doing but not important enough that you can't think of something else while doing it .Cleaning is by itself a good safety habit anyway. Of course : Cleanliness is close to Godliness<g>

As an accessory, I use an air filter in the shop , plugged on a timer that start at meal and coffee break time .When the filter starts I leave the room for at least 10 min.

I put myself through college working summers in a plant that bottled chlorine gas. Let your mind wander and you could end up with a facefull of green fog similar to laundry bleach, but about 20 times more powerful! So the “mystical and religious” approach to safety was not out of place there. What I learned then was to always follow the right procedure, always double-check every step before you proceed to the next one, and – to Julian’s point above – if you ever had even the slightest feeling that you weren’t sure, go back and do it ALL over again.

I was too young and stupid to realize it at the time, but it was an important “life lesson.” After a few close calls with power tools, I wised up and realized that I had to apply that same mindset in the shop. So far, so good.

I'm really glad to see this subject being discussed!

When I first started cabinetmaking about (horrors!) thirty years ago I was lucky enough to be taught by a very safety-conscious guy. I've still got all factory original fingers and toes, and it's at least partly due to Mike's tips. Some of 'em were:

Pushing a piece through the table saw, hook a couple fingers over the fence to ride the side away from the blade so that hand is less apt to slip toward the blade.(Of course, use a pusher for skinny stuff.)

Whenever appropriate, plant the heel of your hand firmly on the tool's table and push by straightening your fingers, not from the shoulders. You get better control and your hands are much less apt to swing into the cutter.

Be vigilant of the tool until the cutter, not just the cut, stops. I've seen several accidents and near-misses take place when people let down their guard after finishing a cut and hit the blade or let something kick back.

A big second to Henry's "take a timeout to clean up." In one boatyard, after several late-afternoon accidents, we took to spending the last hour of the day with the machines off, cleaning up or laying out the next day's work. By the way, Henry, isn't that expression "Cleanliness is next to Impossible?" <g>

Never lose your fear. All the time you're using a powerful tool, some part of your mind should be watching it like a rabbit watching a hawk. Your adrenalin should be up. Of course, you also need a fearless grip on the workpiece to be safe, which can be a bit of a conundrum.

Which is related to "listen when something tells you to stop." My close-call story is about pushing a big chunk of teak through the bandsaw, when I remembered I'd run into some internal stresses in that piece earlier, and just had time to think, "If this thing splits, it'll -" when it did, and because the thought had made me start to back off, my thumb stopped, pointed dead-center end-on into the blade, with just a tiny nick in the end of the nail. Brrrr!

I've been building a violin, from tools and materials I bought from an old gentleman who thought he was too old to contiue making violins. Anyway, included in the tools was a hand purfling cutter. I tried it on the maple and spruce of the violin, and it works great. After reading Sloane's classic guitar book showing the tool's use in guitar making, I plan to retire my router from this nerve racking task. As an amatuer, I don't mind the addition time it may take, and you can take your time like you can't with a router. While I'm probably more likely to get injured with the hand tool ( ever cut yourself with a chisel? ), I think the injuries are much less likely to be serious ( ever cut yourself on a jointer? ). Another argument for hand tools for those of us who can afford the time. I think I saw a very nice purfling cutter in the LMI catalog. I once had a large industrial band saw blade break and the blade came out and snaked across the shop. No injuries, but truly frightening! Know where the tool may throw the work or it's blade, and don't stand there!

Thank goodness for this discussion. These things CAN'T be overstated. As someone gearing up to build his first guitar, I've been looking at routers, band-saws, etc. Having read all these postings, I'll be that much more vigilant when eventually using these tools. Power tools have always given me the creeps... I can only second what Chris Franklin said about paying attention to the tool AFTER making your cut, as it slows down and stops. An immediate relaxation of the muscles after making a cut seems like a great opportunity for split-second accidents. If the thing's still moving, it's still dangerous. My two-cents worth: DON'T lean any closer to power-tools than you have to. There's an inclination to "lean in" when doing meticulous operations. Your face and hands don't need to be inches from your work. Two words: ARMS LENGTH. A spinning blade or bit wants to jerk or yank. If your arms, hands, and fingers are extended, you're less likely to get into trouble. Also, got long hair and/or a ponytail? Put it under a hat or hair net. As a long-haired twenty-something, being around the drill press in my college art department made me nervous. Same goes for loose, floppy clothing. Untucked shirts and spinning drum-sanders don't mix... On a final, but related note, what is a "jointer" or "planer/jointer." (joiner??) I keep seeing references to these tools, and I simply don't know what everyone is refering to......................

Oh, just read my posting and realized I forgot to mention one other, and very obvious, thing: safety glasses and goggles. So very easy to forget, but so important....................

Hey Mike,

Get some hearing protection as well, I was running one of my routers the other night and they have a tendency to get so loud that I could'nt sleep for the ringing in my ears. Those things can be screamers.

Randy and the group
As most of us are musicians of one sort or the other I feel compelled to repeat this real loud:

I have three sets of earmuffs hanging in the shop, they go on before the power goes on. Even an electric hand drill motor is loud if you lean over near it like many people do.

I bought "ear muffs" at a gun store, and I think I can hear the router and table saw better with them on. An additional benefit.

Isn't a jointer a tool for removing your finger tips cause you can't see the blade when it is spinning? I've got two family members and a co-worker who have all done this. Seriously, its a tool you have to really be thinking about when your using it. If you're having a bad day, don't plug it in.

Mark's comment about not being able to see the blade spin reminds me of something. If you use flourescent lighting be really careful with table saws and such. The vibrating frequency of the light can sometimes make a spinning blade look like it's standing still...VERY dangerous! It's kind of like a timing light effect. Just something to be aware of.

I always think this when I'm about to start something in my shop. "When I'm finished, my fingers must still be there so that I can play this instrument that I'm making.". It kind of sets priorities in place.

After using power tools without hearing protection for 20 years or so I can't understand speach when there's much background noise.

2 things: One of the rules in my shop is: If I have even ONE beer, no more power tools for the day. I know that I'm really not effected by a single beer, but I'm more afraid that my mind will be just that extra smidgen over-relaxed and something will happen. Item 2: I know some of this "Feel the Force Luke" stuff sounds like mumbo jumbo, but I felt it about 16 years ago. I was working in a Hydraulics shop as an inspector and something told me "This test setup is dangerous. Get out!" I ignored my (very loud) inner voice and about 30 seconds later a 7,500 psi line blew up and I'm now minus a right hand little finger and my ring finger doesn't work so good. I don't know how my inner voice knew that a pipe connection inside a filter was bad, but somehow, I knew something was wrong. So take a bit of advice form a guy who counts in base 9. When that inner voice says "stop", you better stop. Not "in just a second after I finish this", I mean RIGHT NOW!

Previously mentioned was waiting for a tool to stop. In high school wood shop, on the first day the teacher clamped a 1/4" sheet of plywood to a bench about 15 feet behind our 12" table saw. He had the class gather around, and he flipped the switch on for about one second. The blade partially spun up, and he began his table saw safety discussion. He talked for a few minutes as the blade slowly spun down. When he was done, the blade was still spinning but appeared to be almost stopped. Then he held a small push stick in the air over the blade and dropped it. It made a push stick-shaped hole in the plywood behind him. Nobody ever stood behind a table saw that semester. That was a five horse saw and an absolute joy to use. I think it was a Rockwell, but I'm not sure.

I saw a shop teacher carrying a 1/4" dowel and a package of hot dogs into class one day. Imagine the mess he made of the tablesaw.

Imagine the mental image the students had as they felt their fingers and realized it felt just like a hot dog with a dowel in it.

I saw a guy try to rip a piece of 1x6 with a radial arm saw the wrong way. It flew 40 feet and dented a sheet of 3/4" plywood. Probably would have killed anyone it hit.

Phil, that reminds me of a particularly dumb thing we used to do in the cabinet and sash shop I worked in in my distant twenties. About the last operation in making a window sash was cutting a 7 degree bevel across the bottom on the table saw. As the offcut came off the work it would drop into the angle between the blade and the fence and shoot straight backwards with terrific force. The game was to stack up a bunch of the big flat corrugated cardboard boxes glass comes in, behind the saw, and see how many it would go through. Needless to say, you stood off to the side when doing this operation!

I had a new experience today. I spilled thin super glue onto my knuckle which was still wet from accelerator that I had also spilled on it. It burned like I had pressed it against a soldering iron (done that a few times too). The glue sizzled and turned white. When I peeled it off, a small piece of my knuckle went with it. No fun!

Accidents can happen in a millisecond! I have woodworked for about twenty years and been lucky, despite doing a few dangerous procedures in my early years. The other day I laminated two pieces of thin hard plastic together with super glue to make some thicker stock for a router fixture. About 35 minutes later, after dinner, I came back out to rip the stock on the tablesaw. I stood to one side, wore safety glasses and used a push stick. Well....I made the cut, pushed the piece well past the blade and started to lift the push stick off the plastic when the stuff hit the fan. There was a small amount of still wet glue on the plastic and the plastic stuck to the push stick and was deposited on the blade as I pulled the push stick back. The plastic stuck my lower forearm hard enough to tear my shirt sleeve and leave a small gash. The shallow angle of impact probably saved me some serious injury. The plastic continued to travel, the width of my shop, completely penetrated the wall board, then managed to bounce back in my direction and land near my feet. My arm hurt, but what astounded me was the speed at which it happened. My level of due care and caution just went up a notch....

The super glues are much more dangerous than most people think. I worked as a plant safety manager years back, and we had furnaces, cryogenics, nasty chemicals, a machine shop, and all manner of bad stuff. Most of the visits to the clinic were from accidents from using CA. People let their guard down around the stuff, unlike obviously dangerous stuff. We had several accidents with CA getting in eyes. I can't imagine how awful to have a surgeon cut you eye lid away from your cornea. Or cut your upper and lower eye lids apart. Fingers getting stuck to faces, or getting lips glued closed. The problems were usually caused by containers sloshing, and little droplets flying up, or were from touching your face with CA on your hands. Even with safety glasses on we still had accidents. If you wear gloves, you can't always tell its on your hands, so you might rub your face or eyes with terrible results. Be very careful around the stuff. I only use it for special stuff, preferring to use other adhesives because of what I've seen.

Regarding CA glues - One day I was sitting at my desk at work, repairing something with CA glue. Because the nozzle on the bottle had plugged up I took the top off and was working with it open. A friend walked in and inadvertently spilled it all over the top of the desk. When he grabbed a rag from somewhere to wipe it up, there was apparently SOMETHING on the rag - probably some kind of oil - that reacted with the spilled CA adhesive. The term "VIOLENTLY EXOTHERMIC" comes to mind when I recall what happened next. I now have a calculator with a distinctive burned area on the case, with smoke marks from the "VIOLENTLY EXOTHERMIC" occurrence. This stuff is highly reactive. Be careful!

Sort of non-musical, but offered in the interest of safety...

Years ago, I was seriously into making knives. I was (I thought)very safety conscious, and accepted the little mishaps as "unavoidable", until a blade I was working on the belt grinder defied all probability and got wrenched from my grasp (used to that part, and had a guard) and somehow caught in the wheel, instead of the belt. The blade whizzed within a few inches of my head and stuck deep into a 2x4 framing piece.

My shop was then equipped with the most important safety device of all-a sign. It said:

You have children. Is this smart? Is this the best, safest way to do this? Are you hurried, angry, tired or distracted?

I read this OUT LOUD (makes it seem much more formal, if slightly schizophrenic :-} If I didn't have the right answer for each question, I'd catch some TV.

My guitar shop will have an even better safety device-a picture of the boys and my wife.

It's also a good idea to put down a drill with a spade bit (not spinning) in it when you have to turn your head for a second. I moved my left arm back into position ahead of my eyes and gave myself two nicks in the skin right above the "desperation artery". That would have sucked. I wanted a red guitar, but that would have been a bit much.

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