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ten wood working safety tips

Reduce your risk of injury by committing these ten tips to memory. Remember, woodworking is a fun and safe hobby but only when no one gets hurt!

1. Wear Safety Equipment
Between noisy tools like routers and planers and flying chips of wood, there’s never a time you should be working in a wood shop without hearing protection and safety glasses. Applying a finish? Wear latex gloves to avoid getting toxic chemicals on your skin.

2. Wear Appropriate Clothes
Loose-fitting clothes can become tangled in blades and cutting heads. So be sure to wear comfortable but protective clothes that won’t get caught in the machinery. Also, before you begin working, it’s wise to remove dangling bracelets and necklaces.

3. Avoid Alcohol
Wait to crack open that beer until after your work is done. Power tools and alcohol simply don’t mix.

4. Disconnect Power Before Changing Blades and Bits
Switching the power off to the tool isn’t enough protection when you’re about to change a blade or bit. Disconnect the chord from the electricity to keep your fingers and limbs connected to your body.

5. Get Down to One Cord
No matter how many 110-volt power tools you use, use just one heavy-duty extension cord. This small habit will help you remember to unplug the power between tools and stay disconnected when you make bit and blade changes.

6. Stay Sharp
Your tools are more likely to kick back or bind if the blade isn’t as sharp as it should be. This is a dangerous way to work and less effective too. Clean, sharp blades mean clean, sharp cuts.

7. Check for Nails, Screws and Other Metal
Inspect the wood you’re using for any nails, screws, staples or other metal. Be double-extra sure they’re clean before you begin to cut. Even fresh wood could hide a dangerous staple, causing dangerous kick-back and potential injury.

8. Check Your Direction
Cut into the wood, not with the wood. Your power tools should move across the wood, in the opposite direction of the movement of the router bit or saw blade.

9. Let Cut-Offs Go
Never put your hands anywhere near the moving blade, even when waste or cut-offs are in the way or about to fall. When the saw blade stops moving use a piece of scrap or a push stick to move the waste away from the blade. Keep your hands away from the blade until the tool is unplugged.

10. Don’t Be Distracted
Always finish the cut or drilling you’re doing before reacting to any distraction. It’s not being rude, it’s being safe.

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