Foot Pedal's

Got one for my scroll saw and like it. Bought at a wood working show for $20.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

I bought this one a couple of years ago. It was never as convenient as I thought it would be. I went ahead and used it a few dozen times and then it just quit working. Tossed it in trash and went back to working the old way.

-- Jack - Mission Viejo, Calif

I used one all the time for turning on routers, vacuums, and
also as a switch for my vacuum pump,which doesn’t have
a switch.

With the vacuum pump I built some clamping fixtures and I
use the foot pedal to switch the pump off, reposition the work,
then switch it on again.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online business building

I believe OSHA does not allow foot operated equipment in manufacturing anymore unless there are safe guards in place to protect the hands, arms, legs, etc when operating the tool. I would never use one on a router table. Too easy to step on the switch accidentally and route your hand. I worked in a machine shop years ago machining valve bodies. After clamping a part in place, you hit a foot peddle and 5 or 6 taping heads actuated at once to cut threads in the valve. Milled hundreds of these parts in a day. Really boring. Anyway, a couple of times I dozed off after clamping the part and did not pull my hands back out of the way after clamping. I was lucky enough to wake up before I cut threads in my hands.

I’d never put a foot pedal on a power tool.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding/presses/footcontrol.html

-- Dave Herron, Boise, ID -- “That which does not crash the browser, makes it stronger”