Shop Safety

[Dennis Weaver]

Last year I bought a "Mexican or Central American" classical guitar off Ebay, and the seller said "Oh it sounds great!"

Well there is a lot of workmanship past my level but at the same time a lot of sloppy stuff!

Bridge's center isn't center of soundboard because they put fingerboard on crooked. Tuner holes were drilled way too big and were so sloppy it would mess up the tuners so I filled them with a dowel and re-drilled them with my tuner drill jig. Bridge tie block was so high that the strings had no tension (angle) so I cut the tie block off and sawed slots and glued on a new lower tie block above my saw lines for strings.

OK anyhow the guitar just does not sound all that great. It could be a OK beginner guitar BUT it has such a wide neck and really wide nut/ string spacing I had to get used to it and most people could not deal with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was heat gunning the bridge off today and the putty knife slipped and the cut on my thumb could really use stitches but I just have it bandaged up good.

I will get back to that guitar another day. Plan is sand the top cause it is real thick. Glue on new bridge, refinish soundboard, make a new nut with closer string spacing. Then give it to a friend on Disability to fool around with and I'd show him some chords and see if he is interested in learning guitar for something to do.

Anyhow I do not want any more injuries here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone wear gloves? etc???? Tips on safety?????

I think a lot is just to focus on SAFETY FIRST.

[Peter Wilcox]

All I can say is pay attention to what you are doing and think it through, and if safety equipment is available for the situation (goggles, masks, push sticks, etc), use it. Don't wear baggy clothes, large jewelry or anything hanging from a body part. But accidents do happen, usually due to worker stupidity. I was trying to pry open an old can of polyurethane the other day with a screwdriver - it was really glued shut - and the screwdriver slipped and went into the palm of my hand holding the can. Doh!

[Dennis Weaver]

I went to Lowe's and they didn't have push sticks for table saws unless you buy one and it comes with it. I ordered some online today. Gonna step up safety procedures -

[Peter Wilcox]

They're easy and cheap to make - a stick about 1 inch square and a foot or so long. Cut a notch in the end. Probably paint it a bright color so you can find it after you put it down.

[Gordon Bellerose]

One of the most common injuries is cuts and punctures from sharp hand tools.
I have taken to wearing gloves in the shop at every opportunity.
The gloves I wear are called "Hi-Flex". They are a cotton stretch material in the back, and a thin rubber/canvas compound in the palm/finger area.
They are thin enough to do most tasks, except for the very delicate like small screws and so on.
They have saved my hands numerous times since I started using them, and have the added bonus of not getting skin oil on the wood.

Do not forget to wear eye and hearing protection.

My trade for the last 45 years has been heavy equipment. Lots of loud noise for long durations.
I started wearing hearing protection early in my career, when it wasn't cool to wear it.
Some of the guys who gave me a hard time back then, are the guys who are now wearing hearing aids. I'm not.

[Dennis Weaver]

I am going to look into a glove to wear.

We wear hearing protection at my job. Folder Machine- Air pumps and paper hitting the fold stops in the plates at a bindery for a printing co.

I usually have a problem with eye protection even though I wear glasses. When I wear a dust mask the glasses or goggles fog up.

[JC Whitney]

One more tip to add about DIY push sticks - round off the rear (handle) end. That way if it catches or pushes back it's less likely to take a little piece of you with it.

[David Falkner]

I made mine out of Walnut I milled to 1/2" and shaped it like a Grand Auditorium with a Florentine cutaway!

[Mark Swanson]

Think as you use sharp edge tools. If you are pushing with it, think about where it will go when or if it slips, and keep your hands OUT of the way if it will slip. Position your work so that if a slip happens, then it won't come near flesh and bone. If you are cutting and needing to push hard, then your tool is not sharp enough! Dull tools cause many injuries because it is so much harder to control a dull tool and you have to push hard.

[Michael Lewis]

What Mark said. It takes conscious effort to ingrain this concept in your mind, but DO it. It's a 'new' way of life, . . . . . . from now on.

[Bryan Bear]

Michael is right, you have to get that message deep in your brain. My seven year old daughter loves to do those dinosaur dig toys. They are blocks of dried clay with dinosaur bone models in them. You get a wooden chisel and a paint brush and dig to discover all the bones. I let her do her thing and constantly ask her where the chisel will go if it slips? She is starting to do it as second nature now.

[Simon Magennis]

I remember reading somewhere about a workshop where the guy has a big sign on the door. "Count your fingers". I know one professional guitar builder here who has a finger missing - bandsaw accident if I recall correctly.

[John LaTorre]

When I took wood shop in high school, my instructor would shake his finger at us when we did something stupid. The fact that the finger was half gone really brought the lesson home to us.

I still have all my fingers, but two of them have been damaged by power tools to the point where I've lost a lot of feeling in them. I don't play the harp much any more because of that.

[Roger Rosenberger]

I had this poster hanging in my old shop. It will go in my new one too.

[Kurt Veltman]

Just a word about wearing gloves in the shop...DON'T wear them around power tools! If they get caught in something like a bench mounted belt sander, you could easily come out with nothing but a bloody stump! I worked in a tool and die (mold) shop with someone who had decades of experience, but was careless and accident prone. He made a mistake on a large vertical belt sander and got his thumb ground down to the bone, nail and all. If he had had gloves on, it could have been much worse!

[David King]

I've trimmed a couple of fingertips over the years and what I can say about that is that those fingers start to ache as soon as they get close to spinning blades. It always gets my attention and keeps me completely focused on the task at hand. You don't forget that type of pain and hopefully the part of the brain that tracks these things will steer you in the right direction forever after.
What I've figured out over the years is that sharp blades are a lot safer than dull ones. I like the idea of outlining the blade area with red marking ink.