Ripping Lumber: Here are some safety rules associated with this practice.

First, and most important, NEVER put your hand beyond the center of the blade. If the strip kicks back it can push an unsuspecting finger into danger. ALWAYS use a push stick when cutting thin strips.

Lower the blade so that it is no more than 1/16 inch above the work. Learn to rip pushing with your right hand only. You are less likely to twist the wood with your left hand causing binding and kick back.

After you turn the saw off make sure the blade has come to a complete stop before reaching toward the blade to pick up your work or remove scrap.

Pete

Babies and Dollhouses: You might feel better to temporarily put away the most fragile and expensive items. An acrylic shield over the open side would protect everything inside from dust. Another thought is to get or make a small, sturdy dollhouse with some sturdy furniture for your son, and if he shows a curiosity about yours, explain patiently that it is Mommy's toy, and this one is his!

Janet

Scoring floors: If you get a piece of aluminum angle from the hardware store, and keep the knife on the tall upright side, it is almost impossible to cut yourself.




Tom Berkner

Vinegar & Nails: As Helen posted, you DO NOT mix nails and vinegar in a CLOSED container. Use an open Pyrex glass bowl and set it outside to avoid the fumes. Since my husband restores antique firearms, another comment. This is the same solution used to "rust-blue" gun barrels which are then polished to a high shine and oiled. You are creating a rusting solution. Therefore any other metal objects you place near the part you have done can develop rust in time.


Ruth

Handling lead: DO NOT SAND LEAD! This stuff gets into your lungs and food and is poison. Any imperfections should be smoothed down with a round, metal tube (some pens or dental tools work well for this) keeping the particles out of the air and out of you and your family. Then prime and paint.

Additionally, Avon makes a product called Silicone Glove that you can rub onto your hands like cream but it coats your hands so that you can get paint or metal or whatever on them, then wash your hands and all traces of mess come off easily. Highly recommended when working with metals.

Keep in mind that many things when used other than their original use could cause harm...like heating plastics that cause a gas by product or sanding metal... A miniaturist is a terrible thing to waste!

Laurie Sisson

Lead miniatures. I was told by the director of adaptive technology at Stout University, that lead enters the blood stream through the skin simply by handling lead objects and even by handling things that have been in contact with lead. I found this out when I had a work station assessment done. One of the objects I keep on my worktable is a small container of the smallest lead shot available. (Shot is the tiny lead balls inside of shotgun shells). As lead is very heavy, it makes a nice holder in which to stand up small tools and brushes. The tiny balls keep little tools upright and handy. I was shown that the handles placed in contact with the lead carry a good deal of lead to my hands where it enters the body right through the skin. Breathing in lead dust is also hazardous.

Lead is a heavy metal and once it enters the body, it stays there. There is no known method for getting it out. It is proven to cause brain damage and to affect fetal health and God only knows what else.

The moral of the story? There is NOTHING WRONG with working with lead miniatures so long as you do it safely.

When handling unpainted lead, wear surgical gloves until it is painted. Never sand on lead objects where particles will be left on your workspace or in the air. Never sand lead objects without wearing a high quality face mask.

Until I was diagnosed with a severe chronic illness, I never considered the effects of these kinds of exposures. We work with so many different products and materials, that it's just best to overly careful.

Kathy in Wisconsin

Last January, I was sitting right here reading my e-mail, and smelled something burning. I looked down, under the banquet type table I have my computer network set up on, and saw a lick of flames!

My computer room had a couple extension cords as well, since my old house only had one outlet per room. And in the winter it got cold in here, so I brought in one of those oil filled electric radiator type heater, and plugged it in to take the chill off. The heavy duty cords are not designed for that kind of use. It overheated and caught fire right at the outlet, and the bottom base molding (cheap stuff former owners replaced in the 80's) is made of some sort of hard laminate foam,
and caught fire like kindling! Luckily I was able to beat the flames out, and had to call the fire department to come and make sure everything was ok. I got a lecture on using those "industrial" orange cords inside the house! When I pulled it out of the room, I saw several places where it had bubbled up and almost caught on fire before. They said it would have been a real tragedy if we'd left the heater on and gone to bed; I rarely used it, just enough to take the worst of the chill off then turned it off.

So have additional outlets put in, and make sure they are on a separate circuit with the appropriate breaker rating, and eliminate need for extension cords. If need be, upgrade to a larger breaker box. Since buying my husband a new saw table, the lights in the shop/garage dim, so he's going to put a 150 amp box in there.

I had always thought that the big heavy duty cords were the "safe" ones to use...but you still have to watch the rated load on them.

Robyn
6/10/04

One day one of my wall outlets in my workshop quit working so I took off the cover plate and found the inside had a bunch of sawdust in it. It was near to my power miter saw, which tends to throw out dust despite being on a dust collector.

I have started putting child safety plug covers on empty outlet holes and use those foam insulation gaskets meant to keep drafts from coming into the house on the wall outlets. My dust collector switch has a stupid design, it face upwards and the sawdust accumulates in the switch, I have had to put a cover over the switch to keep dirt out.

Now I use a remote foot switch to turn it off and on which is easier than running around behind the table saw. I always wanted to remote switch it for my convenience, the sawdust in the switch hazard gave me the impetuous I needed to get around to it. No electrical fires so far but I do need to get some new fire extinguishers just in case, as mine are a number of years old now.

Be sure to get ABC fire extinguishers, the proper rating for electrical, flammable and combustible liquids as well as wood is important in a workshop.

Karin Corbin
6/10/04

When I was talking of using metal cutting saw blades I was talking about using them in the CHOP SAW, or, (if you can afford one) in the Preac table saw or old Micro-lux mini saws, NOT in dremel tools. Toothed saws SHOULD NOT be used in hand-held Dremel type tools. UNLESS they are in a stationary position as in a cut off or slitting jig made especially for that purpose.

Dremel quit producing toothed saw blades many years ago because people try to cut things while holding the Dremel in one hand and the thing to be cut (fingers) in the other hand. The saw blade grabs and before you can say ouch, it has run around your finger several times and cut it to the bone or worse.

In hand-held situations use only abrasive cut-off saws. That includes diamond.

Bill
11 APR 04

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004


Subject: short people, big saws, big
models


Being short is no excuse to avoid using the
big table saw, just get Cal to teach you how to use that saw and the practice project to make is an elevated platform for you to stand on to use the saw with, make it deep enough and wide enough you can takeseveral small steps to the side and backwards. I find that extended time at shop tools such as band saws and milling machines that are designed with men in mind are easier done with a bit of extra height. Remember a healthy dose of fear when using power tools is a good
thing, not a bad thing. When I teach a basic
woodworking class, on the rare occasion, I make sure that people understand wearing hearing protection has a big impact on confidence levels for using large, screaming, wizzing, terrifying power tools. The noise
they make increases the fear factor by a wide margin so get rid of the noise. Just because a table saw has a 4 inch blade instead of a 10 inch does not make it a great deal safer to use. If you can use a little saw you can use the big saw. Watch your fingers, use push
sticks and make sure the fence on the saw is not closer to the rear of the saw blade than the front, that causes kickback which is a real hazard. To keep from getting hurt you must stay focused on your task at all times, this can be very difficult if you aremdoing mass production of lots of little pieces, the
mind wants to wander. Most public libraries have videos on safely using table saws and other power tools. I was fortunate to get a great safety lesson on woodworking power tools when I was working on the largest model I have ever helped to build, a full scale complete model of a Boeing 757.

Karin Corbin