Had an Ooops in the shop Monday

[Keith Weber]

It would push a cupped board down toward the table I assume? It seems like something best used on a jointer near the last few passes, but I could be wrong. A cupped board is going to have a hole in the center of it for a few passes until it begins to clean up.

I had wanted to outfit my jointer with a power feeder, but in actually doing the work is seems like it would not be especially useful until the final passes on everything except heavy material.

Brian,

I am 100% in agreement with your line of thinking. Also, if you have a board with a significant bow and the bowed side is down, it will remove material at the front of the board and then again at the end. On each successive pass, the length of the cut area on both the front and back of the board will increase until, after enough passes, you will have a continuous removal of material along the bottom of the board, and you end up with a flat face. If you force the board the bowed board down until it presses against the outfeed table in those early passes, you will be removing material from the center of the board when you don't want to. All you'd be doing is making your board thinner with slowed progression towards becoming flat.

Using a power feeder in the early passes removes the "feel" that you have for sensing the amount of spring that you force into the board. Of course, the longer the bowed board is, the more important it becomes to limit how much down pressure you place on the board. This is why I like to rough cut to final length + a margin if I have long boards that are bowed and need face jointing. It preserves stock thickness and saves time on the jointer.

For shorter pieces, final passes, or where the lengthwise bowing is minimal, I could see a power feeder as a benefit as it puts the consistent pressure where it needs to be without wearing you out doing it manually.

[Mark Hennebury]

Brian,

I am 100% in agreement with your line of thinking. If you have a board with a significant cup and the cup side is down, it will remove material at the front of the board and then again at the end. On each successive pass, the length of the cut area on both the front and back of the board will increase until, after enough passes, you will have a continuous removal of material along the bottom of the board, and you end up with a flat face. If you force the board the cupped board down until it presses against the outfeed table in those early passes, you will be removing material from the center of the board when you don't want to. All you'd be doing is making your board thinner with slowed progression towards becoming flat.

Using a power feeder in the early passes removes the "feel" that you have for sensing the amount of spring that you force into the board. Of course, the longer the cupped board is, the more important it becomes to limit how much down pressure you place on the board. This is why I like to rough cut to final length + a margin if I have long boards that are cupped and need face jointing. It preserves stock thickness and saves time on the jointer.

For shorter pieces, final passes, or where the lengthwise cupping is minimal, I could see a power feeder as a benefit as it puts the consistent pressure where it needs to be without wearing you out doing it manually.

Keith, i think that you are referring to a bowed board not a cupped one.

Wood_warping.jpg

[Keith Weber]

Keith, i think that you are referring to a bowed board not a cupped one.

Wood_warping.jpg

Mark, you are correct. I just spent 17 hours on an airplane and only slept for 2 hours in the hotel before waking up all messed up. I amended my post to avoid confusion for anyone reading it.

Thanks!

[Don Morris]

I did the same thing only took off the tip of the middle finger of the hand not involved in pushing the wood through the guard. So I understand your situation. I was using a large push block to push a small piece of wood through the guard and it jammed. Without thinking, I used my unoccupied hand to reach over and clear the jam. Whoopppps, there went the tip of the finger, down to the bone, but stopped there. A moments loss of concentration. And I was using a large push block to be safe! Yah. You're only as safe as your mind lets you be. took a few weeks to heal but I learned a valuable lesson. You really have to concentrate on what you're doing. You can try to be safe with safe equipment and practices, but a moments loss of concentration can cost you. If that's the worst that happens to us, we're OK. Let's pray that's so. Hope your healing is uneventful.

Don M

[Simon MacGowen]

Without thinking, I used my unoccupied hand to reach over and clear the jam. Whoopppps, there went the tip of the finger, down to the bone, but stopped there.

Don M

Sorry to hear about your mishap.

Was it a lack of concentration or a habit?

It wasn't a habit if you always turn off a machine, wait for it to come to a complete stop before you use your unoccupied hand to remove waste.

On the other hand, many people are seen on numerous videos removing cut waste on the tablesaw while the blade is still coasting down (and often these people do not put a blade guard there). That is a habit, not lack of concentration, for them and some of them do not realize the risk of injury of such habit. Even using a push stick to remove the waste while the blade is still spinning is not a good idea.

By the way, kudos to all those of you sharing your injury stories. You are brave and admirable, sending us a clear message and reminder that no matter how experienced we are, no matter how many times we have done that cut before, we are still vulnerable.

Simon

[David Utterback]

Thanks for sharing your mishap. It is a good reminder to all of us.

BTW, I will start a new post to learn how boards jam on a jointer. I have never had this happen.