Safety Question

[Gofor]

One of the safety rules for hobbyist woodworkers is to let their family,etc know not to walk up behind them when they are running a cutting tool so as not to surprise them and cause an accident. I have informed my family and those that visit regularly of this practice and so work with some confidence in my garage that even tho I wear hearing protection when running the table saw, I won't be unduly surprised. Another rule is to keep your full concentration on what you are doing, so if I expect visitors, I keep the garage door closed and if the wife is out, hit the lockout for the automatic opener when doing a hazardous procedure. If the door is open, I usually face the back of the garage when running the saw so as not to get distracted at the wrong moment by the construction workers building the house next door or someone pulling into the driveway.
Fast forward to this past week: I am out in the garage (er.. shop) making a tennoning jig for my table saw. The weather is a nice & sunny and the garage is heating up, so I open the garage door. I am happily making the final cuts on some of final pieces when all of a sudden, my cheeks are wedged apart (not the ones adjacent to my beard, either!) Being one who tries to live his life by the mantra “expect the unexpected”, I did not over react, stopped pushing the piece past the blade, and looked around to see what was amiss. On my backside was a large black lab whose head is as wide as my b**t with her nose trying to appreciate my very essence, and to my left was another large golden lab looking at me with the expression that said “After she gets him down I'm gonna get the Good parts!”. It appears the neighbor's dogs (who raise Cain whenever I walk out into the yard and actually froth at the mouth when I run the riding mower) had discovered that his new deck built close to the fence was an ideal launching pad for jumping over it. I calmly said” Hi guys, let's get you back home” and proceeded to lead them back to their owner's house. They followed fairly well until we got to the edge of their yard when both could not decide whether to follow to the door (they prefer inside) or to bark at an intruder, so they did both.


So, my question is: What do you do? Work with sweat in your eyes, face the wall to not get distracted, or face the street and try to ignore the distractions?


I've got to say that I was proud of myself for my reserved composure. Funny thing, tho. I've never seen a black lab with a brown nose before!!



Go

 

[DaveO]

Funny story, but excellent safety tip to keep in mind. My wife is so paranoid that she will startle me by coming into the shop while I am running a power tool, she rarely comes in. And if she does she waits until she doesn't hear anything going on. I have no windows, only one door (which generally remains closed to keep the heat/AC in) and the garage door is bolted shut for security. So I can really get in a "zone" while working, and be easily startled.
Dave

 

[NCPete]

that is a funny story.

I work with my back to the street right now when running the TS, most everything else I do on the 'assembly table' that is currently a 3/4" sheet of CDX on a pair of sawhorses in the driveway

 

[Mark Anderson]

my family has been trained to flick the light upon entering the shop, but the neighbors dog is another thing

 

[Travis Porter]

Funny story, but good you didn't get hurt. Personally, I am "jumpy" and scare easily. Running the drum sander and dust collector the other night the LOML walked up to the window near where I was standing. It was dark, and it scared the fool out of me. Hence, I like to be facing outward and be aware of what may be coming. Distractions don't bother me too much. Someone walking up on me and unintentionally scaring me even though they are just waiting worries me more.

 

[lwhughes149]

I also find myself running something with my back to the door which stays close most of the time. My husband has come in on several occasions and just stands there quietly until I turn of the machine. He has never startled me. I guess being quiet is the key. 99% of the time he and I are the only ones here. The min. pincher, Sonny will also let me know if a stranger comes up, that is if he has his eyes open and sees them. He can't hear or see very well now days.

 

[NCPete]

my family has been trained to flick the light upon entering the shop, but the neighbors dog is another thing

that seems dangerous. I don't want anyone interfering with my lighting while running various parts too close to the sharp parts. :saw:

 

[McRabbet]

My shop is in my basement and I installed a wireless Door Bell that LOML can tap if she wants to interrupt me for something (like lunch or dinner!). She's learned to listen for a power tool running (hard to hear through the insulated floor) and repeats if I do not respond. I also have one of our cordless phones in the shop in case an outsider calls us and I'm home alone.

But, this is a good topic -- an interruption at the wrong time can be dangerous -- I wear ear muff hearing protectors and that means I only hear the sloshing in my old brain... I'd recommend keeping the door shut and installing a fan or A/C to keep cool in summer.

My .02 -- Rob

 

[lwhughes149]

While we are on the subject of safety, may I bring up something else? I have a shop that is 20 x 20 which is insulated. There are 7 windows throughout. I have a dust system for the table router, planer, bandsaw and jointer, nothing for the tablesaw. I have a heat/air unit in a wall and a fan in the ceiling that I often put a filter in front of and clean up the air with that. I can't seem to get control on the dust. The tablesaw is bad as well as the router when cutting dovetails for drawers. Any suggestions on how to better handle the dust. I thought of the air filter that goes in the ceiling. I thought of putting a fan in the window to draw the air out but what would that do to my heated space? My ceilings are 8 foot. It would be difficult to wear a mask the entire time I am in the shop. Ear and eye protection I could wear the entire time. Lorraine

 

[McRabbet]

Lorraine,

Far and away, the best solution to fine dust in your shop is to capture it at the source. If you do not have a dust collector, then you need to put one at the very top of your priority list. Harbor freight makes a relatively inexpensive one for connection to a single tool, but it only has a 30 micron bag. I have a Penn State Industries DC1B ($239.95) dust collector that is available with a 1 Micron canister for $70 more and it performs very well. I recommend using a chip collector on machines like your planer, jointer and tablesaw to pull out the coarse chips. I would also recommend that you check your router table for adequate dust collection -- I use my shop vac fitted with dry wall filters to pull out the fines through the fence and my main dust collector connected below the router.

One thing to remember is that a shop air filter collects dust from the same air that you breathe, so it is only effective for reducing any airborne dust that escapes your primary collection. And, remember that dust from certain woods is very toxic -- walnut is especially toxic and you must wear a good dust mask whenever you work with it (especially when sanding. BTW, I also hook up my Shop Vac (with the dry wall filter) to my random orbital sander whenever I run it to insure I collect the fine powder dust it generates. And I wear one of the face mask respirators shown here with the appropriate cartridge installed when I sand.

Hope this helps. Rob

 

[NCPete]

the DC Rob mentions from HF is often on sale for much less($149.99 for mine just the other day), and can be converted to 1 micron filtration for about $60, IIRC. I will be searching for that article later this month... I feel the HF DC can run a bigger system than 1 machine, the connection at the fan plenum is actually 6" with a 4" Y on it.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Like McRabbet, I have a wireless doorbell with the button down in the kitchen on the desk. The doorbell also has a strobe so I am alerted even with hearing protectors on. I also have a telephone strobe. Lastly, the shop door has a lock on the inside.

Go, what kind of aircraft did you work on during your career? Ever been on Whidbey, Is., WA?

 

[Robert Arrowood]

SAFTY IS A GOOD TOPIC!! I used to deliver dog kennels for a company in Charlotte.I brought home some damaged panels ''didn't know why at the time''. But they came in handy. My shop is an old moble home and I had a problem with my cats comeing in so I hung a gate panel on the inside. Iv'e mounted it so if I need to remove it all I need to do is slide it off the pins. It works great in the heat.You can go to SOUTHERN STATES FARM SUPPLY and buy single panels.You can even custom order if you need.You might want to take your neighbor with you he might get the point.:lol:

 

[MikeH]

my family has been trained to flick the light upon entering the shop, but the neighbors dog is another thing

I agree with Pete. This seems very dangerous.

 

[Travis Porter]

Agree with Rob. Dust collector too many times is considered a "luxury" item, but it is an important tool to have in your arsenal. As far as airborn dust, I built my own air filtration using high efficiency filters from the Borg, an old squirrel cage fan, a pull chain for a light, and built a box to put it in. It has 2 filters on the intake and 1 on the out. It has made a big difference in dust from like when I am sanding. The dust collector itself makes a big difference, but to get good pickup at the source it takes power so getting a small collector you will only be able to run one machine at a time. As for units, you can find them pretty good price here on this site (seems someone is always selling them) and craigslist.

 

[lwhughes149]

I think I would like to have an air filtering system. I have a 1 hp Harbor Freight dust system and it works very well. It is the tablesaw that makes most of the air borne dust. I plan to move some of my machines around in the next couple of months so I guess I will have to make some changes. I know the extra dust is there and needs to be addressed. My hand sander needs to be hooked to a dust collector as well. In the 2 1/2 years that I have been in the shop I have made many improvements but there is still much to do. Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of that filter system. Lorraine

 

[Travis Porter]

For the hand sanders, if you have a shop vac most of the sanders have the fittings (if they have a bag) to hook up your shop vac. If it doesn't fit quite right, masking tape works wonders.

 

[McRabbet]

Not masking tape; use duct tape! My Porter-Cable 333 has a small port where the dust filter fits; I usually use a section of 1-1/4" hose on to it (filter off) and just stick the other end of the hose into the 2-1/2" main hose of my 16-gallon Shop Vac. The ShopVac is fitted with a dry wall filter bag and a cartridge filter -- every fine particulate get captured down to 1/2 micron, I'm sure.

Rob

 

[sawman]

I got a good laugh out of the dog story. My problem was not dogs but insects, wasp, bees and a dumb mocking bird. My solution was to make a 3 panel insert for one of my garage doors. The center panel has two barrel bolts into the top jam and two into the concrete. The side units have barrel bolts into the side jambs and are fastened to the center panel with latches ( dadoed out on side to meet dado on center panel). This allows me to remove the side panels if needed for long cuts on the table saw. I used the outside entrance door to ratio out the strechers and installed screen.
I enjoy the lack of flying insects.
Clowman sent a solution to my problem for the scare of your life, have LOML flash the lights to get my attention, it works.
As to dust collection, I have a Delta DC and Jet overhead DC which really helps with dust control. I use the Fein vac to connect to the various tools needed which further helps with the cleaning process. I have considered building a small down draft table.
Threads, such as this, are excellent for ideas
I agree, duct tape for everything.

Albert, Al or whatever:lightbulb

 

[cpowell]

Mark, the dog story is funny after learning you weren't hurt! I am very focused when working and have taught the kids (and LOML) to open the door and stand quietly until I have finished a cut before speaking.

Lorraine, I bought an adapter for my dewalt ROS to connect up to my DC. It works INCREDIBLY good! You will not see ANY dust when I'm sanding. My CMS (used very little) and BS (used a lot) are tougher for good dust collection.

I have heard that a box fan with filters at the suction side works about as well as most air cleaners. I keep forgetting to try it out but I'm gonna do it. Too cheap to pass up.

Chuck