What do you do for safety and why?

[drummingamy]

Hello All,

I am fairly new and in spirit of "where do the beginers go" thread I thought I would ask a question, especialy after my first safety incident this weekend . . .

I thought maybe another name for this thread could have been, "Why you should where shoes when you carve" but I thought I might get more responses with a more appropriate name.

So, I am outside woking on my drum, it's hot and humid and I must say that safty has really never crossed my mind (except with that big drill I use sometimes). I am in shorts and in my summer fashion, I have no shoes on. I am chisling away on the outside shell of my drum (for a few hours) when out of no where the chisle slips, or shall I say was hit out of my hand by the mallet I was holding. I guess the chisle didn't like that knot!!! Well the chisle took a chunk out of my heal instead of the knot.

So, now that I will never carve without boots and probably jeans on. I was wondering what others do for safety and why.

With Boots On,
Amy

[AlArchie]

First, Amy, how's that drum coming along? I've always had a hankering to make one out of a hollow hemlock log....they keep blowing over, here in wind storms.

Safety, is first a matter of concentration. Guess I learned that working in the diesel shops, but that translates to whatever endeavor you are following. Loss of concentration can cuse a host of mishaps.

Safety glasses are my first line of defense......lose your eyes and you are in BIG trouble! I have either plastic non shattering prescription lenses or sometimes even wear goggles. Wood chips, dust, paint, solvents, poilishing wheel debris, all have potential to damage your vision.

Yes, shoes ALWAYS!

I'm not a big fan of gloves, but encourage anyone that can comfortably wear them to WEAR them. The reason is that my mitts are so big, even the biggest gloves I have found restrict my thumb movement, making holding things almost impossible. I do have some heavy leather work gloves that I wear when using the table saw.....don't need a lot of dexterity there. WEAR GLOVES!!!!

Then back to my original premise......the best safety springs from the mind. Pay attrention to your work and don't get distracted.

I'm sure there are dozens of other equally good practice tips.....doesn't hurt a bit to be careful!

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Ouch Al! Don't wear gloves when you are on power machinery! Ask me how I know! I had on a new pair of the cloth gloves to hold a chunk of limb I was using a forstner bit on....and the round limb kept spinning and I couldn't hold it. The drill press grabbed the new glove and ripped it off my hand.....scared the #$%^&* out of me, but believe it or not, not a dent! Later bought a vise for the drill press ..no gloves on power equip...they will catch and drag you right into whatever you are running Sad

[drummingamy]

Al,

The drum is coming along very nicely. I can not wait until she is finished, it's almost like I am addicted to it at this point, every free minute is spent outside chipping away. I will post some pictures, maybe start a WIP thread.

Thank you for the safety tips, I would not have even concidered safety glasses . . .

I have one to add: have a phone near by. I almost fainted with this injury, it was a bleeder and no one was home!

[Bartster]

amy,

all of my carving is done by holding it with my left hand, so i wear a glove on the left hand,it gets ragged out fairly quick so i usually get a new once or twice a year.on my right hand i wear nothing except for my thumb i either wear a cut off glove finger,wrapped with vet-wrap to snug it up or i will wrap my thumb with vet-wrap.

hope this helps
bart

[Irish]

Amy,

I do wear shoes when I carve. I don't go quite as far as my hubby, Michael, in that my carving boots are just thick leather. He wears his steel toes in the shop.

And I wear full length heavy blue jeans ... loose fit not tight. I would much rather have a chisel or gouge grab the jean fabric than a thigh or knee.

And no matter what type of wood working I am doing, either the power machines in the shop or hand carving, I always remove all of my rings. If only takes one time of having a tool catch under a ring to tear open the muscle of a finger.

Recently I have been working on a walking stick staff that is the most miserable wood that I have ever carved ... It's a real cusser. After I had it trimmed out on the band saw it looked so very good. I drilled my holes, inserted my dowel and glue the cane topper in place.

So, the next step was to get out the hand plane, which I did, which was about the time I learn what a worthless piece of gnarled grain that staff has. So, it was time to grab the draw knife and 'attack' this monster. (See, I am totally committed because I have glued my topper in place .... AHHH!)

The draw knife is extremely sharp so I did one pass and stopped ... That blade, no matter how I positioned it in the vice was coming right at my upper thighs. I grabbed our long leather apron and over that I added an old heavy leather nail bag apron.

I may have looked pretty stupid to anyone walking in the shop right then ... me in my heavy jeans, long heavy apron and still another nail apron over top ... but I was safe from that blade and the force I was having to put on it to get through the gnarls.

Susan

Oh ... I also tuck in my shrit and buckle my belt. Just as a glove can be grabbed so can a shirt tail.

Great thread, Amy!

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

It really doesn't matter who thinks it looks silly....it looks sillier, hopping up and down flinging blood all over!

[Claude]

Ok, here's my try at some safety tips:

1) wear a safety glove on the hand holding the wood; wear a thumb protector on the hand holding the knife
2) wear only leather gloves when working with power tools - never a cloth glove.
3) always unplug a drill before changing the bit
4) always unplug the bandsaw before cleaning or opening it.
5) when using a "skil saw", always check how deep the blade cuts so you don't cut the sawhorse in half
6) use heavy-duty extension cords made for construction work, not those cheap little things from the dollar store.
7) tell your family not to come in and surprise you when you have power tools turned on; tell them to flick the light switch off and back on to get your attention.
8) wear hearing protection when using power tools
9) wear eye protection (safety glasses) when using any power toool.
10) wear a dust-proof face mask when using sanders, Dremels, etc.
11) always check where the blade/chisel/power tool will go WHEN it slips, because it WILL slip and you don't want part of your anatomy in the way.
12) never use an electrical powered tool if the floor or ground is wet.
13) and, appropriately enough, the last one I can think of tonight is the aphorism: Murphy was an optimist.
[note: for those who don't know about Murphy, he was a (fictional?) character who said that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong...]

This might be a better thread to start on a Friday night after many of us have our brains lubricated a bit...Smile

Claude

[Kenny_S]

1.Don't scratch with your knife hand.
2. Don't scratch with your knife hand
3.Don't scratch with your knife hand
4.Don't scratch with your knife hand
5.Don't scratch with your knife hand
Don't ask me how I know!

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I don't do anything.

Why? Because I'm hard headed and not too smart.