Making the buffer safer

Just stand behind a shoulder width shield which reaches from the bottom of your floor to top of your head. You can still reach around it and do all the work as usual.
Used fat transparent plastic shields like this against radiation. Still let us do all kinds of controlled delicate science stuff like pipetting. Your vital body parts are protected without sacrificing mobility.

Another idea. Lock the blade tight on your bench vise and use a handheld buffer. Of course that would mean having to reposition the blade a couple of times.
 
Scott, I like your setup. I think the plastic would take most of the energy out of a flying blade. The metals guards on the rear look like they would catch a blade that was going to come around on a loose piece of fabric. I will be interested in what Patrice and the rest of you guys come up with next because I will copy one of them. I have to say that you guys have got me so paranoid now that when I buffed a blade yesterday I put my will on the kitchen table and said goodbye to my wife before suiting up to buff. Larry
 
RangerBob, I thought about it at first but I was afraid that mounting it behind the axle of rotation I would run a higher chance of the part deflecting off the shield. Makes sense?

Bill, my worry is the part making it around the and back at you. So following that line of thought while working it backward, with my height, instead of getting it in the upper torso I'd most likely get it in the junk...:eek:. Not much of an improvement methinks. ;)

Of course I am just trying to inject a little levity in this thread but this is a serious matter and I appreciate that it serves to remind some of you of the possible danger.

Now you guys have me thinking about a way to actually test the shield but I guess there are too many variables to reliably do this.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I'll post results of my modifications next week-end.
 
LARRYZ10 said:
Scott, I like your setup. I think the plastic would take most of the energy out of a flying blade. The metals guards on the rear look like they would catch a blade that was going to come around on a loose piece of fabric. I will be interested in what Patrice and the rest of you guys come up with next because I will copy one of them. I have to say that you guys have got me so paranoid now that when I buffed a blade yesterday I put my will on the kitchen table and said goodbye to my wife before suiting up to buff. Larry
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Larry,when I first started making knives I read a lot of articles in Blade and KI magazines about how dangerous buffers were and got paranoid also and came up with the lexan shield idea.The lexan I used is 3/8" thick and I don't think you could pound a knife blade through it with a hammer its that tough! it was one of the first bullet proof glasses that came out years ago.Anyhow,it only cost $36.00 probably 20 years ago,I've bought lexan more recently for other projects and I don't think it's gone up too terribly much in price since then.And yes the back guards,I made them as well out of a couple of heavy teflon coated 9" round baking pans cut in half and riveted together,and again yes a have gotten few blades taken from me by it over the years but they have ALL OF THEM have hit the guard and deflected off of it and landed on the floor about a foot or two behind the buffer.The shield will protect your chest and your head,the heavy leather apron protect the rest of me.I know this setup look kind of funny,but once you get used to reaching under the shield it becomes second nature and you'll never buff without it again.
 
I am brand new at knife making, but have gobs of experience buffing wood turning projects. Along with that, I have had numerous pieces grabbed and thrown. Not pleasant as they seem to come off the wheel at around 90 miles per hour. All of them have been thrown straight down at my feet and demolished. I have not yet have any piece of work ever grabbed by the wheel enough to make it around the back and over the top to come at me. This is with using unsewn wheels which I would think are the most grabby. I will no longer buff on the lathe, or on a bench as I don't want to provide anything for the work piece to be able to deflect off of and hit me. Therefore, I think the number one safety issue is that the buffer be pedestal mounted as mentioned earlier. Hearing about such a tragic accident does give me pause however, and I am curious as to whether anyone has first hand experience with a work piece being grabbed by the wheel to such an extent as to be thrown over the top toward them, when they were buffing on the lower quadrant of the wheel?
 
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i could see a subhile being grabbed and doing 3/4 rotation no problem. but i think you are right tho most the time a blade does not get "caught " for long
 
patrice, I think that if you come up with a non standard buffer guard, you should test them when standing to the side and having plywood as a guard for the rest of the shop, and try to get a blade caught on purpose. unless this is done repeatedly you will not know how well your design works.

Can someone clarify why buffs are not use on a bench grinder setup and contained within the cast iron guards? buffs come in all sizes and bench grinders do to. seems like the simplest solution although maybe not the cheapest. if a cast iron guard will protect a user from an exploding grinding wheel, it should work well with a buff.
 
PT Doc said:
patrice, I think that if you come up with a non standard buffer guard, you should test them when standing to the side and having plywood as a guard for the rest of the shop, and try to get a blade caught on purpose. unless this is done repeatedly you will not know how well your design works.

Can someone clarify why buffs are not use on a bench grinder setup and contained within the cast iron guards? buffs come in all sizes and bench grinders do to. seems like the simplest solution although maybe not the cheapest. if a cast iron guard will protect a user from an exploding grinding wheel, it should work well with a buff.
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Several years ago I looked around for an 8" grinder I could convert into an economy priced buffer and use the guards just like you mentioned and all I could find were 3450rpm grinders WAY TO FAST for buffing,did not find one in 1725rpm grinder.IMHO 1725rpm is as fast as you want to go even that can grab and throw a blade at surprising speed.I have one buffer that runs at 1040rpm I use a scotch brite wheel on along with a loose wheel on sometimes but thats about as slow as I think you would want to go.
 
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Buffers pull things in. You don't want metal guards.
Buffers are what they are. While there is nothing wrong with attempting to make them safer, make sure you don't do more harm than good.
Professional polishers don't use guards-just their heads. Learning how to use the tool is paramount in safety. You don't want an 8" 3450 RPM wheel that you can "lean into"
If you are using a 3450 RPM buffer, use 4" wheels-this slows the wheel surface speed.
 
jet, grizzly and others make make slow speed grinders. these are 1750 rpm and the target audience is a woodworker.
 
As if I didn't already hate the buffer I come across this thread. That is a sad story to hear about a man losing their life while working to support the family.
I truly think that the buffer is overdue a innovation to make it safer. Several of my friends and family are machinist and they all seem to feel the same way after we had talked about it ( I had a large camp knife thrown that hit my left shin with the back spine. I still had to get stitches)
It would be nice if someone could first come up with a way to safely test different guards to find something that works.
 
I remember reading years ago that Ed Fowler piles his used grinding belts under his buffer to catch anything that gets flung downwards. This will help keep things from bouncing around in that case, but not if the wheel grabs it, obviously.
 
Bill, that was exactly the point of posting this, not doing more harm than good. I think that with all your advices I can come up with something that will help.

PT Doc, I don't think I can come up with a way to actually test it. Not without causing damage to SOMETHING in my shop, maybe even me. :( Where are the Mythbusters when you need them. ;)

Thanks again for participating guys.
 
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