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One thing I've noticed working on my first guitar is its common to need to work small pieces of wood. Thickness a small piece of wood for a bridge or bridge plate, maybe trim a scrap piece of wood to the correct width/height for a brace, etc., etc.

The problem is......it's so easy to get yourself hurt machining these small pieces if not handled properly. The pieces are small....so your support for the stock is close to the blade......there may be little material to hold the stock in position or support it.......or the stock may not be long enough to be handled "normally" on an edger/planer/sander.

I would like to here what methods you use to safely work small pieces of wood. Do you use hand tools only? Do you have jigs you've designed you wouldn't mind sharing? Whatever you have I would love to hear about it.

A case in point. Sunday a week ago, I ran a piece of maple through the table saw. It was 2" wide and roughly 8" long and I was squaring it to a thicknes of roughly 3/4" to use to make bridge plates. I wanted to be safe and didn't want my hand near the blade so I grabbed a scrap piece of wood that was 1"x1" roughly a foot long to use as a push stick. I fed the maple right through with the blade cutting through the end of the push stick as it ran through. Once the maple was past the exit side of the blade I relaxed......or did something that let the end of the push stick drop slightly and the blade dug into the stick and slammed it back into the heel of my hand rolling a 1" wide section of the palm of my hand back to my wrist. Wow, that happened fast and you couldn't have hit me harder with a hammer. The irony is.....I thought I was being safe. I relate this story hoping someone else will take note and hopefully avoid this happening to them.

How do work small pieces of wood safely?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

You've brought up what I think is the dark underbelly of being a guitar player as well as an aspiring maker.
It's ironic that an accident could extinguish one's ability to play and enjoy the very thing that one is learning to make.
This is why, almost without exception, that I recommend kits for beginning builders. You avoid the machining of small parts which is a risky operation.
Many makers employ jigs to hold small parts for cutting and shaping (I'm sure others here will post pics of some).

For my own work, I've found the use of small scale machinery to be helpful.
Machines such as the Proxxon table saw are sold through Woodcraft or Micro-Mark and are a big improvement on the over-scaled woodworking equipment that's commonly available.
I also favor the use of a 4" X 36" belt sander for shaping things like nuts, saddles and other small wood components.

I agree with you, Filippo. A drill press scares me as much, if not more than, any other piece of equipment I have (and I am scared of all of them).

I use one of the Gilbert Sanding Disks for much of my small item thicknessing. It works great. I can thin veneer to 0.3 mm with no problem You just have to be careful at that thickness, and not take much off at a time. I was using it last night to clean up some sides I had used the Safety Planer on, and it works great. You can even thickness backs on it if you DP is big enough.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

"NEVER EVER hold something with your hands..." I think this statement by Filippo sums it up for almost every conceivable procedure.

Sometimes you have to be creative, but even using hand tools you need to clamp or somehow hold work pieces. Use fixtures, jigs, clamps, double sided tape - whatever. Rarely, I will clamp a hand tool and move the workpiece over it, as when planing a small piece. Use the safer tool whenever there are options. In your example, I might have roughed out the bridge plate with a bandsaw and thickness sanded it to the correct thickness by (double-sided) taping the plate to a longer backing board. A few swipes with a block plane will make short work of perfecting the edges, without any dust or noise.

Good question.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

I use hand tools wherever possible on small stock... partly for this reason... and partly because I don't own any big power tools (Though I do have easy access to them)

I find that Double-sticky Carpet Tape works great when keeping small bits stuck down...
Also see the Padma's post on uses for Bondo....

While I have had trouble with little parts coming loose while planing, filing, sanding, etc... the consequences aren't nearly as bad when a Bridge blank sticks a shaving on the bottom of the plane and pulls off the tape... rather than getting grabbed by the Table saw and pitched across the shop... or at worst, you take a thin shaving off of a thumb nail rather than loosing a thumb.

Thanks

John

I'll wade in here to play devils advocate, I've been told I'm one of the least health and concious person by a friend, and I make him scared of certain machines by the amount of respect I show them he finished that saying he I have the least accidents out of the two of us as well! I've trained in machine shops, welding shops....., I don't always wear safety spec, I try to remember my face masks, but I think the most important things is to know your machines and I mean know them how hard you can push them every sound they make so you know when things are up, and their limits, I know that on my drill press I can hold a piece of wood and drill a 1/2" hold and with a certainty even if the drill snatched I could hold it, now I'd never do the same with a piece of steel that would be in a vice for sure, and once you've had a chuck key throw at you you soon remember to take it out!

Machines I hold in respect though are table saws I love my fingers, I'm sure if I cut my self whilst using a bandsaw I'd be fine or need stitches with a table saw I'm sure I'd of lost a digit if I didn't treat it with it's due respect similarly with planers, all machines are due respect just in mu opinion some more than others

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

First off , safety has to be top priority . Think what you are doing. When sizing small parts on a table saw , NEVER place it where it can get pinched. This pinching can throw things back at you with more power than you can imagine , let alone what the saw blade can do. Push sticks to me are a safety hazard as you can have the run through your hand. I use a push block. It is safer.
Never set the blade more than 1/16 higher than the stock you are cutting. Things happen too fast. If you don't know what you are doing , read the manual . Table saws don't know what they are cutting , they just cut what ever is sent into them.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Filippo all I can say is wow like I said I try and remember glasses and face mask as I'm old skool, you set up is admirable, a little too technical, time consuming and expensive for me but impressive!

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

I don't use a table saw for any guitar building. I do use my scroll and bandsaw alot though as they aren't as likely to kick back or pinch small stock.I would be lost without either one of them.I still excersize exstream care when useing them.I'm also a musician and don't want to mess that up with an injury.

Filippo, that's a beautiful setup! I just bought a bunch of T-Track and various hold downs to re-do my band saw table, make a mini sliding table saw (rather than the relatively crude sled I've been using), and now that I see your drill press set up, I'll virtually copy it. I had planned on something simpler, but I can immediately see the benefits of your setup.

I notice that you did not buy the special intersecting track pieces (or cut them yourself) - and I realize that sliding a miter fence is not something typical that would be done on a drill press, but have you ever had an instance where you wish you had the open intersections?

Thanks for the photos - worth 10,000 words.

Oh, and by the way, I had an incident a number of years ago where a spinning drill bit got stuck in a small piece of sheet aluminum that I was hand holding. I am very happy (and lucky) to still be able to count to ten on my fingers. The advice to always clamp the work is priceless - well, let's say I'd give it a 10!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I am not a machinist and have vever had machist training. My dad was and always taught me never to wear gloves operating machinery. This is especially true with a drill press where the spinning chuck/bit can grab your glove and twist your arm up around the bit or pull a finger(s) off (my brother was working beside a young man who lost a finger wearing gloves operating a drill).

So should one wear gloves while operating a table saw? I don't know the answer to that. I would have had less of an injury if I had been wearing gloves......but I can't say it wouldn't be a safety issue in other situations. Maybe one of you guys can shed some light if/where its appropriate to use gloves while operating machinery.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

NEVER WEAR GLOVES WHILE WORKING ON A MACHINE!

I use two of 'The Gripper's. They're great for dimensioning small stock on a table saw.

http://www.microjig.com/products/grr-ripper/index.shtml

Having been trained in tool safety ,for your own good ,do not use gloves on a table saw or band saw . The gloves can pull your hand into the blades. On a drill press gloves are acceptable .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Just one thing to add: Rehearse your cuts. For a table saw if your hand comes within 3" of the blade, during the rehearsal, you need to rethink your cut.

On the glove issue: Our shop teacher's safety rule was never wear gloves in the shop. He wasn't a guitarist and may not have worked with the splinters of Wenge. Also, work gloves have improved considerable since I was in wood shop in high school.

Danny R. Little

Oh, one more thing from my old shop teacher: Never wear rings, watches, jewelry. He would smack you with a dowel rod if he caught you disobeying any "never" rule. He would do this while you were working on any piece of dangerous equipment, and would usually sneak up on you to do so. Somewhat a contradiction of safety reinforcement.


Danny R. Little

Back to the OP's original question - working with small parts:

- I keep a Freud Diablo 7 1/4" blade on my 10" sized table saw. Cuts clean, smaller kerf and less likely to kick back. Better for small parts. If I need to cut something big I change blades. I have shopmade push handles in the shape of an L with a hook on the bottom. I run them through with the stock and just make another when they get too cut up.

- When thicknessing small parts like saddles, nuts or bridges I use a Luthiers Friend.

- Figure out a way to clamp it in something.

- Glue it to something or stick it with double-stick tape.

- leave extra material on the piece so it can be clamped, grabbed with vice grips or whatever. The extra material should be in a place where it can easily and safely be cut off and the cut area finished by hand.

- If all else fails work the part with files and sandpaper. It's slow but beats stitches - DAMHIKT.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Aside from building instruments, I've worked in cabinet shops and instrument repair shops for 40+ years. 15 years ago I quit and went into instruments full time.
I saw 4 "gloved accidents" personally, and in one shop they banned gloves after 3 accidents. You would think a drill press might be safe, but I watched helplessly as a guy had his glove dragged into the bit and drilled a hole right through the fingernail. Bits of bone and blood were on the bit.
It only takes once.
Do what you like, but if you can't take a splinter and not flinch, you might want to try knitting...

As far as small pieces, when they get small I use the bandsaw. I hardly use the table saw except to cut the T/R channel in the neck.

Here's what I was talking about:

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Saw blades are designed to cut things that are rigid . If material get caught on a blade it will be pulled in. One advantage is that your fingers may be easier to pick up . If you would have done that in my shop you would be sent home for a safety violation and loose 3 days pay.
I hope you never have an accident but with gloves , you take up more space and any thing that can be caught by a blade can be disastrous. Use a puch block , throw away the sticks . I would rather be punched that stabbed .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I should add that in 40 years, there were only 2 shops that I worked in where anyone used gloves. Most all cabinetmakers and woodworking shops think gloves are nuts except to offload lumber from the delivery truck.
Gloves are loose to your fingers, slip, and drastically reduce the feel and touch. Save 'em for finishing...

Hone your hand tool chops, and don't cut those little pieces with power tools. If your hand tools are sharp, and you know how to use them, it's no slower, no less precise, and a lot quieter.

Always use the 'safest' power tool that will do the job. None of them are safe, of course, but, for example, the bandsaw is probably less risky than a table saw, which is safer than a radial arm saw.

Phillipo, no offense meant to you specifically, perhaps a bit crass, but I would hate to count the splinters I've gotten over 40 years! Counting to 10 is much more important than a few splinters. As suggested, push sticks (properly made) are a great safety.
Respect for the tools is of utmost importance, and just a general wariness of them is developed over many years of use. Sometimes something will just not look right...time to rethink the operation. Time of day is important. If I'm feeling tired I won't tackle something that I would feel safer doing the next morning. I don't like shapers and table routers for small parts like bridges. I'd rather cut them on a bandsaw and sand them on my 6 X 89 sander or use a Robosander and template. Might take a bit longer but I still got all 10.
I have seen folks do things in shops that would make me run to the other end of the shop. Freehanding on a table saw comes to mind.

Man ain't that the truth. Way back when I was a framer I couldn't believe some of things guys used to try to do on the job site with Skill saws;and sometimes they didn't get away with it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"