WoodLab 102

General Safety Requirements

Mandatory:

• • Safety glasses (provided)

  • Closed-toed shoes

  • Remove dangling jewelry

  • Tie back long hair

Recommended:

• • Hearing protection (provided)

  • Particle filter mask or dust mask

Review Safety Procedures

• • Hand out the following: earplugs, safety glasses, respirator (optional)

  • Reiterate that participants must have closed toed shoes

  • All loose or dangly items must be secured and tucked in (i.e. drawstrings, shirt tails, sleeves tucked in)

  • Long hair must be tied back

  • Point out the following safety equipment:

    • Fire extinguisher (mounted near each exit)

    • First aid kits located at front desk

    • Eyewash station

    • Minors (17 and under) must be accompanied by an adult who has taken the class

  • Hands are never close to cutting/drilling/turning mechanisms

  • ALWAYS unplug a tool before servicing it/ changing bits or blades

  • In most cases, blade/bit should reach full speed before touching material

  • Ensure participants turn tool off before passing it off to the next person

Woodshop Orientation

WoodLab Drop-In Fees

• • $45/day (12pm to 9pm)

Review Basic Shop Layout:

• • Sanding booth

  • Short Term Storage

  • Communal Use Areas/Tools:

    • Tables with locking wheels

    • Hand and power tools

  • Private studios

  • Wood storage

  • Waste streams:  garbage vs. green wood vs. composites all separate

  • Sawdust treatment and disposal

  • How to keep things tidy - leave any areas you use BETTER than you found them

  • Personal Protective Equipment, bits and other consumable available at front

Tool Tutorial   

For each tool, explain:

• • Tool Name

  • What it’s used for/purpose

  • Parts: on/off switch, etc

  • Important safety guidelines/WAYS IT CAN HURT YOU

  • Dry demo - show mechanism with tool off

  • True demo on a test piece

  • Everyone in class gives a test run

1.1 Name: Large Bandsaw/Re-saw     

• • What it’s used for: cutting thicker pieces of wood; no curves

  • Parts: blade, guides, fence, brake

  • Capacities: 

    • Between blade and left side of the machine: 16" 

    • Material thickness: 1.5" to 16"

  • Important safety guidelines:

    • Never push into blade!

    • Keep hands far from blade!

    • Use push stick

    • Let blade stop (use brake) before grabbing anything too close (or use push stick)

    • Don’t push too hard

  • Dry demo - show mechanism with tool off

    • Dust extractor on

    • How to raise/lower throat

    • Make sure ceramic guides aren’t touching blade

    • How to move fence

    • How to put on and take off the blade

  • Ceramic Blade alignment

    • Back of blade - round : 1/16” - 1/8“

    • Sides of blade - paper piece width

  • Tolerance:

    • • Accurate up to .1"

1.2 Small bandsaw

• • What it’s used for: cutting wood 3” thick or less, cutting curves in wood 1” thick or less

  • Parts: blade, guides, fence

  • Capacities:

    • Maximum width between the blade and the left side of the machine is 14"

    • Maximum material thickness: 12" (however, if cutting material thicker than 3", use the resaw bandaw)

  • Important safety guidelines:

    • Never push into the blade

    • Keep hands far from blade

    • Use push stick

    • Let the saw completely stop before grabbing anything too close (or use push stick)

    • Don’t push too hard

    • How to raise/lower throat

    • Make sure ceramic guides aren’t touching blade

    • How to move fence

  • Tolerance:

    • Accurate to .1" 

2. Name: Jointer 

• • What it’s used for: getting planks flat on one side so they can be joined together flush

  • Parts: Cutting edges, Guard, fences, adjustment handle

  • Capacities:

    • Minimum material thickness: 1/4"

    • Maximum material width: 8"

    • Maximum depth of cut: 1/8" (but .5mm to 1mm is standard)

    • Fence tilting capacity: 45 degrees forward and backward

  • Important safety guidelines:

    • Do not remove the guard

    • Use yellow push blocks when guiding material through

      • Don’t stand in kickback zone (stand to the side of machine, not front/back)

    • Ensure you’re moving the piece in proper direction

    • Adjustment handle adjusts how much material you can take off. Make multiple shallow passes, and do not try to take off too much material at once.

  • Don't try to joint anything too thin (must be over 1/4" thick)

  • Clean virgin wood only

    • No nails / staples

    • No rocks

    • No metal

  • Tolerance:

    • Accurate to .01"

3. Name: Planer 

• • What it’s used for: Making the top surface of a material flat

  • Parts:

    • Caster lock

    • Feed Rate shifter

    • Gearbox

    • Table Handwheel

    • Return Rollers

    • Height / depth limiter

    • Start on / off

    • Table lock handles

    • Lifting Handles

  • Capacities:

    • • Maximum width: 15"

      • Minimum length: 9"

      • Material Thickness: Between 1/8" to 6" (Don't try to plane anything too thin)

  • To move: Unlock Caster & Only move with lifting handles

  • To change height:

    • make sure table lock handles are unlocked

    • Turn the table hand wheel

    • Make sure material clears height limitation

  • Change speed only when the machine is running

    • Can be set to 16 or 20 feet per minute

    • bottom lever: in (16 fpm) vs. out (20 fpm)

  • Clean virgin wood only

    • No nails / staples

    • No rocks

    • No metal

  • Tolerance:

    • Accurate up to .01"