# Don't touch!



## mcase (Oct 31, 2009)

My boys 12 and 17 yrs. both know to NEVER bring any of their little buddies into my shop. Maybe I should obey the same rule. Recently one of my little buddies was in the shop with me. A nice guy who dug up some discarded stainless linear rails and Thomson bearings for me that I subsequently turned into a nice xy table for a mortiser. He is a full grown over-40 adult and he is also an engineer and so I didn't think I needed to give him a lecture about not flipping on switches in a wood shop. In fact, I would have felt very embarrassed doing so. Well, he decided the big red paddle switch on my table saw was a switch cover and pulled it up - BUZZZZZZZ. Three HP 220v worth of BUZZZZZ! Thank God no ones hand or any other object was near the blade. I will never be too embarrassed to mention it again to anyone. Maybe a big sign I can point to would be best.


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## RobertsPlace (Aug 19, 2012)

+1 to the sign. Perhaps a nice routed sign that's painted in contrasting colors of your choice. You could include a plexi-glass slot where each week you insert a new picture of some poor fella who got maimed in a wood shop. That way anyone walking into your shop is forewarned.


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## 1978 (Jul 8, 2008)

Also, it would be good practice to lower the blade when not in use.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

magicman +10


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## mcase (Oct 31, 2009)

Yeah,
lowering the blade certainly isn't going to hurt anything is it? I'll try and make this a habit.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

My tools are always unplugged when not in use.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

I have a sign on my TS asking politely that nothing sould be placed on the saw. After that, I'm gonna be hurtin' anybody who plops anything on it. The important thing is that everyone be made aware of ANY signage.
Bill


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## Swyftfeet (Jun 15, 2012)

As am Engineer (Electrical type) I can honestly and unfortunately say the following:

1. They have never and will never offer common sense 101 at the university. 
2. Engineers do a ton of theoretical based exercises and very few practical ones, meaning you actually have to go out of the way to learn about the tools used to create your pipe dreams. Usually you come up with a 3D model and the purchasing guy or model shop delivers it to you in a couple days.
3. Engineers tend to be overconfident. I am and it has bit me in the ass. We solve a lot of very complicated problems how big of a deal can cutting wood be?! You should see me trying to hand cut a dovetail or trying to align a lock mortise bit. Sailors could learn a few finer points on language use from me.
4. We tend to latch on to old timers and try to suck the knowledge out of you ad nauseum. 
5. We expect everything we do will turn out perfectly to the .001" We're usually lucky to have tolerances in the .25" range, then we blame the material.

Hopefully this helps you deal with us eggheads.

Brian


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Unplug them when not being used.


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## Surfside (Jun 13, 2012)

Obey the same rule, safest way to avoid situations like that to happen.


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

the only thing left powered up in my shop is hand held finish sanders. EVERY thing else are not powered up.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Rather than a sign, I'd make a *'Time Out' *char for folks like that to sit in. Maybe have a *Dunce Hat* to go along with it.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

I'm an engineer (software) and I think it is inherent in engineer DNA tat when we see a large red button, or someone tells us not to push a button, the first thing we want to do is push said button.


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## MrWoodworker (Apr 18, 2011)

Very thankful it ended as it did. Could have been gnarly.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I studied engineering in school but what I am most proud of is being a Jack of all trades and Master of none. You might say that I'm just a shade tree mechanic if the truth be told.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## exelectrician (Oct 3, 2011)

Just think the blade could have sucked in somthing made of metal and totaled the saw blade and bent the shaft.


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## Fishinbo (Jun 11, 2012)

In the world of safety, there are no professions chosen. We are all learning from this.


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## MJCD (Nov 28, 2011)

I have two curious grandchildren in the house. They 'know' not to touch anything in the shop - for as much as I'm careful to lock-up tight at night, they still find ways to get in, or come up from behind.

When I wired the shop, I placed two switches between a user and the equipment being 'ON'; in this manner, they would have to be my size (6' 6") AND know where the first switch is before they could inadvertantly power-on a miter saw, table saw, RT, bandsaw, ...

MJCD


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## kizerpea (Dec 2, 2011)

+1 the stool for dummies…


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## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

I agree that this guy should not have touched the equipment.
I suppose you mean this type of switch :









On the other side those paddle switch should not exist, they are confusing. Never seen this kind of switch in my country, I guess they are forbidden here.
Those are real paddle switches:









Furthermore, this kind of equipment should be protected against inadvertent restart after a power failure.
two buttons [red and green] and a relay in a small box; the added cost is minimal.

Sorry for the large pictures.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

One of the habits impressed on me by my father and grandfather was to always crank the blade down below the table when cutting was done. As for unpowering everything in the shop until it needs to be used - are you nuts? I just rewired my garage so that I didn't have to do that kind of thing with an ext6ension cord!


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