[Boatanchors] Stupid Stunts

[Rodger]

I bet we have all had some near accidents involving common shop tools like
drill presses and most of us have been lucky enough to have avoided serious
permanent injuries.  Thank you Gary for posting something that will probably
make many people just a little more careful!

Probably the best addition I made to my drill press is a cross slide vise
which has spinner adjustments to move whatever is held in the jaws forward
or backward and side to side.  I do a lot of woodworking and originally
added it for making mortise and tenon joints but it is very handy for
holding other parts and precisely drilling holes.  I bought one of the
larger Harbor Freight units on sale for $39, some of their Chinese offerings
are pretty well made and this is one of them.  You simply need to relocate
one of the two adjustment handles and it will mount to any medium to large
size drill press table.  You can use rubber inserts in the jaws to hold odd
shaped items securely.  

Out of all the woodworking tools I own my 3 hp shaper is potentially the
most dangerous but the noise and wind movement from a 5 to 7 inch carbide
tipped raised panel cutter spinning at high speed will cause most people to
be very careful.  I also remember a story that in the old furniture
factories if you wanted to locate the shaper operator you looked for the man
missing the most fingers.  The potential dangers of the drill press are
often ignored since it doesn't appear quite so dangerous but the basic
safety rule of not hand holding anything is a good one.  For those not
wanting to use a vise there are many alternative fast hold downs including
some inexpensive vise grip like instruments specifically designed for quick
attachment through the slots in the drill press table.

To end an overly long posting, most of us are very careful around
electricity because we are well aware of the danger but many of us are not
as careful with machine tools as someone who does use them a lot.  Safety
glasses are a very good idea when using tools; bad things don't happen that
often but the one time that it does it pays to be prepared.  Now off my
soapbox and back to the soldering iron!

Rodger WQ9E