On today’s show, we are getting ready for Woodworkers Safety Week by discussing our scariest workshop moments.
What’s on the bench?
Matt complains about how his wife changed her plans for their new entertainment center. Marc has been working on a video about the MicroJig’s MJ Splitter. Matt mentioned using the MJ Splitter for Dados and there is a slideshow on MicroJig’s site on this topic. Shannon is using his new joinery bench to work on his new clock project.
Around the Web
Glen Huey visiting the Michigan Woodworkers’ Guild May 19, 2012
Popular Woodworking publishing The Woodwright Shop seasons 1-3 and 20 on DVD and in Shop Class On Demand
Listener Emails:
I’m slowly but surely building a Roubo workbench. I noticed that Shannon positioned the parallel guide on the leg vise at the bottom of the leg, while Marc has his above the shelf… I’m curious what both of you think about advantages/disadvantages of this placement? …Shannon, any regrets on putting it on the bottom of the leg? Marc, I’m guessing your choice of placement was largely guided by the Benchcrafted hardware. —Mark Jacobs
I’m considering purchasing a Lie-Nielsen #4 smoother with the 55 degree high angle frog. Is this a good idea to go with the high angle frog to use as my primary (only) smoother? Aside from having to push sightly harder and sharpen more often, is there any downside to using a 55 degree smoother for every smoothing task? I typically use cherry and walnut, but I’d like to use some curly cherry or more figured woods in the future. Adam Weigand (Why-Gand)
Voicemails
Dyami sends in a router safety story and reminder.
Topic
Matt describes a scary router accident. Shannon tells the tale of his tablesaw kickback. Marc confesses to a recent bandsaw cut that almost resulted in an ER visit.
3 replies on “WT96”
In reference to your wood carving tools comments.. I purchased a “Flexcut Carvin Jack” Multi blade pocket knife. It offers all the basic tools that does a great job and small to carry on your belt . You can purchase either a Right Hand and Left Hand tool. Cost is around 130.00. FYI, the right knife is cheaper than the left hand.
I live in a community where most of the shops use old equipment modified away from the original manufacturers design; the results are predictable. A busy young guy of 25 in my neighbourhood is now missing a chunk of his thumb because the table saw has no respect. That is however nothing compared to the place where my son was working last summer. His boss uses an old table saw which was manufactured close to the beginning of the last century for industrial purposes. There are no built in safety features on this saw, and after the accident I’m about to describe, my son checked the saw and found that the fence was not true but crowded the blade. At this shop, they make chairs and the boss was putting the bottoms through to rough size the chairs. The seat bottom began to bind and since there is no way to conveniently stop the saw, (it is driven by line shaft) he tried to muscle it through. The saw won; the blade kicked the piece back bringing his arm onto the blade. The blade pierced his hand just behind the knuckles and the cut went up until about two inches short of the elbow destroying many of the bones in his wrist. since he was trying to fight the saw, his balance was taking him into the saw. $14,500 later he can “almost” close his hand! Makes a Saw Stop seem cheap.
Personally, I’ve had a piece of 2x2x1 hard maple cutoff drift into the blade and fly into my eye. If our math was correct, it was travelling around 184mph; all I know is that I didn’t see it coming. It bent my eyeglass frames out of shape and damaged the lens, but I still have my eye! The blade insert was not set true (you know those little set screws). Why don’t we check those things before an accident instead?
As a guy from Connecticut, I have to ask… Don’t most people normally sound like Thurston Howell? ;^)
As for carving… I took a great carving class with Mickey Callahan, of SAPFM and NBSS, where we relief carved a baroque scroll in butternut. One of the points he made in class is that carvings were often modified to work with the tools a particular craftsperson had.
If a particular design has something that doesn’t fit your exact tool set, figure out a way to complete it with what you have.