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“Don’t run with scissors” was one of those rules we all heard when we were kids, and probably the one we ignored the most…only to get some kind of cut later on. When you’re working in carpentry, though, those scissors are a heck of a lot bigger and you’ll end up with way worse than a trip to the nurse if you cut yourself with them.
It’s important to keep safe when you’re working on a new project. If you don’t take common precautions before you begin, you could cause serious and permanent damage to yourself. You will also use up way more time and effort than you would normally need to when you’re working with an injury.
Follow these tips to avoid wasting all that blood, sweat, and tears:
1)Wear protective gear. You know how much it hurts when you get an itty-bitty splinter in your finger? Now imagine that in your eye. When you’re working with high-powered machinery, always wear safety goggles. If you’re using unfinished wood or paints, wear gloves. When you’re sanding, put on a ventilator. You don’t realize just how important these are until you’re sitting in a waiting room wondering how you’re going to pay for the extra medical bills.
2)Use the appropriate guards and guides with your tools. They were made to protect from common accidents that happen again and again. If you decide you’re good enough to not use them, you will pay the price for it.
2)Dress appropriately. Don’t ever wear loose-fitting clothing when you’re working. You can’t manage it all the time, and it will eventually get caught in something. At the least you’ve ruined a shirt and a tool. At the worst you’re the one that gets torn up.
3)Stay focused and aware. There’s a reason workshops are large and closed-off areas. When you’re working with such powerful tools, you need to tune everything else out–phones, friends, pets. Distractions=looking away from your tools=injuries and messed up projects.
You also shouldn’t be under the influence when you’re working. You need to be completely in the moment, both mentally and physically; it’s the only way you can put your all into what you’re doing. When you’re drinking or smoking you aren’t all there, plain and simple.
4)Turn off and unplug machines when you aren’t using them. If that means that you only use a single outlet to force yourself to switch between power cords, do it. You’re using stuff that’s meant to cut through limber like it was butter. Imagine what it would do to your foot if you left it on by mistake and put it down on the floor.
5)Put tools away when you aren’t using them. This doesn’t only help you keep track of everything, it makes sure you don’t end up being surrounded by heavy, pointy, metal things.
6)Don’t use dull or dirty tools. This isn’t just about precision. When you use dull blades, there’s a better chance that your tools will bind and kick-back (get pinched between the pieces of wood you’re cutting and fly off in unpredictable directions). That make things go real bad, real fast.
Having them get gunked up by pitch (resin that comes from the wood) will have the same effect. Use a pitch cleaner to take care of your tools and keep them factory-fresh.
7)Don’t let exposed blades or tips point towards you. That might seem like common sense, but it’s also really easy to do without realizing it. Reaching over a table to get a drink of soda is fine, but when that table is full of spinning blades, nail guns, screws, and sanders, it’s a bit more dangerous. You also don’t want to put your hand down for balance only to put it on the sharp edge of something.
The long and short of it is, don’t be stupid. You’re a vulnerable blob of flesh that’s real easy to cut through and you don’t have mind powers that can control your tools or supplies. Take proper precautions and you’ll have a great time in the workshop. Skip them, though, and you’ll have an ambulance taking you out of it. If you don’t believe me, just search for carpentry accidents on YouTube (they’re really graphic, though, so don’t look it up if you can’t handle blood and gore).
