The foremost and strictly enforced rule of our community woodshop is that no one may operate machinery in the shop alone. There must be at least one other person in the shop. It does not have to be a club member it can the member's spouse, just someone that can call for help if needed
Bill V
shop safety
Moderator: admin
Re: shop safety
A story to think about
I was working at my bench one afternoon ,, behind me was a 14 inch industrial disc sander that we had designated for magnesium , no metal allowed ,It wasn't marked or labeled,,,, back then it was one of those things that only a few in the shop people used ,, there were other sanders for wood,plastic and others yet for steel , one day a new fella came in , had 20 yrs exp as a machines't , very good at his job ,,,, very respected in the trades, not knowing,,,,, he started grinding a piece of steel on this grinder ,,as soon as the steel hit the disc there were glowing embers flying up my back side and through the air , this is a wood shop , glowing embers are not good , ,not to mention that day I was covered with dust ,,, my bench was covered ,,,, once I got the glowing embers off me ,,I started to get a broom to sweep these embers into a pile , he went for the water hose??? another bad idea since these embers are so light they just blow around ,,, water and is not the choice for magnesium fires ,,it is best to get them into a pile and just let them burn out .
If you have ever seen these fire starter sticks that work in wet weather , survival tools?
They are magnesium.
Ok so the point to the story , know how to deal with the product if some thing does go bad ?
Gasoline , paint thinners ,paint ,varnish , any flammable liquids ,,, any thing flammable is best kept in a metal cabinet or designated area if possible .
Used rags are a huge safety issue .
I was working at my bench one afternoon ,, behind me was a 14 inch industrial disc sander that we had designated for magnesium , no metal allowed ,It wasn't marked or labeled,,,, back then it was one of those things that only a few in the shop people used ,, there were other sanders for wood,plastic and others yet for steel , one day a new fella came in , had 20 yrs exp as a machines't , very good at his job ,,,, very respected in the trades, not knowing,,,,, he started grinding a piece of steel on this grinder ,,as soon as the steel hit the disc there were glowing embers flying up my back side and through the air , this is a wood shop , glowing embers are not good , ,not to mention that day I was covered with dust ,,, my bench was covered ,,,, once I got the glowing embers off me ,,I started to get a broom to sweep these embers into a pile , he went for the water hose??? another bad idea since these embers are so light they just blow around ,,, water and is not the choice for magnesium fires ,,it is best to get them into a pile and just let them burn out .
If you have ever seen these fire starter sticks that work in wet weather , survival tools?
They are magnesium.
Ok so the point to the story , know how to deal with the product if some thing does go bad ?
Gasoline , paint thinners ,paint ,varnish , any flammable liquids ,,, any thing flammable is best kept in a metal cabinet or designated area if possible .
Used rags are a huge safety issue .
Hobbyman2 Favorite Quote: "If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)
- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)
-
swampgator
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1256
- Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:32 pm
- Location: Pensacola, FL
Re: shop safety
All posted excellent information to follow. I like the rule of no one doing work alone. Except, that is the time I get away from her constant chatter. 
Just one clarification, in your PPE kit, you should always have a mask. Bronchitis can be had without one. Rather than allowing your lungs to be the filter, purchase and maintain a good mask for sawdust of wood, plastics or other materials that you may sand or cut.
Steve, the old Florida gator
Just one clarification, in your PPE kit, you should always have a mask. Bronchitis can be had without one. Rather than allowing your lungs to be the filter, purchase and maintain a good mask for sawdust of wood, plastics or other materials that you may sand or cut.
Steve, the old Florida gator
-
masonsailor2
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1564
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:57 am
- Location: Las Vegas NV
Re: shop safety
I was raised by a cabinet maker and have worked in the industry for a large portion of my life. I am also a retired emergency room nurse so I have seen my share of shop accidents. My father had all ten fingers in an era where most of his friends could have been called stubby. He had one golden rule which was no fingers within 6" of a moving sharp object. If you can't perform the job within that rule then stop and rethink the task. Push sticks and paddles are a must. Power feeds even better. One place that for some reason everybody ( myself included) tend to get too complacent is the band saw. It just looks so much less dangerous somehow. It will slice a finger off just as quick as a table saw. As far as fire hazard the dust collector ranks right up there. It is optimum to have the DC in an outside airspace to duct the air completely out of the shop. The danger is when it decides to stop working. The only big fire I have had in a shop was due to the DC ceasing to work and since it was outside and we were wearing ear protection we did not notice it had clogged and tripped the breaker. We were sawing a large amount of alder for face frames using a unisaw with an enclosed cabinet which promptly filled up with sawdust and burst into flames. We never did figure out why the overheat cutout switch failed on the motor but it was a pretty big fire before we got it out. So part of the PPE needs to be a set of really good fire extinguishers !
Paul
Paul