If you use a router to cut wood: be careful!

[SirPeale]

I'm not just talking about the safety stuff.

I'm in the process of taking a Main Event cabinet and MAMEing it.  I didn't want to use the old CP, so I figured I would use the old as a template and use a template bit to cut a new piece from plywood.

I get everything lined up, and make my first pass.  flawless.  I can't believe how easy this is getting.  Suddenly I get a piece of sawdust in my eye, so I head to the bathroom to flush it out.

Afterwards, I pick the router up and proceed to make my second cut on the other side of the CP.  It kicks up a lot of sawdust.  I stop cutting, and I note that I'm taking a huge hunk...OUT OF THE ORIGINAL I'M USING AS A TEMPLATE!  What the heck?

It's a plunge router, and somehow the bit locking mechanism must have vibrated loose.  The bit came up about an inch, and with nothing there to pilot the bit, it was cutting freely.

It's not a total loss, since the panel is symetrical I can just flip it over to get the proper shape.  But I'm more than a little bit ticked at myself for not rechecking the router before making another cut.  I certainly didn't expect the settings to change from one minute to the next!

[GGKoul]

Aren't you wearing googles??

[SirPeale]

I wear glasses.  It's always been okay.  I sure learned my lesson on that one, didn't I?

[hyiu]

safety always goes first....

after the first time I fired up my router... (that thing spins like I have never seen before... POWERFUL !!!!)

I'm now ALWAYS wearing googles and ear plugs when
I'm working on my router....

also.... always keep an eye on the bit to make sure its tight and steady.....

not that I'm careless with my other tools....
I don't wear googles all the time when working...
but for router..... there's no exception....

and stay alert.... a ruined piece of wood can be replaced... but not a ruined finger....

imagine if that thing came loose when its spinning at like 2000 rpm and flied off..... it'll be like a loose bullet....

damm....  

[Jabba]

Hi Peale,

Good to know you are still here with us. I often don't wear gogles, but I will from now on. I do wear glasses though, but still not 100% solution...

[SirPeale]

That was the only thing I failed to do 'safety-wise.'  Of course, I used to have much bigger glasses.  Looks like I'm off to the hardware store when my wife gets home.

[rdagger]

You may also want to wear a dust mask.  You don't want to be breathing the chemicals they put in MDF.

[drunkatuw]

I did the same thing when routing the circle for my trackball, was using the metal template as a guide, the flush bit wasn't deep enough and started cutting right thru the metal!

I also messed up using the slot bit for the t-molding.  First cut was great, put the router down to put in a sample of t-molding to see how it fit, looked good.  Picked up the router to do the other side and somehow the bit slipped so it wasn't in the middle, so it cut too deep and instead of being in the middle, it was about 3/16 on one side and 7/16 on the otherside, so I had to fill it in with wood putty and I'll try it again when I get my confidence back up

[FractalWalk]

I'm now ALWAYS wearing googles and ear plugs when
I'm working on my router....

Goggles and ear plugs with every power tool . . . always, always always!  

[SirPeale]

You may also want to wear a dust mask.  You don't want to be breathing the chemicals they put in MDF.

MDF?  What's that?  I wouldn't use MDF.  It may be cheaper, but ply is much lighter and stronger.

[ErikRuud]

I always used to wear goggles or safety glasses while working with power tools. Then one day my router shot a sliver into my cheek below the edge of my saftey glasses.

Now I use a full Face Shield

If you use one of these, remember to to flip it up before you try to blow the sawdust off of your work piece.  

[DrewKaree]

I lucked out with my router mishap!  I just happened to be on the other side of the piece I was working on, which shielded me from the bit WHEN IT CAME LOOSE FROM THE ROUTER!  At first, I didn't even realize it was gone, just stopped removing wood.  I figured, WTF, just gotta go back over that section cuz I pulled away.  I heard the noise when the bit finally hit something, and saw "something" come rolling across the room....stopped about 6" from my foot.  

Nothing like the realization you could have just died.

[hyiu]

ok... I just decided that I'll see if I can add a lexan shield on the guide so that if things starts flying, I'll have more protection....


that face shield seems like a good thing to have.....
Does it fog up easy when you wear it ??

[FractalWalk]

ok... I just decided that I'll see if I can add a lexan shield on the guide so that if things starts flying

I have a small plastic shield on my router. Unfortunately, when the MDF dust starts flying, it sticks to the shield and I can't see what I'm doing.  Does anyone have any tips on how to keep the dust from sticking?  Pehaps Lexan or Plexi would work better?

[ErikRuud]

I have had some trouble with fogging when using it in cold weather.  Usually I just angle it a little further away from my face to reduce the fogging.

[GGKoul]

One thing that I do is... have someone else there to use my shop vac.

So when I do the routing... the other person holds the shop vac very close to the router and sucks up the dust and any other crap flying out from the bit.  

Also this helps by reducing the dust.

[patrickl]

I couldn't find my goggles one time so I though "well it's only a tiny bit of routing and I'll be fine". Of course I wasn't fine afterwards and I spend the hole night getting a "tree sized splinter" out of my eye.

[Stingray]

I've been to the emergency room several times to have shards of metal removed from my eye.  They use this great little tool that looks and sounds just like a dentist's drill. Yes they stick it in your eye. Do I wear goggles now? Uhm... sometimes. I guess I don't learn very quickly.  

-S

[Zakk]

My buddy said that they used some kind of magnet to get the metal splinter out of his eye...it made sense to me at the time, but maybe it's not a magnet?

[krick]

Since we're trading horror stories...

My grandfather worked as a machinist for many years and got lots of small metal "splinters" in his eyes and never got them removed.  This was back in the the days when men didn't wear protective gear.

Then one day he goes to get an MRI and they tell him that its going to be a problem and they're worried about the metal in his eyes.  I guess the magnetic field in the MRI heats up the metal particles or something.

[Gamecab]

Since we're trading horror stories...

My grandfather worked as a machinist for many years and got lots of small metal "splinters" in his eyes and never got them removed.  This was back in the the days when men didn't wear protective gear.

Then one day he goes to get an MRI and they tell him that its going to be a problem and they're worried about the metal in his eyes.  I guess the magnetic field in the MRI heats up the metal particles or something.

The problem with having metal in your eye and going to and MRI is that an MRI generates a massive electromagnetic field.  You are right the metal will heat up and it will also cause the liquid in the eyeball to heat up as well which can change the shape of the eyeball due to the fact that your eye cannot release pressure.  But another larger problem would be if the metal in his eye was of the type that is attracted to EMF's (I think only 3 types of metals are), the small splinters of metal can be forcefully pulled from the eyeball and cause all sorts of damage depending on the direction of travel when they try to connect with the magnet.
I know someone who works as a metal machinest and was refused an MRI because for the slight possibility that he could have very small amounts of metal in his lungs.  I remembered him telling me the story and figured I'd pass along the MRI thing as your post just jared my memory.

[u_rebelscum]

Since we're trading horror stories...

My grandfather worked as a machinist for many years and got lots of small metal "splinters" in his eyes and never got them removed.  This was back in the the days when men didn't wear protective gear.

Then one day he goes to get an MRI and they tell him that its going to be a problem and they're worried about the metal in his eyes.  I guess the magnetic field in the MRI heats up the metal particles or something.

The problem with having metal in your eye and going to and MRI is that an MRI generates a massive electromagnetic field.  You are right the metal will heat up and it will also cause the liquid in the eyeball to heat up as well which can change the shape of the eyeball due to the fact that your eye cannot release pressure.  But another larger problem would be if the metal in his eye was of the type that is attracted to EMF's (I think only 3 types of metals are), the small splinters of metal can be forcefully pulled from the eyeball and cause all sorts of damage depending on the direction of travel when they try to connect with the magnet.
I know someone who works as a metal machinest and was refused an MRI because for the slight possibility that he could have very small amounts of metal in his lungs.  I remembered him telling me the story and figured I'd pass along the MRI thing as your post just jared my memory.

Yup.  As one who needs to get MRIs once a decade or so, I try to do as little metal work as I can.


And a one up on the horror stories:
 (Warning: death in story) A few years ago a metal oxygen gas tank was brought into the the room of an MRI machine and was left there.  (Nothing un-bolted down metalic item should be in the room during MRI operation.)  When the machine started, the magnetic field was great enough to pull the tank up off the ground, into the machine, and halfway into the head of the kid having the MRI.    

Luckily, this happens very rarely.  Of course, they make you remove all jewelry and empty your pockets.  If you wear any clothes with a zipper or metal buttons, you need to take it off and wear the hospital gown.  (Sweats and a tshirt are recommended instead, at least by the hosital I go to.)  Tooth cavity fillings are fine.  


Which reminds me, time to schedule my next MRI. [shrug]