Was this dumb?

[biziedizie]

I find that when I cut cedar the sawdust clogs up and doesn't vent properly and ends up blowing back in my face. So what I did was cut the mesh off the end of the blade guard and that works great. Was this a stupid thing to do as far as safety is concerned? I'm thinking that a chunk of something can now fly out of there and bounce off of something and hit me or someone that's standing there.

     Steve

[Minnesota_boy]

This past week I had a blade break and come partway out the sawdust chute of my Woodmizer, even though there were guard fingers in there to stop it.  Be careful near the sawdust outlet.

[biziedizie]

Yeah being carefull is a smart thing to do! When I had a blade come off I stepped back behind the mill till everything stopped where as I can imagine my dad if he was there would have got in front of it to see what was going on! lol!
  I had a nice day cutting and not one person dropped by so the safety level was at it's best!
  I think the danger level goes up when a person asks if they can help.......that's when I say no I have it under control.


      Steve

[Tom]

Bizie,
I think you will find that those screens or bars are the first safety devices to go. Their problem is that they are inside of the end of the chute.  You can have safety and pass sawdust too if you extend the screen a few inches beyond the end of the chute and give the sawdust a place to go.  I've had blade and chunks of wood, both, fly from mine, and remain very conscious of anyone standing on that side of the mill.  You will be surprised how many people will try to stick their hands under the chute and catch the fresh sawdust.  It'll give you a heart attack.

[biziedizie]

Tom I couldn't imagine anyone trying to stick their hands by the chute, like don't people think? I would think that a piece of wood or metal coming out that end would go through a persons hand.
  I'm getting good at making sure there isn't anyone around while I cut. What I do is tell people that I'm cutting on Sun but yet I cut on Sat! When my dad comes by I shut the saw down and shoot the breeze with him and I won't start things up till he leaves, he's a very big liability and having him around could get me hurt! My sister is smart and she knows without me telling her that it's a good thing to keep the kids back about 10 feet.


     Steve

[J Beyer]

I'm no big fan of defeating a safety guard.  But if there is a way to keep the safety device in place and improve or maintain its performance, such as letting the sawdust out, I'm all for it.

Good reminder of keeping a safe distance from the mill.  I've seen debris come out from under the lawn tractor and fly twenty feet!  Would be bad for the eyes or head if flying high.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

That was the first modification I had to make on my lumbermate.
It just kept getting clogged. I don't let anyone stand by the sawdust exit.

[Jason_WI]

I had to cut the mesh out also on my Lumbermate 2000. But I have a dust collector tube that it 1/16 steel that directly covers the output. I had a blade break once and it made an indentation in the 1/16steel! If someone were standing there without a guard on it, the blade probably would have impaled them.....

Jason

[Bibbyman]

Our older WM had rod finger welded in the dust chute.  They were soon bent from exiting blades or wood chunks.  Our new Super has what feels to be wedge shaped metal baffles and appear to be holding up.  

I've had more than one person tell me the first thing to do is to knock these fingers out so the chute won't clog.  Not me.  We've had more than one blade brake and come part way out the chute even with the fingers.  Had many, many more that would have had the fingers not been there.  The blade will be folded up in the chute.

Speaking of fingers,  the chute will clog fairly often when sawing ERC.  We had been just reaching in and pulling out the bird's nest - even when sawing.  But when this last blade came out about 8",  we have enacted a new safety policy of not cleaning out the bird nests when the blade is turning.  

[ohsoloco]

The Norwood owner that demonstrated the mill for me cut his mesh out as well, and some more of the guard as well.  He also ran the mill without the front blade covers on    I didn't know better at the time to say anything, but he ran his water wide open when he cut (I mean POURING onto the blade).  

My mesh is still in place and I plan on keeping it there.  I only drip enough water on the blade to keep it clean, and on an 8-10 hour day of sawing I may only have to unclog the mesh once or twice (or sometimes not at all).   Cutting back on the water seemed to make all the difference...and I don't get staining on my oak anymore  8)

[biziedizie]

Starting to think about rigging something so that if the blade does fly out the chute it won't have a chance of hurting anyone. I guess the best thing to do is keep everyone away and make that the rule. Getting hurt sucks and after spending eight months in a cast I know what it feels like to be useless.

  Steve