Ian007 25th June 2005, 10:22 PM I was working in the shed today trying to thin the riving knife on my table saw as i had finally found out why timber kept binding when being cut.
everybody was out so wasnt expecting anybody in the shed, had my back to the door sanding the knife with my belt sander so there was some noise, stoped to check my progress when this voice said to me "you missed a bit there"
Man i must say i nearly $hit myself. i just wasnt expecting it, my mate had come around to see me as i wasnt answering the phone wanting me to go around his place and fix some leaking (read flooding) kitchen sink taps.
My first words were "F#$k, you scared the cra@ out of me, just as well i only had a belt sander in my hand and not a chisel as i probably would have thrown it at you". my second thought was dude that could give a bloke a heart attack.
my chest was still thumping five minutes later.
so anybody had that happen to them?
Cheers Ian :)
Caliban 25th June 2005, 10:26 PM I was reading one of those time life type books about shed design and the bloke (seppo actually) suggested that a light globe be hooked up to a sensor on the door and it would come on and alert you to someone's presence so exactly what you described doesn't happen.
To answer your question, Yes it has happened to me lots. Usually SWMBO or sometimes my son. that scares me.
Auld Bassoon 25th June 2005, 10:30 PM .
so anybody had that happen to them?
Cheers Ian :)
G'day Ian,
Yep. Had something similar happen to me a couple of months ago.
Beavering away with a hand-held router (can't remember exactly what on), when my neighbour pops over. He knows it's noisy, so he just yells "hi!".
Nearly cra**ed (cra%%@d) myselfhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon9.gif He wanted to commission a workbench for his SWMBO for her pottery & whatnot. If the router didn't have a cable attached, I would've flung it at him!
Still, I got the jobhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon7.gif
Cheers!
craigb 25th June 2005, 10:32 PM I scared the crap out of myself last weekend. I was using the TS to crosscut a piece of MDF and was a victim of brain fade.
Now I KNOW that when crosscutting you need to use an offset block clamped to the fence so that the offcut doesn't get trapped between the blade and the fence.
Well I went and just cut this piece without a thought to the above rule because I didn't have my brain in gear.
Of course, the offcut got trapped and was thrown backwards at a hunderd miles an hour.
Thankfully, I always stand to the side of the blade when using the TS so I was out of the line of fire.
It certainly woke me up though. :eek:
Ian007 25th June 2005, 10:40 PM Craig ive done the exact same thing a few years back but you only do it once. :eek:
Harry72 25th June 2005, 10:44 PM Yup know the feeling, I get it all the time at work... and I do it back to my work mates, you'd be doing something silly like skimming the dross from a liquation furnace and some bugga would sneak up behind you and hit the floor full swing hard as possible with a 10lb slugga... sure makes a loud bang that you can feel through the 40mm thick chequer plate floor, it scares the **** out of you every time no matter how many times it happens.(sometimes several times a day!)
bitingmidge 25th June 2005, 10:50 PM Can't say that I've been frightened by people... I have a fundamental rule that NO ONE comes in while there's machinery running.
I just don't want the scaredy thing to happen while I'm doing something with fingers near a whirring device.
On the other sort of scared.... not that I'm prepared to admit, but every time I hurt myself I think what if.....
Cheers,
P
Zed 25th June 2005, 10:59 PM I reckon everyone gets bitten now and then, the wife, the neighbour, meself when something unexpected happens or i realise just how close to the wheel my thumb is.... I think the trick is that you need to concentrate grasshopper. the most important thing is the spinning thing in your hands/table...
I remember me olds used to say (Imagine gummy tootheless lips, a rocking chair, a bottle of grog, and a blanket) : "Zed me old thumb gripper, wothca 'ands doing boy? , theres more grips than the trouser snake".... the point being I remember I was driving along with a mate once and some p-r-i-c-k dropped a brick off a bridge right into me windscreen - lovely fist sized shatter star right where the rear view mirror is. the mirror flew into the back seat, me mate wet himself and I just kept driving along at 90kph around the bend, the first thought I had besides "jeez me hearts loud tonight" was that I was glad I wasnt gripping the squirrel - I'd a choked me self...
Driver 25th June 2005, 11:19 PM I scared the crap out of myself last weekend. I was using the TS to crosscut a piece of MDF and was a victim of brain fade.
Now I KNOW that when crosscutting you need to use an offset block clamped to the fence so that the offcut doesn't get trapped between the blade and the fence.
Well I went and just cut this piece without a thought to the above rule because I didn't have my brain in gear.
Of course, the offcut got trapped and was thrown backwards at a hunderd miles an hour.
Thankfully, I always stand to the side of the blade when using the TS so I was out of the line of fire.
It certainly woke me up though. :eek:
Craig
Me too. The offcut flew past me - out the door - and travelled the length of the back yard before it hit the fence and stopped. Out of curiosity, I measured the height of the mark in the fence from ground level. In 30 metres it hadn't dropped more than a couple of mms. It also made one helluva bang when it hit the fence. Thankfully no-one was in the way.
That's a scarey lesson I've never forgotten.
Col
AlexS 25th June 2005, 11:44 PM In the old machine room at Sturt, the wall in line with the TS had a number of holes in it from missiles like that. If you put a new one there, you had to sign it. There were a few illustrious names there, too.
I guess most woodworking machines are pretty safe, but when things go wrong they do so very quickly and noisily.
gatiep 25th June 2005, 11:50 PM Quote Ian: "Man i must say i nearly $hit myself."
Must've been a dry $hit because we smelled it in Pert this arvo mate. Oh I forgot to say the wind was blowing towars SA.
:eek:
Ianab 25th June 2005, 11:53 PM Yup...
Not had the problem in the wood shop, but at work my bench used to face away from the door. I'd be sitting there fault finding a computer monitor or power supply (hi voltage stuff) and someone would walk up behind me :eek:
When you're sticking probes into a circuit that can generate 14,000 volts a tap on the shoulder is NOT appreciated. It only happened once ;)
Ian
JDarvall 25th June 2005, 11:59 PM Yeh......happens to me a lot.......I get in a sort of 'zone'.....especially when I'm wearing ear muffs......and go through the roof when my names called........but what scares me the most is the local black fella's........cheeky little guys......run around in packs, ranging in age from 5 to 10........ they know me and how I switch off to the world......they come up and pinch a tool while I'm not looking...... I'll have to think up some kind of trap one day before I loose more than a chisel or two.......
But before someone thinks I'm some cranky old racist...... Theres another 'pack' of white skate boarders that hang out the front of my house every saturday night making so much damage and noise that keeps my kids awake..........can't really go out and confront them because I'm not into digging out shattered glass from my windows every morning......the cops try, but give up (don't blame them)......
jeez I can winge, can't I...... :rolleyes:
Groggy 26th June 2005, 12:00 AM Cleaning the old Triton saw and had my hand on the blade (unplugged), poking around with an old brush - totally absorbed. The bluddy dog - who had been lying peacefully under my feet - suddenly jumped up and BOW WOW WOWOWOWWooooo. My brain somehow thought the saw had started.
I just wish I'd been in a wetsuit, then it would have been ok and I'd have at least been warm.
Woodlice 26th June 2005, 02:19 AM I used to have this roll of old carpet that Id spread out if I needed a soft place to assemble anything..
Anyway it was pushed up against a cabinet on one wall of the shed, above which was my tool rack. Stepping onto this carpet to reach for a tool and then stepping down and walking off I noticed in the corner of my eye a movement - about 5 feet later and off shoots the biggest tiger snake I'd ever seen. Straight towards the house. Being a wooden floor in the house I couldnt let the bugger get that far.
Needless to say I needed two changes that day...
Schtoo 26th June 2005, 02:46 AM Twice.
Once, I was using the belt sander fixed to the bench, and a large rat like thing raced toward me at about mach 12. Too many scary movies made me fear the worst, but it was just the folks visiting and they bought the little dog along, who naturally made a bee-line for me and scared the absolute ca-ca out of me. That shouldn't happen again.
Other time I was turning a bed leg from a hunk of pine. 90mm x 90mm x 1000mm on my 'lathe'. What you gotta understand is that this lathe type thing is nothing more than a few ally castings that clamp to the work bench and the electric drill plugs into the head to drive it. Not very high tech, but it is far better than nothing. Not bad for under $10 though.
Anyway, I carefully set this one of eight legs up so it would spin without too much vibration. I already had one come off, and a hunk of wood that weights a couple kilograms coming off is not fun. Luckily, it wasn't going very fast. Got it all set up, and did the ball end on the square leg and was just starting to sand it when everything started to wobble. Big, mean angry wobbles. The bench was moving enough to jiggle, and my bench isn't a lightweight. The floor was jiggling, and that's what got me worried. Here I have this big lump swinging along at a goodly speed and it's got the big wiggles. Most of it is square, and it's prolly marginally supported on the centres so stopping it then grabbing it wasn't an option. Carefully turned the drill off and carefully walked away, fully expecting the thing to chase me.
Bloody earthquake...
Was exactly the same as an out of balance leg wasn't it?
Eowyn 26th June 2005, 12:19 PM A friend visited once, realised I was in the garage using power tools, and so banged on the side so as not to give me a fright when he appeared at the actual door.
He wont do that again.
Rabbit 26th June 2005, 01:29 PM Here in TX we have several varieties of rattlers, cottonmouths, coral, and copperheads plus all manner of the non-poisonous types; but I've never heard of a tiger snake.
And what difference does a wooden floor make?
rabbit, dumber'n a stone in Texas, USA
jo_sepi 26th June 2005, 01:42 PM :eek: groggy, i can relate to what you say mate, my dog did the same to me about a week ago, still got to wear a face mask in the shed:o
DPB 26th June 2005, 02:40 PM I can relate to most of these incidents.
I like the idea of a switch on the door that activates a caution light. I reckon it would need to be one of those revolving lights like you see on the top of a fork lift, because if you weren't facing the right way, you probably wouldn't see an ordinary light.
It only take a momentary laps of concentration to cause an accident. Here's a picture of a bruise I received after a kick-back incident on my first saw bench. It's a massive bruise; that's my thigh.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=1323 :(
Groggy 26th June 2005, 03:29 PM Here in TX we have several varieties of rattlers, cottonmouths, coral, and copperheads plus all manner of the non-poisonous types; but I've never heard of a tiger snake.
And what difference does a wooden floor make?
Well, we used to have all those snakes too, but the Tiger Snake killed them all.....
As for the floor, snakes get under it and makes themselves comfortable. They can't do that with a concrete slab construction.
derekcohen 26th June 2005, 03:53 PM I reckon most blokes have more than there share of "zoning", as Aprocotripper called it, than the gals. Some of us (I mean me) tend to go beyond this and hyperfocus on anything of interest. The intensity of concentration has to be seen to be believed. Of course this only occurs on things we enjoy. It is not the same when SWMBO asks for help. And when this intense, hyperfossed state occurs just beware of interrupting me - I lose all tolerance. Social skills, what are those? A few of my wife's friends still don't talk to me (and all they did was greet me while I was trimming a tenon).
Regards from Perth
Derek
goodwoody 26th June 2005, 05:55 PM My workshop is an old Grannyflat that was fashioned from an even older dairy. Its about 40m from the house on a total of 40 acres with creek access on 2 sides.
Left the shed for lunch came, back and as I entered I noticed a tail slide around the corner of the bench. Now we have all the ususall snakes in South east Queensland so I grabbed the post shovel ( long handle) and prepared for the onslaught.
Listened for some activity popped my head around the corner and saw a 4 foot goanna looking directly at me. Of my position was between him and the door so I jumped and screamed like a girl when he hissed and came at an alarming rate.
Now I have goanna fences in Place.
Coldamus 26th June 2005, 08:09 PM Here in TX we have several varieties of rattlers, cottonmouths, coral, and copperheads plus all manner of the non-poisonous types; but I've never heard of a tiger snake.
And what difference does a wooden floor make?
See here for a picture of a tiger snake.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~bush/tiger.html
They are not always as dark as the one in the picture but definitely not nice whatever the colour. The relevance of a wooden floor is that, especially with older houses, snakes can often squeeze between the boards and hide in the walls or under the floor. The last thing you want in your house is a tiger snake that you can't find until you step on it.
regards
Coldamus
Ivor 26th June 2005, 08:59 PM Just remember this
If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger (which may mean wiser)
me personally
bits of wood flinging off and hitting the door (onging)
the screw holding the circular saw blade on loose and wondering why the thickness of the wood I was cutting kept on changing
hitting a screw with the electric planer and wondering where the bits of metal went (I had cousin with bit of metal going through his eye and never was the same since)
and I am thinking of getting a chainsaw, what can I do with that?(axes cut once chainsaws keep on going.......
ozwinner 26th June 2005, 09:33 PM Here in TX we have several varieties of rattlers, cottonmouths, coral, and copperheads plus all manner of the non-poisonous types; but I've never heard of a tiger snake.
And what difference does a wooden floor make?
rabbit, dumber'n a stone in Texas, USA
Here ya go Rabbit.
All the info you need.
http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/Tiger.htm
Al :)
Caliban 26th June 2005, 09:58 PM Al
That tiger snake looks a bit dull' Shouldn't you apply a little MFKL?
That would make up for being so helpful. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, shattering our illusions like that. :D
ozwinner 26th June 2005, 10:04 PM Jim, hes a Seppo, ya got to look after em.
Al :D
Caliban 26th June 2005, 10:11 PM Sorry Al
I'll just go and stand in the corner for missing that one. :o :o :o
knucklehead 26th June 2005, 11:16 PM I was cutting some 125mm pine on the SCMS. Its only a 10inch saw so I would make one pass then flip the timber over and finish it off. Well after cutting a heap of them it was all pretty routine. I left a bowed piece till last hoping that it wouldn't be needed. Ofcourse it was needed so the first cut went O.K. Rolled the timber over and did the second cut. The wieght of bowed timber closed the cut and pinched the blade. This stalled the blade and shot the sliding saw straight out at me.
I have had timber shoot out from table saws before but I've never had a whole saw do it. The handle hit the heel of my hand hard enough to leave a large bruise and a thumb that didn't function properly for a couple of days.
If the same thing had of hapened with a hand held circular saw it would have been very messy.
craigb 26th June 2005, 11:26 PM I was cutting some 125mm pine on the SCMS. Its only a 10inch saw so I would make one pass then flip the timber over and finish it off. Well after cutting a heap of them it was all pretty routine. I left a bowed piece till last hoping that it wouldn't be needed. Ofcourse it was needed so the first cut went O.K. Rolled the timber over and did the second cut. The wieght of bowed timber closed the cut and pinched the blade. This stalled the blade and shot the sliding saw straight out at me.
I have had timber shoot out from table saws before but I've never had a whole saw do it. The handle hit the heel of my hand hard enough to leave a large bruise and a thumb that didn't function properly for a couple of days.
If the same thing had of hapened with a hand held circular saw it would have been very messy.
Now that really would have put the wind up you.
RufflyRustic 27th June 2005, 09:50 AM Last year I used to use this old table saw that flipped over into a cutoff saw - about 20 years old, semi-industrial, all metal etc etc etc. In the 4 times I used it, I hurt the same finger twice. First time was a nasty bruise - still can't feel things 100% with the fingertip - where the finger got rammed between the ironbark I was cutting and the solid metal fence. Second time I ended up losing a v-shaped chunk from the tip of the nail bed. The blood is still on the concrete. The hunk of metal is in HWMNBO's shed and thankfully he's covered it in bits of car parts. Third time unlucky? No way am I using it again!!!!! Scared me? You bet..... :eek: !! Lesson Learnt
RufflyRustic
Jill 27th June 2005, 10:55 AM Almost too embarrassing to tell...timber too heavy for me to lift, didn't want to bother my husband, so planed it on the ground - straight through the lead just above the plug! Pregnant with our son at the time, too.
Also some incidences with trimming tongues off T & G boards with the Triton that almost pierced the shed wall (I always stand to the side, luckily); a couple of times the saw in our triton has started on it's own - so now I always unplug when adjusting the saw depth/angle!!); snakes in the shed; bowed timber grabbing the blade in the drop saw; and the spear-broken end of a 5 or 6m long floorboard stabbing into a solid grass-root (outside, while building our last home), pushing the thicknesser almost off the not-so-stable bench on open ground - I had to keep holding the other end of the timber so the thicknesser didn't end up on the ground, so couldn't reach to turn it off (luckily one of the kids heard me - my husband was at work). And a few other building related ones!
Jill
E. maculata 27th June 2005, 11:29 AM Evry time I venture into the shed something scarys' gunna happen, think I might've posted this before, but anyway. A few months ago I was sanding a chisel handle on the lathe, spindle speed still up over 1000rpm (too lazy to drop it back for a little job) gently working back'n forth along the handle when it occurred to me "maybe I shouldn't have wrapped the emery cloth around my thumb like this" as that went through my thick head, it grabbed, I instinctively stepped off the footswitch, but inertia made sure my thumb was pulled saw it get entangled in the job and I felt this real solid "crack & a thud" followed by a "loose" feeling, being very sure at this stage I've ripped my thumb clean off, I grabbed my hand and purposefully don't look at it, to delay onset of shock, and proceeded in an orderly fashion up the steps to get assistance (that's how I relate it anyway, as I am sure I wasn't blindly stumbling up the steps in panic I am sure of it :o )losta stuff going through my mind like "there goes my reputation" "how the heck am I gunna do stuff now" etc, got to the front door had to open it looked at hand, YIPEE I have a thumb, severely dislocated and got a coupla extra sharp bends in it thats all......scared for 20 seconds then very happy, then very embarassed.
Oh must go now, gotta teach some fellas how to use chainsaws safely ;) .
smeds 27th June 2005, 11:36 AM when i was an apprentice woodmachinist many years ago now, my boss wore the scares of people mucking around in the workshop, one day as he was running some board over the planer a couple of blokes were fooling around and just as he looked up to see what was going on his fingers went in, he quite vividly told me of the crunch of bone as the cutters went through, the outcome now is he can only count to 8. I am a firm believer that yes you can fool around but do it at smoko when the machines are turned off.
knucklehead 27th June 2005, 01:33 PM Evry time I venture into the shed something scarys' gunna happen, think I might've posted this before, but anyway. A few months ago I was sanding a chisel handle on the lathe, spindle speed still up over 1000rpm (too lazy to drop it back for a little job) gently working back'n forth along the handle when it occurred to me "maybe I shouldn't have wrapped the emery cloth around my thumb like this" as that went through my thick head, it grabbed, I instinctively stepped off the footswitch, but inertia made sure my thumb was pulled saw it get entangled in the job and I felt this real solid "crack & a thud" followed by a "loose" feeling, being very sure at this stage I've ripped my thumb clean off, I grabbed my hand and purposefully don't look at it, to delay onset of shock, and proceeded in an orderly fashion up the steps to get assistance (that's how I relate it anyway, as I am sure I wasn't blindly stumbling up the steps in panic I am sure of it :o )losta stuff going through my mind like "there goes my reputation" "how the heck am I gunna do stuff now" etc, got to the front door had to open it looked at hand, YIPEE I have a thumb, severely dislocated and got a coupla extra sharp bends in it thats all......scared for 20 seconds then very happy, then very embarassed.
Oh must go now, gotta teach some fellas how to use chainsaws safely ;) .
That's it I'm taking up knitting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iain 27th June 2005, 02:02 PM When I was in the RAAF we used to do practice cargo drops from 100-500 feet out of the baqck of a Caribou.
The crew would wear a safety harness and were attached via a long webbing strap to a point inside the aircraft so they could move around freely without falling out the back when pushing the 'goods' out.
When we got a new crew member, we would get him to do a long push with the cargo from midway to the edge, we would put a fold in the webbing of about a foot and grip it tight in our hand.
When the cargo dissapeared out the back of the aircraft, the operator would usually lean over to admire his handywork, being supported by the strap, at this point we would let go and watch them suddenly move a foot or so back, and turn white or go weak at the knee's.
Been there, had it done and it certainly is character building, especially when you see the rest of the bastards laughing at you and the brown stain in your flying suit.
Trav 27th June 2005, 02:53 PM In a similar vein to Iain, I used to teach abseiling and rockclimbing. Our facourite trick was to set someone up and then get them over the edge of the cliff before yelling 'WAIT! WAIT!'. They were normally scared sheyet-less anyway, so this was just the icing on the cake.
It usually took them a few hours to talk to you again. But worth every second!
Trav
knucklehead 27th June 2005, 04:10 PM The first time I tried foward rapelling (run downs) the guy hooked me up and said "run like buggery". So I did. When I was about 4 meters down the face of the cliff with about 40m or so to go the bastard let out a great loop of rope (as per Iains post).
So I free fell a good couple of meters before stopping with an allmighty thump. The harness squashed all my manly possesions, but the worst was when the carabiner was pushed in to my kidney. A very nast bruise indeed.
Picture me now hanging head first, face against the cliff and thinking what the hell was that!
The instructor then helpfully yells out "its your gear and your life, so check it yourself!!!!"
The idea was that you should never trust anyone else. Always satisfy yourself that it is safe.
Anyway some hours later the instructor tried to do it again.
I still maintain that what followed was justifiable self defence. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon8.gif
CeejV 27th June 2005, 05:13 PM The kind of scare I had was what I consider the worst ever. Along with the usual scares mentioned here, of which most I have experienced, this is the one that really made my blood run icy-cold, I still get the chills just thinking of it.
I was milling some mahogony on my jointer for a laminate table top, everythying going along smoothly. I had about 12 pieces in total, stacked on the workbench behind me which I was laying on the sash clamps as I completed them. I got into the "focussed groove" and was not putting the jointer off in between planks.:o
I had done about 8 or 9 of the planks which I had just laid down and checked for a true edge. When I turned toward the jointer again to pick up another piece, I saw that my 3 year old son had somehow come into the workshop and was busy moving the spring loaded cutter guard out of the way, his tiny little hands merely inches away from the blade. Needless to say I shat myself but fortunately was able to remain calm, I shudder to think of what might have happened if I had shouted at him or jumped and grabbed him. Luckily I was near the power outlet and just switched it off. The brake engaged and I could breath again.
Needless to say, no-one whatsover is allowed into the workshop when I am busy any more. and I ensure that the only way in is child preoof each and every time I work. I can only imagine bearing the burden of being responsible for you child going through life a few fingers short or even worse, without the use or total presence of a hand.
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