[OP]
Member
Although this came from a machine more powerful than most of us have access to, it still illustrates that kickback can be a very dangerous problem:
http://www.forestgrove-or.gov/latest...equipment.html
The actual size of the piece of wood that came out of the machine was pretty small.
Stay safe!
Member
Holy smokes. That makes the scar on my forehead look like a scratch!
Member
No, it doesn't.Originally Posted by Peter Aeschliman
Your accident happened in a home shop, to an experienced hand.
It's the best, most recent reminder of how dangerous a rotating machine can be.
Two things I'll never own, in my shop;
A table saw.
A big lathe.
These things induce forces not found outside of aviation, or the battlefield.
How is your vision, Peter? Any complications in the recovery?
Jim
Westport, MA
Contributor
It's amazing how much energy small objects can have under the right circumstances.
It made me shudder to see operators standing behind the infeed end of the ganr rip saw, the fingers and chain mail curtains didn't always catch the ejected pieces.
Hope the operator is OK, I wonder if he was standing in the infeed area?
Regards, Rod.
Member
Thanks for your concern Jim!
I'm doing totally fine. I've never had vision issues, thank God. Three things have really set in since my injury:
1) Man was I lucky... could have been luckier I suppose, but if it had hit me any other place above my shoulders, I'd be in worse shape.
2) My scar is ugly. At first it was novel... it was a discussion piece, and I was able to shrug it off by saying "it is what it is." But now that a few months have passed, it's clear that I will have an L-shaped scar for the rest of my life... it will probably be my most noticeable physical feature. It's healing really well all things considered, and it will still be another 3 months or so before the redness along the cut line goes away. But no matter what, it will be there. Life goes on though... like I said above, I'm lucky.
3) I need to improve the safety of my other machines, and unfortunately it's going to cost me. Another member on the forum recently posted about his injury on his jointer, which took off his fingertips after the workpiece "exploded." I'm convinced I need to put a power feeder on my jointer/planer machine. It will take some jimmy-rigging since it's a combo machine and the jointer tables need to open up... but I'll figure it out. I also need to modify the euro-style guard in some way so that it will keep the cutterhead covered during edge jointing operations. I'm thinking along the lines of a spring-loaded featherboard style thing with fingers that cover the cutterhead when the workpiece has exited.
The blood is still on the floor in the shop and the piece that got me is hanging at eye level above the saw... all reminders to stay safe.
Contributor
Hi Peter, I also have a combo machine and wouldn't go back to the swing away guard.
For surfacing I use push paddles, or my hands using my palms, with my fingers up and over the guard, watch some of the Felder videos.
For edge jointing I open the guard slightly less than the thickness of the stock. The guard holds the wood tightly against the lower edge of the fence, so my hands stay with my fingers hooked over the top of the fence.
You may not be comfortable with those techniques however I've found them to be better than my previous style with the swing away guard.
A swing away mount for your power feeder is available...................Regards, Rod.
Member
Thanks Rod-
You have the Hammer machine, which is a much nicer machine than my Laguna. So it doesn't surprise me that your guard helps hold the piece against the fence and ensures that there is no gap during edge jointing. Unfortunately I'm not quite so lucky. So I think I'm going to need to come up with my own guard. Could be a fun project.
The biggest challenge in terms of the power feeder is that I want to keep my jointer/planer next to my sliding table on my tablesaw. Long story on the layout of my shop, but that's by far the best use of space. Which means that I need a means of lowering the power feeder assembly below the table height on my table saw. I'm picturing some kind of hinged assembly that locks in an upright position while in use, but folds down along the length of the machine to get it out of the way of the table saw and out of the way of the planer below.
That project is quite a ways off. Until then, I think I'll modify my blade guard and make sure to use push paddles when face jointing/surfacing.
Contributor
Hi Peter, the feeder on my saw/shaper has the standard fold away bracket to drop the feeder below the table. It also allows the feeder to rotate 180 degrees for use on my jointer if I move the jointer behind the saw/shaper, which I have done.
Have fun............Rod.
Member
I have and do operate a couple of straight line saws at work on occasion. There are safe guards in place but they are not fool proof. There is actually a suit like a base ball catchers outfit shown in the operators manual that the machine vendors recommend the operators wear for protection, but I have never seen or heard of anyone wearing these. Justtoo much bulk to work in all day. Incidences of injury from these machines is actually quite rare IME, but when 40HP kicks back it does it hard.
Member
Ah. Yeah I finally found some pictures of that on the Felder site. Very interesting- it would have to be something very much like that, although I would need to figure out how to mount it. I can't mount it to the outfeed table and can't mount it to the back of the machine since the back is a thin removable cover. I might just do something simple like mount it to the floor or to a common base. Not sure how stable that would be though.
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