Thread: Crikey .. that was close!

Originally Posted by greenie512

Eventually I caught a finger on the exposed router bit – sh******t. Of course my heart jumped out of my chest as I expected to see a finger tip loose on the table. Luckily …the glove took the bite and tore and my finger just got bruised.

Lucky!

Greenie, you need one of these.

It doesn't need to be made out of Al - I also have a wooden version and it works well.

For more details see http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...6&postcount=19

Cheers
Bob L

Good one Bob, I’ve had kick back problems before with small pieces on the router table – have a greenie from Greenie. – I must make some form of clamp to hold small pieces and keep my hands away from exposed bits

Greenie512

I had a gander at your site. Have you or do you know of anyone who has disemboweled their little computer speakers and made mini-horns of them?

One set of computer speakers i have has 2 speakers in each box - a little 'un in the top and a big 'un in the bottom (i thought i had better use the correct terms). Top one is 55mm, 4 ohm, 3 watt with a 33 uf electrolytic cap and the bottom, hmm, just says 93 2 but it is a lot chunkier than the top one ( 90mm dia outer cone)

And then there is a subwoofer.

I am sticking everything i can into wood, including the computer (3 of them in one box - micro boards, with a 12" car electric radiator fan to cool).

I might even attack the vacuum cleaner, maybe not.

Oh, have you seen the fan that is a subwoofer?
http://www.rotarywoofer.com/index.htm

Tassie, I’m assuming you are saying there’s a tweeter (high feq) and midbass driver in you little PC speakers. Unless you are really lucky they’re not worth saving/rehousing in my view – there’s a sweeping statement without even hearing them. To my ears most PC speakers sound little better than portable radios. Now all this is all very subjective so if you are happy with the sound, replant speakers in box with the same internal volume as their current housing. However to go more up market sound wise wouldn’t cost too much
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For some small speaker projects check out these two sites, these guys’s know what they’re doing.
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Roman Bednarek’s site - http://www.rjbaudio.com/Microbe/microbe.html
Zaph Audio - http://www.zaphaudio.com/
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To design a cabinet correctly for your driver’s you’d need to have their Theile/Small parameters; good manufacturers publish them or if you had the correct audio measurement equipment you can work it out yourself.

Greenie, that was as close as you EVER want to be with pink bits and a soinning router cutter. Bloody lucky!

As Bob says, you really need a small stock clamping device.

BTW, were you using a starter pin - I couldn't see one?

Steve, no starter pin, had thought about it but have not actually used one yet. I was working the cut back to the fence. Accident wasn’t actually working the piece but removing it while the router (yes … I know…) was still running. My gloved finger must have hung below the piece and caught the bit as I lifted and removed it.

Greenie,

I never wear gloves or the like when working with machinery of this type as I find that I lose the sense of quite where my (gloved) finger tips are.

I think that there is more danger in using gloves because of this. I also make jolly sure that my fingers never, ever stray closer than about 50mm from the cutter - and I always think about how the workpiece might move if it was caught and spat out.

Carbide blades at 23,000rpm and pink bits are not a happy mixture :eek:

Steve, I’ve only been at this game a few years seriously so I’m still at the making idiot mistakes stage. But with each one a lesson is learnt and the “Shed Code of Practice” is amended accordingly.
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Agree mostly with your comments, perhaps working without gloves might keep me aware of my own mortality.
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Cheers - Phil

I had one close call, just trimmed a finger nail, but bejeesus, that was character building, use a clamp now.

Hey, I'm no expert! I only got back into woodworking just over two years ago

Gloves and powertools are not a good idea.
Without gloves you are likely to ge a piece of flesh neatly cut out, with gloves there is a serious posibility of the glove getting caught in the cutter and you hand being winched into the rotating blade.

Gloves are not the solution, proper work holding is, jigs, push sticks, paddles or a diferent way all together.

Don't put your hands any closer to a blade than you would your........ Ahem.


As far as upgrading & improving cheap computer speakers....... well...... you cant help them much but if you want to try some " #### polishing", try this.

putting some damping material inside the box may help.... there is usualy none....
glue a couple of large washers to the inside of the side and back panels of the speaker.....it adds weight to the panels and stiiffens them up somewhat.
Some heavier wire might help..... a bit maybe.
The bigest improvement on the simple ones is power supply.
If you have access to data books and are a bit techy..... find out what chip amp is being used.... look up its spec's and trash the cheap powersupply and instal a regulator and a bigger plug pack.

I did this to one of the cheapo "20watt computer speakers"..... realy has a 2 watt chip amp.
These things used to sit there humming and making all sorts of obscene powersupply related noises and were seriously gutless.
The powersupply was very crude and way below alowable voltage.

I stuffed a couple of (tiny)scraps of inerbond inside, fitted a 3 terminal reg to the PCB by devious butchery and replaced the plug pack with one about 3 times bigger.
Prior these speakers were seriously awfull....now they are just poor.
They are tolerable for computer #3.

cheers