Shopsmith Forums

I am one lucky person. I AGAIN learned a lesson that should have been ingrained long ago. I still have my finger but I easily could be on my way to the emergency room. I was just out using my Crafters Station (without the lower saw guard). I was cutting some very shallow kerfs. Just one of those quick and east tasks that doesn't require a lot of setup. Decided to use the Crafters Station rather than the Mark V which was setup for other work.

I was all done and reached under the table to switch it off. About six inches from the blade is the switch. You guessed it. I got bit by the unprotected blade. Not at all what it could very easily have been BUT....it was a wake up call.
Not a good picture but it should be a good reminder.

Yikes ... that could easily have been a whole lot worse!

I've never seen a Crafter's Station in person, but that switch-to-blade spacing sounds like a dangerous setup. Can it fit a lower saw guard?

Ouch,

Thanks for sharing, And always remember, no bleeding on company time.

I do believe it is about time for that Crafters Station to get a remote turn off/on switch. Rocklers has them for $30 bucks. $30 bucks seems like a pretty good investment to keep your fingers ...

https://www.rockler.com/safety-power-tool-switch

You could also go the power strip route with individual switches. Every saw I have is connected to a power strip like that because I have kids that might come into the shop from time to time, they are not likely to know to turn both the strip and the saw on to run. For me it is a piece of mind thing, just once more step in the direction of safety. Of course I always tell them to never turn anything on unless an adult is there, but having been a kid once in my life I still remember being a kid, they don't always listen...lol...a little bit of a PIA at first, having to remember to turn on the strip first, but really it is just automatic now, don't even think about it anymore

This is a good lesson for us because it is sort of a back door lapse of safety concern. Most of us focus on the risk of the execution of the task, like keeping a healthy distance between our fingers and a spinning cutter during the operation. This one bites us through a back door where the lack of putting the proper guards in place causes the injury when we are simply turning the machine off, an action we perceived to have little to no risk.

sehast wrote:This is a good lesson for us because it is sort of a back door lapse of safety concern. Most of us focus on the risk of the execution of the task, like keeping a healthy distance between our fingers and a spinning cutter during the operation. This one bites us through a back door where the lack of putting the proper guards in place causes the injury when we are simply turning the machine off, an action we perceived to have little to no risk.

I am curious what a lower guard for the Crafter's Station looks like. How is it attached?

Dusty,
You are indeed lucky it didn't come out worse. Was it because it was "quick" task that you decided not to use the lower blade guard? A good reminder for all of us, at your expense, not to take shortcuts when setting up. Looking at the picture the switch is very close to the blade.
For those who do not know about the Crafters Station it is like a Power Station with a bar for the carriage mounted to hold the 510 main table.
JPG,
The blade guards are the same as the 510/520/M7 guards.
...

JPG wrote:

sehast wrote:This is a good lesson for us because it is sort of a back door lapse of safety concern. Most of us focus on the risk of the execution of the task, like keeping a healthy distance between our fingers and a spinning cutter during the operation. This one bites us through a back door where the lack of putting the proper guards in place causes the injury when we are simply turning the machine off, an action we perceived to have little to no risk.

I am curious what a lower guard for the Crafter's Station looks like. How is it attached?

The lower guard (as well as the upper) is the same as a Mark V Model 510 guard.

chapmanruss wrote:Dusty,
You are indeed lucky it didn't come out worse. Was it because it was "quick" task that you decided not to use the lower blade guard? A good reminder for all of us, at your expense, not to take shortcuts when setting up. Looking at the picture the switch is very close to the blade.

$matches[2]For those who do not know about the Crafters Station it is like a Power Station with a bar for the carriage mounted to hold the 510 main table.

Power Station Crafters Station.JPGJPG,
The blade guards are the same as the 510/520/M7 guards.
...

Yes, very, very lucky. Yes, it was a very stupid short cut. I could very easily have given away a finger. All done for expedience. All superficial. Not even any swelling.

wow...that was a close call. Glad it was no worse, and thanks for the safety reminder.