A lesson learned

[Burnsy]

Got my bench turned over today and pretty much finished so thought I would hone the chisels ready for the next project. After that I am on a bit of a roll so I grab the blade out of one of the block planes that Driver donated to me to use at school so I can get it ready for next week. The blade had a decent chip out of it and was going to take all day to hone out so I thought I would give Derick's trick of running the honing guide on the belt sander a go. Difference is I don't have a bench type belt sander so I flip my 100mm Makita over in the vice and way I go. Everything is going great and I move back to the bench to hone it a bit and see how it came up. Meanwhile I can smell that buring woodchip smell similar to when they cook satay in those little personal bbq's in Bali. I think that is a bit odd, look around and see smoke coming out of the sander - holy shyte :oo:

So I unplug it and grab a screw driver and start madly taking out screws so I can get to the source of the smoke which is deep in the bowels of the beast. The smell changes to burning plastic and I start swearing. Finally got it apart and removed a large lump of burning red ember embeded in a heap of tightly packed sawdust:) panic over, put it back together and all is fine:D

Lesson - don't grind blades on belt sanders if there is any dust buildup within them. Meanwhile, I would still love some help from someone in Perth who has a grinder and an hour to spare grinding some plane blades for me for school next week, because the other lesson is that I can't do it with the gear I have. See here for more info http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=52113

[martrix]

Crikey! Imagine if you had of been called inside to a phone call or something only to come back to a shed inferno.:C ...:doh:

Think I will stick to my bench grinder.

[felixe]

Easy fix, just run upstairs and get a popsicle - and run that over the sander!:doh: :o :B

[Burnsy]

Easy fix, just run upstairs and get a popsicle - and run that over the sander!:doh: :o :B
I didn't mention that the first thing I did was drizzle some water down into the area it was smoking from (it was unplugged and the smoke was coming from an area not near any electrical parts).

I was getting pretty stressed out as I got the sander from roadside hardwaste chuckout and with a new set of brushes for $12 it runs like a charm. All I could think was I can't justify $350 for a new one and I really like this tool:rolleyes:.

[felixe]

....and that deserves a greenie!!:2tsup: :D

[Burnsy]

....and that deserves a greenie!!:2tsup: :D

Cheers Felix, I'm just happy I still have a belt sander.

[John Saxton]

Mike,I might be able to help you out here,any chance that you're going to the WW show at Claremont?

I can probably help you out with a bench grinder.

What you're doing for those Kids deserves a pat on the back ...get them interested in having their creative juices flowing may engender some future forumites.:U

Cheers:)

[Burnsy]

I was hoping too, I will definitely make an effort to get there if someone is offering to help. I picked up a new number 4 blade yesterday from a cash converters and Col gave me one as well so all the planes now have decent blades. I would still like to get the old blades done so I can use them as spares - there are bound to be some blade accidents it is all part of the learning. If you let me know what day you are going to be there I will make it a date.

Thanks,
Mike

[John Saxton]

Mike plan to be there on the Friday 10th early as possible around 0900 opening time.

Cheers:)

[Burnsy]

Have sent you a PM Johnno.

Thanks,
Mike

[Big Jim]

I just sent you a greenie! because of what you are doing for the kids and woodworking as well! Great Job!