The story
I fell way behind in building my wife’s birthday present—a jewelry box. So even though the hour grew late and I had already put in a full day at work, plus several hours in my shop, I kept going to complete the dovetail slides. The stop on my router table fence was about 2" from the dovetail bit. Chips and dust quickly built up against the stop as I routed parts, so I frequently brushed them away. One inattentive moment was all it took for the dovetail bit to open up a seven-stitch gash in the back of my right ring finger as I pulled my hand back after clearing chips. I was lucky, though, that the ascending side of the bit (the side rotating out of the fence gap) hit my finger, tending to push it away. If I had hit the side rotating into the fence gap, my finger could have been pulled in, resulting in a far worse injury.
The victim
Steve Gies wandered into the woodworking hobby shop at the naval base where he was stationed more than 20 years ago and found a lasting interest. He now works as a senior instrumentation technician in the San Francisco Bay area, but when the workday ends, he heads for the well-equipped garage shop at his Petaluma home.
Case analysis
Steve fell victim to several workshop dangers, resulting from get-it-done-itis. It sets in when a project deadline looms, and getting it done at any cost becomes the driving force. Steve was so intent on completing the jewelry box that he did not notice fatigue creeping up on him. Woodworking is usually an enjoyable pastime, but it can be just as stressful and fatiguing as any other work. And when your tools prove sharper than your mental state, accidents happen.
Shop-smart strategies
Try these steps to work safely:
- Before cleaning debris from around a machine’s cutter, hit the off button. Then protect fingers by using a shop vacuum’s crevice tool to suck up the mess. Or flick away chips with an air-hose blowgun or bench brush.
- Establish and mark out a danger zone around your tool’s cutter area.
- Add guards or shields around cutters that provide visibility but not interference.
- If building a project for a special occasion, create a realistic work schedule and to-do list and stick to it. Don’t let machining events pile up at the end.
- Rehearse every machining operation so you know where your hands are every second.
