I still consider myself new to woodworking with about six years of playing around in my shop behind me, I have built a dozen or more pieces of fine furniture, but after stumbling on this video the other day I think maybe I’ve been going about it all wrong, I try to follow some basic safety practices even working by myself, by the way I have never used my jointer like this it sends shivers up my back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vny6CfdQJ0
Replies
Hey Mike, saw the video and yes as scary as it may look I see guys face plane like that constantly and life goes on, yup.... If your bed is not gummed up your piece will usually slide along quite nicely as long as you are not taking off too much material, also if you are paying attention 110% you should be ok, right? The guy doing that video probably had 20% risk factor for an accident (my best guestimate). If he had used a push pad, any injury would have occurred to the push pad, THAT SIMPLE right. I did that very same thing once late at nite (22:00 ish), tired but determined I changed blades on an old jointer and tested a piece exactly the same way in the video.....ouch. My middle finger and index finger are both one knuckle shorter now with a nasty scar on a third. Had I used a push pad or push stick I would still be able to pick up a dime on the floor. So for face planing I would have to say, how can you not use a push pad/stick and reduce the risk factor to 0.
Regards,
Carpenter5
Often those who demonstrate will remove safety devices. His technique looks sound to me, for the most part.
I always use the blade guard unless I am jointing a board wider than my jointer. Additionally, I would never use my bare hands to run the wide side over the blades. That's a good way to joint a finger or two. And when making deep cuts, it's a disaster waiting to occur. The deeper the cut, the more force generated on the board. The push blocks that come with the jointer are in the box for a reason.
A few years ago I forgot to use the push blocks and ran the wide side over the knives. I had removed the guard to accomidate a wide board and neglected to replace it. Big mistake. I lost my balance a bit and used my bare hand to steady myself. Yup, right on the blades. I got lucky, the initial sting caused me to retract quickly and I only left a tiny bit of skin from one finger on the blades. I would have rather wrecked a push block.
The main thing I would do differently from video guy is to wear safety glasses, as is my habit with all power tools except maybe sanders. Secondly, I would leave the blade guard on the machine (why not?). As for push blocks, I find them slippery compared to fingers (maybe I'll try gluing sandpaper onto mine . . . but there's still those awkward times of picking them up and setting them down while things are still in motion), and a good grip is what you need to joint safely. I do use a pust stick when jointing very narrow pieces, like on the table saw. I guess I'm just one of those people who is comfortable with a jointer. Keep the table waxed. As long as you are not pushing too hard and the piece is sliding nicely, and you are attentive, you are relatively safe. Remember there is at least 3/4" of hardwood between this guys fingers and the blade. You can't say the same on the TS where only a couple inches of AIR may be protecting the fingers. You know, having the fingers farther away from the opperation does not automatically make it safer, sometimes the opposite.
Brian
Safety glasses are a must with every machine. All of them. Ok, when the random orbit sander is hooked to a vac, you should be good.
Push blocks slippery? No way. Get new blocks if they are. I use mine all the time. With the right pressure, they not only hold the wood steady, they keep it flatter than your fingers ever could.
I don't use a stick when jointing a very narrow board either. I don't joint very narrow boards. Joint a wider board and rip off the piece you need. Better to waste some wood than skin. Getting comfortable with the jointer is a recipe for disaster.
3/4" of an inch of wood between the fingers and the blades? That's a false sense of security.
Do you hook your fingers on the trailing edge of the board too?
But you said it best, "you are relatively safe". I like to be completely safe, if that's relatively possible.
'Relatively' safe is a good thing, becuase if you think you are completely safe you have a false sense of security (not me becuase I refered to the thickness of a workpiece). You seem a little of the opposite, nervous on the jointer. If your gut tells you something is not safe for you, it is not. Do not use a technique that makes you nervous, even mine. Actually, I do not hook my finger over the back edge of a 3/4 piece when jointing. Didn't notice that on the video, if I undersand you correctly.Brian
No, I'm not nervous.
My point is that you are giving out bad advice.
I feel I've gotten on your case more than I meant to (my overdeveloped need to defend my point of view). But I do feel that your being a little narrow minded about the push block issue. I agree that they can be a great safety aid, and maybe I ought to use them more than I do. But for some reason I feel more comfortable with my hands (I don't really do much wide face jointing). Maybe my stock blocks are inferior and I should look for others. Jointer safety is a much bigger issue than push block or no push block, and I'm really not trying to give advise, just responding to the video. If I had any advise it would be to educate oneself about all the factors and forces involved and then make your choices responsibly based on experience.The other poster has a good point that this is a public forum. With a lot of beginners reading and we must be careful not to give them the wrong impression.I suppose you have the factory overhead guard installed on you table saw, and never put fingers inside the little red lines on the miter saw table? You don't have to answer that, but I couldn't resist. Have a good day.Brian
The factory guard is still on my tablesaw. I only remove it for things like cutting dado's.
The little red lines? Never really noticed them. I do however use a pair of hold down clamps since the time the blade caught a piece of wood and threw it at my face. Luckily it missed me.
I have been lucky. I have had the wind knocked out of me by a TS kickback. I have a scar on my stomach where the board got me. Yup I had the factory guard removed and was too lazy to replace it. Just one more cut and I was done...
I nipped a finger on the jointer once. Forgot the push blocks and lost my balance (not because I forgot the blocks).
Chamfered my finger with a trim router.
Oh yeah, I once threw a project board at the wall and it came back and hit me in the shin. I guess I'll get out my old hockey shin pads.
Oh here's a good one. The guy that delivers my cord wood lost 2 nodes of his pinky finger last week. Seems he has been working with his brother as a team on the log splitter for over 20 years. He got a bit too comfortable.
Personally I do not care if someone has spent years developing a technique with their power tools and still manages to cut something off, or not. I care about the new guy reading this and thinking it's ok to use power tools irresponsibly and loosing a finger before he has the chance to devolop his own techniques.
Edited 4/8/2009 12:50 pm ET by dynamwebz
I agree- IF you think that you are being completely safe then you might start to get lazy. The most important thing when using any machine is to understand exactly what that machine does. I agree that safety equipment should always be used. But when I watched his video, he was pretty safe. He did hooked his finger on the back of the board, but if you noticed that as soon as the beginning of the board crossed the blades his hands shifted, thus keeping his hands safe.People get so caught up on the way they think everything should be that if you do it different then you are wrong. But if you are going to demonstrate for the world to see, then you better do it the best way you can. Because people will always find a flaw.Kaleohttp://www.kalafinefurniture.com
That has to be a joke, right?
Incredible that this dufus thinks he's qualified to teach.
I watched the video. Guard removed, No push block, What is this guy thinking?
I had a piece of pine shatter going threw the jointer, I was using push blocks, saved my hands. I have routed a finger, and got 2 good kick backs. My fault I was playing with arrogance.
One of my friends lost two fingers to a punkey piece of wood and the jointer got them.I used to work in the OR as a RN, we re-attached some saw cut fingers. We just would "Clean Up" jointer wounds. We had kids with feet run over by lawn mowers have a better outcome.Suppose this guy changes the blade on the lawn mower while it's running?
OK, let's think about it.
You have machine that cuts wood. That alone tells me that it would have no problem cutting any of my body parts and a lot of it in a very short amount of time. Most, if not all you folks have seen the SawStop demonstration and even as fast as the SS is capable of stopping the blade, it still penetrates the skin.
Can you react that fast if something goes wrong?
I seriously doubt it. Are you absolutely certain there are no hidden defects in that piece of wood you are jointing? Can you guarantee that the blade(s) won't come loose, a carbide tip will never fail?
Even with all the considerations taken for machine and material what about you? Are you on top of your game at all times? Are you prepared to handle the unexpected? What about a power failure - the lights go out and you're suddenly in pitch dark?
Doesn't it make sense to use every safety device at your disposal?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Well, he did use ear protection.
I just thought of another mishap I had.
About 15 years ago I was working at a customers house and cutting a piece of wood on my portable TS. I forgot my glasses and said the heck with it. Only a couple quick cuts. The blade hit a piece of metal and I saw a ton of sparks and felt something in my eye. I went to a mirror and I had a tiny shard of metal stuck in my eye. There was a nail in the wood. I pulled it out and went to the hospital. The doctor said pulling it out was a good decision. Can't remember why. No permanent damage though.
And then there was the time I broke my nose with a utility trailer...
Edited 4/8/2009 9:31 pm ET by dynamwebz
The guy would get a new one reamed if he was in a OSHA compliant shop. No guard is a bad idea. Even if the machine is off someone could trip and make contact with the blades. No safety glasses, long sleeves, leaning out rather than stepping ahead with the work, fingers on the end of the board, no push blocks, running your hand over the spinning blades. Plenty of fingers have been nipped by wrapping them on the end of a board. I've seen a board get caught and quickly vanish from an operators hands, I've seen a solid looking board separate and I've seen someone slip and fall while running a jointer. You might get away with ignoring simple safety rules a million times but there is always that one time. A jointer will mess you up in a hurry.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled