I was really disappointed today when I used the woodshop and discovered the grizzly bandsaw blade was wrecked. This misuse of the tool has me concerned for safety. So until I’ve spoken with those responsible, I don’t think it’s safe to use.
Thanks for everyone’s patience and understanding while i seek to correct the mistreatment of OUR tools.
In the future, i hope our members will follow protocol and notify me personally when something breaks, so that efforts can be made to fix OUR tools.
Doug does your safety class have a handout/quiz? I started a quiz for the laser cutter. One of the questions is “who do you contact if you damage the machine?” and they have to write fablab@makeict.org or else I stare at them until they do. You could do the same thing with woodshop@makeict.org.
Let me know the “root cause” of this person’s failure use the equipment properly and notify you. We’ve talked at the board level about requiring some kind of annual re-up on training, maybe an electronic quiz you have to take every year about new stuff and problems we’ve dealt with. I have to do this at my work to re-learn every year how to not harass people and stuff, so I’m all for it. We have members who took woodshop safety in 2016 and haven’t read their email since.
Doug,
It was me. I wrote a log of the incident the moment it happened through the leadership link under Woodshop Head. That’s doug.wilson@makeict.org. I was resawing a piece of wood and the blade got caught and bent and smashed the throat plate. I don’t know what happened as it was a first for me. I searched the shop for a new blade and a new throat plate and could not find one to replace and repair. I’m happy to buy a new blade and a new throat plate, but I never heard back from you. I’m sorry for the miscommunication, it is never my intention to cause an issue. I can order the supplies today or if you know somewhere in town where I can get the throat plate and blade I’ll go get it today. Please feel free to call me or e-mail me directly.
JaiPal Chauhan
Thanks for letting me know. I’m not overly concerned about paying for the replacement. We replace them about once a month. I’m more concerned about the possibility of it happening again if the problem was a result of irresponsible cutting. That kind of problem usually only happens when someone tries to cut a log. If the board was straight, though, then the problem may have been because of the throat plate breaking. It’s hard to know what caused what.
I’ve replaced the blade and will unlock the bandsaw tonight. I just wanted to know that it won’t happen again.
Thanks,
Doug
Doug,
I can’t really say what the cause was. It was my fourth board that I was resawing, it was a board with some walnut burl, I had the guides down close to the material, it happens very fast and the piece jammed down into the throat plate, I was only an inch or so into the piece so maybe it was that giving way more than the blade binding, I thought my feed speed was slow enough. For the future though should I just post to the forum rather than send an email to the contact listed on the website? Again, I’m happy to pay for the replacement pieces.
I’m not sure why I didn’t get the email. It’s weird that I didn’t. But the forum is another fair way to post any concerns. That way, another member could also help make the fix and/or show why the cut didn’t go as planned.
Paying for the blade isn’t necessary. It sounds like you were using it right, but it wouldn’t hurt to speak in person on a Maker Monday. That way I can help make sure your cut is going smoothly.
Doug