Biscuit joiners are safe...right?

[Richard Magbanua]

I was always impressed with the relative safe design of the biscuit joiner. You turn it on while it's inside the machine, plunge it in while it's safe inside your stock, retract it back inside the machine, turn it off. Well, as I found out while making one of many Christmas gifts this year, any tool can be much more dangerous than you think. It's up to you to learn to be safe in the first place and to learn from your mistakes after you make them.

Here's what happened. I was cutting biscuit slots in a 1"x2"x5' length of white oak to be used as moulding. It was held against stock of the same thickness to keep it straight and to give my fence more area for support. This worked really well -until the second to last slot. I must have made this cut without enough pressure inward against the piece resulting in the immediate launch of the entire piece of oak against the wall to the right of the bench. It happened so fast I barely knew what happened. At first I was amazed at the how fast it took off and dimple it left in the drywall especially for a flat, square end. Then I was mad at myself, thinking how I was really lucky and blessed that someone, especially one of my little boys, wasn't standing there curiously looking on as they tend to do. Taking the extra step of securing that piece onto the workbench or, at the very least, using a planing stop at the right end would have prevented this from happening.

So I have added this into my safety bank along with using a splitter on the table saw, a face shield, a dust mask, a clamp on the drill press...

Here's to a happy and safer New Year!

BTW, I've made a place for my woodworking pictures on Flickr.com if anyone is bored or interested. Comments and questions definitely welcome...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/magbanu...7611520940064/

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Richard, thanks for the reminder on biscuit joiner safety.

Plunge cutting is always more risky.

The only thing preventing kickbacks on a biscuit joiner is arm strength and the little pins on the fence that hold the cutter in one spot.

On large workpieces, the mass of the work piece holds it stationary well enough for the pins to bite, on small workpieces, the force of the spring in the biscuit joiner pushes the work away from the pins and it launches the work piece.

Clamping the work piece is the best solution in that case.

Fortunately there weren't any injuries......regards, Rod.

[Steve Griffin]

Thanks for the reminder.

Here's another way to get hurt with a Biscuit Jointer--

Accidently forget you have set the depth to maximum and cut a slot in the face of 3/4" stock while holding it with your hand. The blade started cutting out the back side where I was holding it.

I didn't draw blood, but it sure scared me....

-Steve

[Chris Holder]

I can't count the number of times I have held a piece of stock with my hand whilst using the biscuit joiner. Good reminder to think through the operation before cutting. I am going to be more careful in the future. The only think worse than getting hit by a flying board is your hand going into the blade after the board has left.

[Rick Lucrezi]

I am doing 1600sq' of fir flooring, no tounge or groove on the ends so I am biscuiting all the ends. Major task, started getting in a hurry and the tool riped out of my hand. I found out it is not a one handed operation. My kids too like to help out and they saw that, now they wont even go near that tool. Scared all of us pretty good.

[Duane McGuire]

Thanks for the excellent reminder! Experience is a great teacher, but sharing your experience makes it even more valuable.

I'm a safety nut, but woodworking is not inherently safe. We just always need to do what we can to take appropriate caution and work with our brains engaged.

Like most here, I'm a "professional" hobbyist. In 1990, though, I made my hobby my profession for three years and worked fulltime in a pipe organ shop. 5 HP radial arm saws, 16 inch jointer, and other well ... inherently unsafe items. Like myself, others in the shop were both woodworkers and musicians. Musicians like to have 10 fingers. Everyday when I entered the shop I looked at my hands and said to myself how much I liked my fingers. Three years later, I still had all ten.

Our brains are our best safety device. Thanks for your post.

[Richard Magbanua]

Thanks for sharing guys! I forgot to mention in my post I would encourage everyone else to share any of the incidents you learned from. But I think woodworkers have a natural desire to share knowledge with each other.

[Thomas Knighton]

I just want to thank you Richard, and everyone else, for sharing your stories. I recently purchased a used biscuit joiner from a fellow 'Creeker but haven't had a chance to put it through it's paces just yet. Knowing these sorts of things can happen have helped to prevent me from doing something very stupid due to lack of knowledge. (I will still probably do something very stupid at some point...but it'll at least be something new )

Tom

[Shawn Christ]

Richard, thanks for sharing this story. I'm glad all is well (drywall can be patched). This is a good safety reminder - I've become pretty comfortable using my biscuit joiner.

I can relate to your concern about your kids - I have two little boys in my house who also love to sit an watch dad (with eye and ear protection, of course). I once had a close call with my oldest son and a chunk of wood thrown from my planer. Thankfully it missed him, but by only a couple feet.

[Scott Schwake]

Thanks for sharing Richard. I got a bicuit joiner for Christmas and am trying to learn all about it, I'll be sure to remember this advice!

Scott

[Greg Cole]

Good to hear you're fine.
This is a perfect situation for a hold fast or 2. I've become very fond of using them for holding stock for such tasks.

[Richard Magbanua]

Holdfasts are on the list! That's a new bench, Roubo / Schwarz if you're curious, and I'm really looking forward to ordering the Grammercy holdfasts sometime soon.

[Greg Cole]

I seem to remember something about a #7 for flattening was needed Richard.
Good to hear about the bench, you will LOVE IT.

[Ben Franz]

My contribution to "stupid things WW do with power tools:

I use biscuits to align miters in door and window casings. I can't even guess how many thousands of these joints I've cut over the last 20 years. I cut the joints from the back surface after marking with a layout jig - always holding the piece down to my work table with my off hand. This past summer while trimming out my garage/shop with a slightly narrower casing, I rushed into the cut, the blade grabbed and I put a partial slot in the end of my middle fingertip. Luckily, it wasn't too deep and it missed my fingernail. I still have some scar tissue and the fingertip is sensitive to pressure. I'm hoping the discomfort never disappears so I might remember the lesson better.

The tool in question seemed harmless, it was a familiar operation and I still got bit. We all get complacent and sometimes this leads to unsafe work habits. I was lucky.
Use the clamps, fences, safety glasses, etc. I remember seeing an avatar here (don't remember whose) that said "This machine has no brain - use your own". True.

[Richard Magbanua]

I seem to remember something about a #7 for flattening was needed Richard.
Good to hear about the bench, you will LOVE IT.

Thanks Greg. It's not completely done but functional. I've been keeping track with pics on my flickr page. One of the best "tools" I've acquired!