While changing my blades over to dado today, as I went over to my circuit breaker to cut the power completely from my TS, I was wondering, what type of systems do you all use (if any) when switching out cutters or maintaining your machinery? What kind of safety precautions yall use to prevent surprise starts?

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

To have an effective "lock-out" system, you would need checklists like we did when I worked at our local Nuclear Power Plant.

Having several checklists for safety issues is impractical for woodworkers.

I have established a "mental alert."

Whenever I get close to a "cutting" part of machinery, the plug" always gets pulled.  I suppose you could put small labels near the areas where the blades or cutters are located, but my mental "alert" works pretty good.

Larry

 

I use the "Pull the Plug" method.

 

Anytime you are working with the cutter, Pull the Plug.

 

I don't have any equipment that is hard wired, but if I did then you certainly would want to flip the breaker.

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks

http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

So what do you do if your equipment is hard wired? Thus a lock out tag out procedure should be in place, anyone else?

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

When I was at school when ever we were changing the blade we'd toss the handle on the breaker box on the side of the saw.  Now that I'm working in my dad's shop I always flip the breaker in the wall box when changing  the blade.

Yep, pull the plug.  We have nothing hard wired.  

 

SQ

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

plug

Plug here, too. 

My BIL, a big gear electrician, told me that my breakers are not designed to be used as a switch. Numerous cycles will cause them to fail prematurely. IDK because I've never needed to do that.  

Surely, there must be a breaker that is designed for that purpose.

 

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

As John stated "Pull the Plug". I just unplug whatever machine I'm working on.

Thanks for the feedback folks!

Arlin had nailed it on the head as far as hard wired machinery goes, that's the same procedure we used Arlin when I worked at the Sea World Carpenter Maintenance shop years ago and it's the procedure by the book for OSHA and our own CAL OSHA. I still use a somewhat similar procedure minus the tags. I built a wood door frame with plexiglass insert over my breaker panel. When I am changing the blade out in my TS or performing maintenance, I flip the breaker, close my door, and lock it, the key goes up on another shelf just above the box. I also lock the box when I close the shop up or if I am going to be away from the shop doing errands. When I am away the switches are flipped to off to my machinery and the box is locked, this was the lil ones cannot get mischievous. THanks all for your feedback. Oh yes, by the way, un plug is a winner too!!!!! Routers, drills, bs, etc, all of it, unplug!

I remember at that same carpenter shop I worked at we used an old Delta 3ph 7hp 14" Table saw. That old saw had many false starts, very scary. We didn't have a lock out tag out procedure in place during that time period, we even changed blades without powering down, very dumb, lucky no one lost an arm. We finally got the saw fixed, it was sawdust in the switch, the dust was carrying the current over and causing false starts. Then we developed the lock out tag out procedure with the guidance of OSHA.

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

10 CFR 50 Appendix B

Larry