# foot switch placement



## daddydave (Nov 29, 2016)

Have been scroll sawing for a few years now. Now peripheral neuropathy is taking over and I have no feeling is my feet. It is a bear getting foot switch to stay on when my foot starts easing off by itself. Have placed the switch in several places with no great help. Just wondering if anyone out there has the same problem and if they have overcame it. Appreciate any ideas. Thanks


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

I have both types of switches, the toggle type (push on, push off), and the momentary type (push on, release off). I have a cheap HF toggle type on my Delta, and a stock momentary one on my Hegner. I vastly prefer the toggle type, as you don't need to keep your foot on the switch the whole time. Tap it, start sawing, then tap it again when done. As an added benefit, at least for the cheap Harbor Freight ones I have, you can also use it as a momentary contact switch type by pushing it on, then pushing it again but leaving your foot on it. When done like that, it will remain on as long as your foot presses the switch down, and stop as soon as you release it, just like a momentary switch would behave.

Cheers,
Brad


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

I do not use a foot switch with my Hegner. Maybe, it is time to not use one. Or put a switch up where you can use your hand to turn on or off.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Off subject, but not. I'm Diabetic, have been for years, and I had some trouble years ago with Diabetic neuropathy. A non-medical friend told me to take A-Lipoic Acid.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-767/alpha-lipoic-acid

Not to go off on a toot about the Pharmacy/AMA love affair in the USA, but here the mainline treatment is a Rx drug, with tons of side effects, and a mighty high cost, which from some I have met doesn't do much good…

In Europe, they don't use this med the American Doc so love, instead they use A Lipoic acid, and have for a long time.

All I know for certain, is that on me A Lipoic acid is the most potent, best preforming thing I take for any of my assorted difficulties. My feet used to sting, burn like they were on fire, ache, hurt, and bother me most all day, worse if I tried walking much. Today, they are just feet.

After a lot of back and forth trying really high to really low doses I have come to 600mg 2 times a day, about 12 hours apart. I buy mine from the source below, I've found them to be the best price, and the quality of this non FDA med quite good, consistently.

https://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-alpha-lipoic-acid-600-mg-60-caps

Amazon has some lower priced, but it seems many of the lower priced ones have some nasty feedback. In trying several I found that brand from Swanson worked well for me. I did the math once, and per day it's like 35 cents. I'd easily give 35 cents a day to not have the pain from neuropathy.

If you try it, PM me, and let me know if it helped you. It's magical for me.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> I vastly prefer the toggle type, as you don t need to keep your foot on the switch the whole time.
> 
> Cheers,
> Brad
> ...


Brad what you are referring to is a deadmans switch, and to make the train run, the engineer needs to keep the pedal down, or at least did back in the day. They also have foot activated tap on, tap off switches, and unfortunately some call them deadman switches. Confusing on a slow day….

Peachtree has both types linked below, and they are calling them what they are correctly.

https://www.ptreeusa.com/shop_power_switch.html


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

I have a similar problem with my feet/legs so I stopped using a footswitch, however there are better solutions than a "hard contact" footswitch.
The best solution is a "no touch control" such as a magnetically operated swith which are typically heavy duty reed switched operated by a magnet so you don't need to keep pressure on the switch, just be close to it. A reed switch in a box, on the floor, and a magnet on your foot near the box to turn on the scroll saw.

Or, another solution, and probably the best in my opinion, is a proximity sensor, i.e. either photoelectric, capacitance or ultrasonic type were all you need is to be *close* to the sensor without applying any foot pressure. Just make sure that the device can handle the current your scrollsaw requires or you may need a relay, powered by the sensor, to actually turn your scrollsaw on/off.

I worked for MICROSWITCH, division of Honeywell, for 27 years so I learned about "no touch controls" and the industries that rely on these types of sensors.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I agree 1000% Tap on/ tap off makes a ton more sense that the, hold your foot and leg, in a fixed position all the time.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

> I have both types of switches, the toggle type (push on, push off), and the momentary type (push on, release off). I have a cheap HF toggle type on my Delta, and a stock momentary one on my Hegner. I vastly prefer the toggle type, as you don t need to keep your foot on the switch the whole time. Tap it, start sawing, then tap it again when done. As an added benefit, at least for the cheap Harbor Freight ones I have, you can also use it as a momentary contact switch type by pushing it on, then pushing it again but leaving your foot on it. When done like that, it will remain on as long as your foot presses the switch down, and stop as soon as you release it, just like a momentary switch would behave.
> 
> Cheers,
> Brad
> ...


 I agree 1000%


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

OK, it appears that no one in this forum likes no touch controls even though there at least one in every garage that has a garage door opener.
But that's OK as long as *Dave's* problem is solved as that is what matters!


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## ChefHDAN (Aug 7, 2010)

> All I know for certain, is that on me A Lipoic acid is the most potent, best preforming thing I take for any of my assorted difficulties. My feet used to sting, burn like they were on fire, ache, hurt, and bother me most all day, worse if I tried walking much. Today, they are just feet.
> 
> If you try it, PM me, and let me know if it helped you. It s magical for me.
> - therealSteveN


GW as you're a RN, I'm very grateful for the advice and will try it. I've been dealing with the pain for about 3 years now, Doc gave me something that gave me double the pain by the 2nd day. Looking forward to just having feet…


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## AndyJ1s (Jan 26, 2019)

I would be worried about photo-electric or capacitive proximity switches in an environment that generates a lot of saw dust and chips…


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> All I know for certain, is that on me A Lipoic acid is the most potent, best preforming thing I take for any of my assorted difficulties. My feet used to sting, burn like they were on fire, ache, hurt, and bother me most all day, worse if I tried walking much. Today, they are just feet.
> 
> If you try it, PM me, and let me know if it helped you. It s magical for me.
> - therealSteveN
> ...


Saying a prayer for you and your feets. I've suggested the Lipoic acid to many, of those who have tried it I'm batting around 900.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

*Andy*, the original proximity sensors were reed switches operated by a magnet and even though these are not in much demand for industrial applications they are very prevalent in home security as door and window sensors. These sensor are immune to everything except the magnet required to actuate them.

The industrial market needed more than just reed switch sensors so ferrous proximity sensors (those that detect only ferrous metals), capacitive, photoelectric, and ultrasonic sensors were developed. Of course now there are vision sensors, using cameras, which can also be categorized as no touch control.

Capacitive proximity sensors ar very immune to dust and chips that's why many are used on industrial equipment. Since these sensors are typically without any contact closure, so that these, along with explosion proof switches are used in mining, grain and wood dust collection silos.

Photoelectric types are diffuse, retro reflective, and through scan which can visible or infrared. Infrared photoelectric sensors are nearly impervious to dust. One of my favorite parts of an infrared sales pitch was to show customers that these sensors can "see" through five standard business cards and still detect the target.

Sorry about being so long worded but I really enjoyed my job at MICROSWITCH and, after I left for greener pastures, I continue to dabble in electronics while enjoying my woodworking.


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