Safety

The Bench Oscillating Spindle Sander, or BOSS, is used to sand inside curves. The BOSS isn't as powerful and dangerous as other machines in the shop. You could make incidental contact with the BOSS and it probably won't hurt you. You'd have to jam your hand into it pretty hard for it you start grinding your skin away. Do be careful about long hair, you hands might not get hurt on this machine, but it will certainly grab ahold of your hair and pull your head in and or rip your hair out. Please help your classmates keep their hair safe.

The disc sander is perhaps the most hazardous machine in the Applied Tech shop. The disc is a hard abrasive surface that spins very fast. You need to make sure not to touch the spinning disc as it will grind skin and flesh easily. The disc spins counter-clockwise. When you use the Disc Sander, you will use the down side, or the left side of the disc. Using the right side, the upside, will cause the saw dust that is ground away from your project to fly into your face. Additionally, the disc could "grab" your project out of your hand, flinging it at your head or your classmates. While your project is flying though the air, there is nothing between your hands and the spinning disc... Please make sure you use the left side of the Disc Sander and that you don't touch the disc while it is moving.

The point of danger on the scroll saw, or any saw is the moving blade. You need to make sure to keep your fingers away from the moving blade. You need to position your hands to the side of or behind the blade. Avoid placing your hand directly in front of the blade moving toward the blade. The scroll saw blade moves up and down. When the blade is moving down, it cuts the wood. When the blade is moving up, it tends to pull the wood up with it. This is why there is a hold-down foot around the blade, it helps stabilize your your project and keep it from bouncing up and down. The hold-down foot should be adjusted to the thickness of the wood you are cutting, so be sure to check the hold-down foot before using the scroll saw. Note: 8th graders often what to use the scroll saw to cut their dragster, however, the scroll saw isn't powerful enough for most cutting operations for the dragster project because the wood is too thick.

The drill press is perhaps the least hazardous machine in the shop. That isn't to say that the drill press isn't hazardous. A machine plugged into a power outlet is a hazard and there is no such thing as a 100% safe machine. You need to make sure you stay focused on your task just as you would any other machine in the shop. Perhaps the biggest danger at the drill press is letting go of your project while the drill bit is still engaged. When you drill all the way through your project, you might feel the drill pull up, keep hold of your project and you'll be fine. Let go of your project and now it is spinning around and around, it might hit your arm or hand. The project could also work it's way off the drill bit and fly across the shop and hit someone. Make sure you don't let go of your project while you operate the drill press and you should be fine.

The band saw is a powerful cutting tool. You'll need to make sure you have Mr. Eldred's permission the use the band saw. The reason for this is that the band saw has a few adjustments that can make the saw safer and easier to use. Also, you'll want to check to make sure you have a proper cutting operation, Mr. Eldred can guide you on using the band saw properly. As with any saw, you should have a plan and marks on your project for where are cutting. Just walking up to a machine and sanding or cutting is not appropriate.

The setup of machine means the setting the various adjustments on a machine based on the task you want to do and safety. You have already read about the hold-down foot on the scroll saw and how that can be adjusted up and down. The hold-down foot is part of the setup of the scroll saw. The blade is another part of the set because we can change the blade if the material we are cutting warrants it. Proper setup means you can get the desired quality work and be safe doing it. We can also change the drill press setup, we can change the size of the drill bit and adjust how deep to drill into our material if we don't want to go all the way through. On the band saw, we can adjust the upper blade guide to be a little higher then the thickness of the wood we are cutting. Setting the upper blade guide this way is safer then exposing 3 inches of the blade when our wood is only 1 inch thick. Your hand could slip over your wood and hit the blade, with the blade guide down, your hand would hit it instead. You should always check the setup before using a machine, if you are unsure about the setup of a machine or what you need to do to operate a machine, see Mr. Eldred.

While cutting or sanding, you do not want to push very hard. The rate you sand or cut is called the feed rate and you want to be very careful how fast you feed. Different machines can tolerate different rates of feeding, cutting or sanding. You don't want to feed to much or push hard because you can ruin your project or break the machine. You also want to be careful that you aren't pushing so hard that when the blade finishes cutting the wood your hands don't "jump" forward, risking injury.

You should also be very mindful of your hands when operating a machine. Your hands need to be clear of the point of danger, the moving part of the machine. You should keep your hands at least 2 inches away from the spinning disc/drum/drill bit of the sanders and drill press. When using the scroll saw and band saw, you need to keep your hands to the side or behind the blade. Mr. Eldred will demonstrate safe operation of the machines and guide you if you request assistance.

If a machine is moving, even a little, it is dangerous. As you use the machines you will notice that most don't stop moving when you turn it off. The machine has momentum that doesn't go away when the power is cut off. The extra time it takes a machine to stop moving after it has been turned off is called "spin down." Different machines take a varying amount of time to spin down so be careful not to reach in near a blade or bit that is still spinning after you turn a machine off. Use your eyes to look closely at the moving part to be certain movement has stopped. If you can count teeth on a blade, then it is stopped, you can make out teeth, beware.

You may go to use a machine and discover that it is unplugged. Please don't plug in machines to use them. The machine may have been unplugged by Mr. Eldred because something is broken or needed work. Often it is that case that a machine can be cleared to run, but Mr. Eldred is responsible for the maintaining and checking the machine. Mr. Eldred is the only person permitted to plug in a machine.

It is important for you to remember that Mr. Eldred needs to be in the shop with you when you use a machine. Not necessarily standing right next to you, but in the same room. If Mr. Eldred needs to leave the room, you cannot use the machines. That means that if Mr. Eldred is absent for a day, you can't use the machines.

Please remember that if you can't be safe in the shop, using the machines, then you will not be permitted to use them.

If you are unsure about how to use the machine, you need to get help from Mr. Eldred.