Starting out 9th graders in the shop

[Jim Hager]

Hey all,

I am starting my ninth graders this week with woodworking power tools. I have been over all the textbook safety that is normal to teach to them. I have showed them Shelly's fingers and demonstrated some things for them.

All of the posts about safety have caught my attention and I have even been showing the students some of the posts and polls and even Shelly's fingers.

Now even the best textbook writer or teacher will leave out some of the pet peaves of another woodworker. I have been at this for 27 years but I'll nearly bet that there are some things that I have never thought of.

My question: What are some of the points that you would bring up to a group of ninth grade students who are going to be using the major stationary woodworking power tools in just a few short weeks. Keep in mind that these students have a very limited knowledge of the tools and for the most part don't even know the names of the tools or even what their funtions are.

Before you get excited and think that I haven't been doing anything, the kids have been studying agricultural sciences up to this point in the school year. Animal science, plant science, natural resources management, leadership, SAEP, etc.

By the end of the year some will be pretty good woodworkers, some electricians, some weldors, some sheet metal fabricators, some gasoline engines experts, :rolleyes: etc.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

1. No loose clothing 2. Don't wear jewelry 3. I don't care what your buddy is doing, concentrate on what you're doing...it's your fingers and hands at stake! 4. No "horsing around"..your actions could effect someone for the rest of their life! 5. Use all safety equipment, follow all safety procedures recommended by manufacturers, concentrate, work hard and have fun!

I'm sure others will add to the list.

[tod evans]

simply anything that will cut wood/metal will eat meat.and no horsing around in the shop. .02 tod

[John Miliunas]

Put it away!!! In other words, if you use a tool, push sticks/pads, etc., put them back where they belong before proceeding. If you don't, the next student may try to substitute something else or use nothing at all!:eek:

Thoroughly clean up after yourself. Sawdust on smooth surfaces we walk on IS slippery!!!:) :cool:

[Bruce Haugen]

In the movie "Karate Kid" comes the best piece of defensive advice I've ever heard, and it applies to every situation, including woodworking: "Mr. Miyagi say, 'Best defense is not be there.'"

It applies to fingers, toes, a body standing in the line of attack of a potential kick back, placement of hands, wearing hearing and eye protection, etc.

Bruce

[Roy Wall]

Neither hand is to be within a foot of the blade, bit, knives, etc.... Therefore, if your cut requires your hands to be within this area, you must us a push stick, block, etc... so hands are outside this minimum distance.

[Shelley Bolster]

Hey Jim, I am glad you were able to use my "stupidity" as an example to your students. After reading your post, I have decided to go up to the high school here in Clinton and talk to the kids taking the shop class.

Thankfully, the new shop teacher has control over the class but that was not the case a few years ago. My son, while in grade 8, was taking the introductory classes. (he doesn't care for woodworking :( ) He came home on several occasions and told of incidents of "horsing around" that amazed me why no one got seriously hurt. One that comes to mind was a "sawdust fight" with a few running throughout the shop throwing handfuls of sawdust at each other. Just so happened a boy working on the TS got a handful in the eyes. ( no safety glasses! :eek: ) Luckily he just needed to get his eyes washed out - it could have been disastrous! He reacted to this assault by using a few choice words to the girl who had thrown the sawdust........these words were overheard by the shop teacher and he was sent to the principle after his eyes were cleaned! The girl got nothing!

I really can't add much to the list that hasn't been said but I would make sure they all understand that you have ZERO tolerance for horseplay. Oh yeah, not just loose clothing that Ken mentioned but appropriate -meaning none of these suggestive outfits that seem to be in fashion. OK....I am sure my mother thought what I wore in grade 9 was suggestive but I was not permitted in a shop class with grade 9 boys......I think you can see where I am going with this.

Hey...have fun with your class Jim....those kids are real fortunate to have you as their teacher! :)

[Jim O'Dell]

I think a good reminder would be to show the pictures of our local comrades attempts to grind carbide and steel with their flesh. Kind of like the pictures you see of wrecks during driver's training. Jim.

[George Summers]

There are many many things to do in a shop to be safe and most of them have already been mentioned. One rule that I follow and have used in business (before retirement), in teaching my kids to do anything (hanging pictures to mowing the lawn), and definately in the shop is to stop and plan or think about what you are about to do. How am I going to go about doing it, what steps will I take, what sequence will I do it in, what tools will I need (is the pushstick laying at hand so I can pick it up as I approach the blade when ripping a long board), is this the best way (and safest way) to do this job? Sometimes it only takes a minute to think about, sometimes I get halfway through the mental checklist and decide that this isn't the best way and spend another 3-4 minutes modifying my approach.

George

[Mike Tempel]

Safety Glasses are a MUST in any shop environment - NO EXCEPTIONS, and you must be able to see through them - no shades:cool: . Hearing protection when necessary as well as any respiratory protection that may be needed in case of chemical usage or even using some exotic materials. Gloves when required but not when using power tools - you know what I mean on this one. Hard hats are not out of the question in some cases either.

I would also think that a safety proctor would maybe be a good idea. Have one student observe the others and any unsafe acts or conditions should be mitigated AND shared with the class. Perhaps rotate students through this role. Start the class with the previous days findings in a tool box safety meeting and discuss/show pictures if available. Preaching safety is good but practicing on a daily basis is better.

Sharing experiences is a very good practice but also find and show them from your own environment as well. After class is over, take a stroll through the shop and look for some yourself - look for tools still plugged in:confused: , tools not where they belong,:eek: machine gaurds out of place:eek: :eek: , items in danger of falling, poor housekeeping:( , walking/working surfaces should be inspected for hazards such as tripping over loose items or extension cords or a hammer left on a table waiting to fall on an unsuspecting toe:mad: . Etc, etc, etc. Take a few pictures of what you find and without applying blame to individuals show the entire class what was found and your expectations on how your shop should run.

Posting safety rules is a good idea too. Let them know up front what is expected and what will not be tolerated. There is too much at stake for something to be implied.

I think what you do is honorable and noble. I only wish I had the patience to instruct a class full of freshman. I know you will do well and I hope that your students will gain from your knowledge and experience.

[Doug Shepard]

When I was in Jr.High Woodshop class our teacher was a major PITA - or at least we thought so at the time. One thing he made us do that in hindsight was probably a pretty good idea was the buddy system. Nobody was allowed to operate any power tools without a buddy observing. Their job was to make sure the other guy was using all the required safety stuff (goggles, pushsticks, etc) and wasn't doing anything foolish like trying to use both the miter gauge and fence at the same time on a TS. They were also there to hit the emergency shutoff switches if necessary. Believe it or not, we actually had to learn the locations of all the shutoff switches and breakers and were tested on it. We all thought the teacher was a real Nazi, but I don't recall anyone getting hurt in his classes so he may have been on to something.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Convince them that reporting safety violations of their friends is not ratting out on a friend, but preventing an injury. Guards are not for dummies. Safety rules are to protect people, machines and materials in that order. I tell my kids (36 years of teaching drafting, auto, electricity, woods and now technology) my students have never had a serious accident and I don't intend to let one of them be the first. Carelessness and hurrying are their worst enemies. I often have classes watch NYW videos and point out Norm's safety errors.

[David Fried]

My high school shop class was strict. Safety rules and safety equipment. Any violations you had to explain to the principal.

We still had one accident. My friend sanded the tips off his fingers with the belt sander. He had been up late and was tired. The provision had not been made for students avoid using the equipment if they didn't feel up to it. I can't imagine we would have been forced to use it but no one thought to let us know it was an option.

Just a thought.

Have fun - post pictures of projects not fingers.



Daver Fried

[Dino Makropoulos]

Jim.
As a certified safety instructor and not as a tool maker,
I can give you a tip.
The cool thing is to talk to the kids about the DWC.(dead wood concept)
ALL tools can comply with this concept
I think it would be interesting to explain that
each piece of wood "behaves" different :rolleyes:
and that we must behave the same with all.;)

What works the best with students is to let them come up with the answer.
Then, they have no reason not to follow it.
Let them think that they "invent" the safe way.
And . .. keep them away from the "how to cut your hands" TV shows.:mad:




YCf Dino

[Joseph N. Myers]

NOT using gloves around anything that cuts (grinds, etc). It is bad enough to get flesh caught but if "it" has cloth to grap, it just keeps on going (like the bunny).

Regards, Joe

[Charlie Plesums]

I have been lucky in the shop for over 50 years. But a story from my son's shop class (a different section, but he knew all the kids involved).

Someone put the wrong type of bit in the drill press. (OK, a spade bit drilling metal). The bit broke off and flew across the room. Something soft (a student's head) kept it from hurting the wall. A few months later there were organs available, donated by that student.

[Kurt Forbes]

One of my biggest rules was every machine must be turned off then unpluged after use. Safety glasses are a must and better yet a face shield as is some sort of dust mask. I also required the students to get my permission and my presence at the machine before any machine was plugged in and turned on.

I also let every kid know that they were never required to use any machine. I would make the cuts for them and let them watch if they were not confortable, but i would encourage them to make the cuts themselves whenever possible.
This was in a 8th grade wood shop.

[Steve Stube]

I took four years of Wood Shop in school. Each piece of power equipment had a "Safety Key Points" card attached to it or posted nearby. We frequently had movies on wood shop safety and proper tool use followed by open discussion at the begining of classes in WS 1 and WS 2. In the 3rd and 4th year shop classes once we got checked out on a project and procedures to acheive it we were pretty much on our own until it was completed and graded. If a student had need to use a machine he would be required to read and initial the "Safety Key Points" card. He then had to have the teacher test him and initial that he had been checked out on that machine before using it. The teacher oftentimes gave a demo of its operation (kind of a refresher of what the movies demonstrated) but always quizzed the student on the safety points and would invite the student to inspect the machine before using to see if any other safety points should be added to the card. I never knew of any points being added but it did force you to focus on safety relating to that machine. We only had to be checked out once but the Key Points were to be reviewed and initialed each day we used that machine.
In 4 years I thought it pretty amazing that only one digit was shortened. A know-it-all kid ran his thumb thru a bandsaw taking about an inch off the end - he hadn't been checked out on the bandsaw. He was expelled for a time and when he came back to school (not woodshop) he had different, no horseplay attitude. Oh and there was the bowling pin that came out of the lathe and crashed thru a large window into the hallway - no injury. Yes, this was before the large plexiglass guards were used on wood lathes.
There were some beautiful projects built in shop class - gun cabinets, kitchen cabinets, dining room tables and chairs and a few wood working benches. My biggest project was an Oak endtable that was drawfed in size and quality of workmanship by some of my classmates that later became home builders and cabnet makers.

[Jarrod Nelson]

Hats off to you for doing this with your kids. I still use some of the things I learned in Jr. High shop class.

My wife is a teacher and I think it is easy for them to forget the positive life long impact they have on kids.

Some great tips here. The only thing I can think of is if you talk to a certified tech ed teacher. I'd be willing to bet they have some tricks. :)

Have fun with those kids!

[Dev Emch]

9th grade? That is first year, high school. No worries. They required us to begin woodshop in 7th grade. By 8th grade, we out of hand tools and into machine tools. But if we needed the table saw in 7th grade, we were allowed to use with the teachers permission and supervision.

The one story that comes to mind is old but it works. About long hair and loose clothing. One "surfer dude" type was working on a drill press at Fort Collins, VOTECH and he got his long hair caught in the chuck. It wound it up and then yanked out a chunk of scalp. Hence, the bloody flying carpet was born. After that, all the teacher had to say was "Hey! You want a flying carpet? Fix that safety violation right now!".