A few injuries lately....anyone else hypnotized by the band saw??

Personally, I don't use any one tool long enough to get hypnotized by it. Maybe the answer is to vary up the work more. Don't spend hours at the saw cutting up scales, spend one hour doing scales, then an hour at the grinder, followed by an hour gluing things up, then repeat the process.
 
There is something pleasing about rotating shafts for some reason which is why the eye is attracting to things like spinning propellers and other machines. Operators including pilots sometimes drift off to sleep, and vibrations can add to the effect. Perhaps that is why so much coffee is consumed during shifts, and some people reach for uppers and various stimulants in an effort to stay alert.
 
Spring is in the air! The solstice messes with the mind. My brother bandsawed a nice line through his hand, then two days later passed a finger between the kmg pulley and the v-belt. Ouch! His finger looked like a half unwrapped paper towel roll.
 
I experience this with my grinder, late in the day after 6 or 8 hours at the KMG I will start to stare at my work... when I start to notice the knife being "shiny" I shut the machine down.

We just had a baby and I just am not getting any sleep, I had to quit grinding completely for a while there.

I go all out when I work and the knife shop literally leaves me physically exhausted at the end of the day. It is a tough job but I always catch myself wanting to do more! Yesterday I had just profiled and drilled out a dozen blades... I was literally laying on my shop desk at 8 pm deciding whether or not I should start up that friction folder, LOL!
 
I don't have a bandsaw but I will confess to getting a bit mesmerized by the drill press at times. At which point I seem to lean in closer and closer... not good. I don't ever recall having had a chip hit my safety glasses or even my cheek, but they have aimed directly for my lip a couple times. (It smarts and makes it look like you have a nasty cold sore for a few days :grumpy: )

Anyway, I agree with Greg; I find it best to break up the day and not spend more than an hour or two doing the same thing over and over. I usually have enough unfinished projects going that this doesn't present a problem. :p
 
james terrio said:
I don't have a bandsaw but I will confess to getting a bit mesmerized by the drill press at times. At which point I seem to lean in closer and closer... not good. I don't ever recall having had a chip hit my safety glasses or even my cheek, but they have aimed directly for my lip a couple times. (It smarts and makes it look like you have a nasty cold sore for a few days :grumpy: )

Anyway, I agree with Greg; I find it best to break up the day and not spend more than an hour or two doing the same thing over and over. I usually have enough unfinished projects going that this doesn't present a problem. :p
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I don't experience it with the press so much, or the grinder for that matter. Just the band saw. I already break up my work. I tend to move from station to station all day in the shop, for multiple reasons....letting tooling cool down, waiting for something to set or dry, breaking up the monotony, etc. Sometimes with the band saw it doesn't even take that long for it to happen. I may have just started using the saw ten minutes earlier and all of a sudden I want to take a nap!:D

Anyway, like I said...at least I'm well aware of the effect and know when to get up and do something else for a few minutes. Thanks for all the input guys.
 
I think a bandsaw gets more attention from me than any other tool in my shop. It's probably one of the more unforgiving tools in my opinion. No change of "glancing" a finger or hand off the blade if you slip, like on a rotating blade. It just cuts.
 
peter r said:
Spring is in the air! The solstice messes with the mind. My brother bandsawed a nice line through his hand, then two days later passed a finger between the kmg pulley and the v-belt. Ouch! His finger looked like a half unwrapped paper towel roll.
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Did he forget it was running? Why was his hand there at all?
 
I find it really easy to screw up on a bandsaw.

I'm paying attention to the cut, the line and the blade.

It's easy for my thumbs to be in line with the blade on the exit of the cut.

I think some sort of pushsticks are a must.
 
Yeah numbers, your hands can really easily be in the line of fire. I try to always hold the steel as far from the cut as possible and always have a push stick in contact with the spot where the cut will end.
 
Yeah we were servicingthe machine, i leftto go do something else....he never unplugged the machine. I heard the motor run for like two seconds from the other room....i kne instantly something went awry.



Steinerj said:
Did he forget it was running? Why was his hand there at all?
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jonnymac44 said:
Yeah numbers, your hands can really easily be in the line of fire. I try to always hold the steel as far from the cut as possible and always have a push stick in contact with the spot where the cut will end.
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Absolutely! This is the only safe way to do this. Never have your flesh near the business end of cutting tools in use of any kind.
 
Though I know what you are talking, I try hard to focus! In constant fear of losing a finger or a hand. Safety first is always on my mind. Once again, I’m reminded of it when I came across this blog from www.bandsawblog.com entitled Simple Tips for Safety.
Distract yourself from time to time. Always remember that you are more powerful than this machine! Stay awake and alert.
 
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