I accidentally brushed a spade bit off the shelf and onto the concrete floor. Point down, of course, and I haven’t yet learned how to resharpen bits. As only the center point was damaged, it is still usable if I predrill a small hole so the damaged part doesn’t have to do any cutting.
This won’t be the last time I drop stuff on concrete. Do you put some kind of cushioning material on your concrete floor, or are you just very, very careful not to drop things? I have to share space with the cars.
Replies
You can get rubber mats that are designed for work areas. Some of them can be rolled up, some come in square interlocking tiles so you can cover any area you need to. Woodworking supply catalogs, industrial supply catalogs and restaurant supply catalogs will all have them. Or do a web search for rubber mats.
Just take a file to the end and try to match what it used to look like. The point doesn't do much cutting. If it fails, heck, it's only a buck or two. It could be worse: I dropped a router with a slotting bit in it once. Router came on. Now that was entertaining. NOT. It stopped after it plowed chunks out of the floor, took a gouge out of the side of a cabinet, and missed my leg by a shave. Finally cut its own cord.
>> Now that was entertaining. NOT.
How can you say that. I'm _still_ laughing.
I heard a similar story about a skill saw on a newly laid hardwood floor. The crew fled, watched through the doors while it bounced around eating the floor and then cut its own cord.
Urban legend.
R
>> urban legend
Maybe, but the guy who told me the story claimed he was there, which at least distinguishes it from the usual urban legend that you can't ever quite trace back to to the person who actually saw it happen.
>> castrati
I read a story on one of the woodworking newsgroups five or six years ago about a guy who was bending over routing something on his bench with his 3hp router, picked the router up to take a closer look at the work, wasn't really paying much attention to where he was holding the router and then suddenly realized that that little ticking noise he was hearing was the router bit chewing on his zipper. He said he laid the router down, went in the house and shook for 30 minutes.
The guy claimed he was really there. Bet me!
Ask him and he'll waffle, and say, "Well, I wasn't there, but my best buddy was, and HE said . . ."
War stories start out: "No sh*t. Let me tell you 'bout the time . . . "
Urban legends start out: "There was this guy who . . . "
R
Rich, Unc: there was a side-spitter story on Breaktime from a reliable source who told about a floor sander that got plugged into the wall while its switch was on. The sander got a running start across the floor, out the patio door, across the deck and onto the hood of the car below before it pulled its plug out again. I wish i could have found the link, but i couldn't even get a hit on "floor sander"--so i don't think it's my memory that's faulty!
Splintie,
Yes, and that apocryphal tale will get repeated and embellished until the sander knocks over a painter, and he falls astride the machine, riding it out the door, paint bucket on his head, the sander falls into the customer's pool, electrocuting the kids swimming there and the painter winds up on top of the customer's wife in a compromising position.
But it is a funny story!
R
It must be nice to be so self assured that you can identify urban legends and apocryphal tales with such confidence. You don't even need to know the tellers to evaluate their trustworthiness.
You remind me of one of my favorite military slogans, "Rarely wrong. Never in doubt."
whilst working in a shop as a teen, me and the boys used to race belt sanders across the floor during lunch break. The one with the longest cord had a definit advantage. RickW
Non urban legend story:
Helped a friend of mine side a house 2 years ago. He has a table set up for cutting panels with a circ. saw. He also runs the blade in the saw backwards and ties back the guard because it catches on the thin vinyl panels. I was making a cut and forgot about the guard being tied back and set the saw down on the table before the blade had stopped and it took off at towards me, just missed and hit the driveway. Scared the crap out of me. I didn't make that mistake again.
Don
Don,
Did you learn anything?
I think the hand circular saw is one of the most frightening tools in existence. The thought of one with it's guard disabeled is really scary.
R
>> Did you learn anything?
He said he's never done that again. You think it might be because he learned something?
Easy Unc,
I was kidding as much as the originator of some of those tall tales. I don't know if they're true. I don't know if they're false. Neither do you. It's no big. They were meant for fun, and I was just pokin'
R
Rich,
I took it as humor. It was one of those experiences where you instantly feel light headed and you feel like you hadn't eaten for two days. I had visions of the blade burying itself in my thigh. No, I never did it again. The process was to lay the saw on its side when set down, and I just wasn't thinking from years of habit. I've had blade guards stick before also from a build up of sawdust of large slivers. I ususally look now to see if the guard is down before setting a saw down. Sometimes I set it down and then realize I didn't look and think to myself that was stupid. Some day it may catch up to me.
Teaching my boy that power tools aren't toys is a chore. I often wonder what is going to happen to make him finally realize that. I can only hope that it's not at his or someone else's expense. With experiences like this, the do as I say, not as I do," approach does produce some guilt.
Don
Let me preface this by saying am a hobbyist who makes period furniture and not a framing carpenter.
But, I absolutely agree that a hand held circular saw is a dangerous tool. I admire guys who can do decent cuts and frame with them, but gosh they scare me to death. I will occasionally rip a piece of plywood with it, but that is it.
Frank
Biscardi,
I can't say a hand held circular saw has ever scared me; a properly set blade is quite well guarded. When the saw is freed from the cut the still spinning blade is immediately covered by the guard.
What does frighten me is the power miter saw. After the cut is finished, the blade continues to rotate several seconds. When the saw is returned to the "up" position, one encounters 3" - 4" of unguarded, spinning blade. I've seen guys reach under these things while they were still turning to remove/reposition stock for the next cut. The idea of one's hand or forearm coming into contact with the saw chills my blood.
Jeff
My favorite dangerous tool is the older type of angle grinder. Revving at 10,000+ rpms and with only a rocker switch awkwardly placed on the tail end. (The newer ones have a thumb switch, which should make them safer, I guess.)
Sure, with most diamond or sanding blades it probably won't run far if you drop it, but they actually sell small diameter sawblades for these things! I sweat just thinking about trying to control a cut with that, not to mention what would happen if you lost control and dropped it; it'd be climbing somebody's leg in an instant.
View Image". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."
Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
Norm,
When I finished high school, I worked on a construction job. They had a slew of Milwaukee 10" angle grinders, and not one guard for any of them. Caught the side of my wrist with the wheel. What a bloody mess.
Jeff
The thumb switch actually make them more dangerous because they don't shut off if you lose your grip on them. I purchased a makita that was made this way & took it right back. I have both a Craftsman 4" whaich you need to push a release button before you can trigger it & a Grizzly 5" that has just the trigger I feel safe with both.
Edited 10/27/2002 11:34:34 AM ET by Bart
I have a question about miter saws. On my saw, if
the blade is running and is not in the full
vertical position, if I release the control that
keeps the blade running (i.e., stop the saw), the
blade jerks downward before stopping. Is this the
usual behavior of all miter saws? If it is, is this
discussed in any back issues of FW (safety questions,
for instance), or any other woodworking magazine?
That's the blade brake in action. The torque of the blade is transfered to the pivot and absorbed by the spring. Just avoid reaching under the blade until it stops completely. My old Delta CMS really jerked. The Makita LS1212 CSMS I replaced it with is smoother but doesn't stop the blade nearly as fast. I talked to tech support about it and they said they backed off the braking force on the 12" saws because they had a tendancy to loosen the arbor nut. Food for thought.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Thanks. It also means that one should start the blade, bring it near the workpiece, and then decide to stop the blade.
Cheers,
W.
Frank, you may know of this one. Years ago in the Crozet area, old guy was building a "personal residence" (shack). Circular saw had a faulty switch so he used the plug as a switch. Didn't like blade guards so it was wired back. Working alone, he dropped it on the femural artery. Did not survive. I know personally the man who acquired the property and finished the residence. Another friend has described the stain still on the floor. Email me and I'll name names.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
I figure that for all these stories that turn out to be urban myths, there must be genuine occurrences in which the people involved were too embarrassed to tell anyone about it.
People make "I should have realized" mistakes all the time. Didn't the Unabomber have explosives stored under his cot? (Although I guess that isn't a good example of "I should have realized"...if the explosives had gone off, he wouldn't be around to say it.)
-----------------
Home Depot has the spongy, interlocking squares. I didn't see any with with beveled edges, but there wasn't enough time to ask for help.
Working all day on those concrete floors must be hard on the legs.
Edited 10/28/2002 10:58:30 AM ET by DWREAD
I have no witty retort, but man, this would have been a great time for it. I think you really don't know true fear until you see a slotting bit on a possessed router nearly turn you into a castrati.
Garrett Wade offers an anti-gravity device to prevent this- item #9.8m2
Frank
Prevent dropping routers, losing your sack, or cheap humor?
I heard a similar story about a skill saw on a newly laid hardwood floor. The crew fled, watched through the doors while it bounced around eating the floor and then cut its own cord.
Cowards. At least one of them could have pulled the plug.
The funniest one I ever saw was a finish carpenter doing some 5-1/2" Colonial molding in a living room of a new home. He clamped it up in a work mate and was putting a 1/2" hole in it with a cordless driil and a spade bit. He was drinking a 20 oz. Pepsi and decided to put it in a safe place behind the molding. He started drilling and the next thing you know the bit went thru and into the Pepsi. The spade bit caught the Pepsi and it went EVEYWHERE. People were running in all directions, we didn't get to far when we realized what had happened and roared with laughter.
Seems that PC 690s have a regular reputation for slipping out of tables due to the way they're tightened. I almost lost one that way; noticed in the middle of the cut that my groove was beginning to go waney; when I glanced at the router it was slowly rotating its way downward; a bit more and it would have been dancing on the floor. Luckily I got to the switch before it could escape. Since then I've kept a pair of vicegrips by the router table for dedicated use in tightening the t-bolt.
". . .and only the stump or fishy part of him remained."
Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
Edited 10/25/2002 9:43:48 PM ET by Norm in Fujino
Norm- The wrenches that come w/ the router are a perfect fit for tightening the t-bolt. Of course you only need one to tighten.John E. Nanasy
Yeah those wrenches will work, but it's real easy just to have a dedicated small set of vise grips just gripped on that sucker. No searching and they will always remind you to give it a good squeeze up tight.
Scott
(fellow PC user, and also owner of the new Bosch plunge router; it's pretty sweet, that one.)
Never thought of that, it makes more sense. See yaJohn E. Nanasy
I dropped a router with a slotting bit in it once. Router came on. Now that was entertaining. NOT. It stopped after it plowed chunks out of the floor, took a gouge out of the side of a cabinet, and missed my leg by a shave.
You should have had a wire cable attached to the ceiling and the other one attached to the router. When it fell the cable would stop it from hitting the floor. Then, as its dangling you can grab it and put it back on the table.
Finally cut its own cord
Your router committed sucuide?!?!?!? It must not like you.
missed my leg by a shave.
You don't use a router to shave your legs. Trimming your mustach even with a flush trim bit is the way to go.
Among all these interesting stories there must be some guy who is now known as "Lefty."
BTW, "Sharing space with the cars" means that sometimes I temporarily move a large item to the parking space in order to have elbow room. Sooner or later, it has be moved back so the car can use the garage again. That means I can't put down real flooring or the rubber tiles that Uncle Dunc suggested, because most of the time the car would be on it. The rubber mat that can be rolled away sounds good, though. Where do they sell it--carpet stores, DIY centers, Graingers...?
Edited 10/26/2002 3:19:44 PM ET by DWREAD
I have 2 sq. ft. intrerlocking black mat in my shop that I purchased from Costco. A friend call me from Costco & told me about it & asked if I wanted a couple of packages I said yes. Each package holds 4 pieces = 16 sq. ft.. I went back & purchased 350 sq. ft. more because as we all know Costco will have something for a short while & then never have it again. If you can't find any of these try your local farm store they have horse stall mats some as big as 4' x 8'.
Bart, there's one problem with the interlocking squares. Alright, it's a problem with me, not the squares: I'm klutzy. Since the squares are thick, I'm bound to trip over the edges of the covered area! But these squares bring up the related question of providing cushioning for me, not just the tools.
A few days ago I was sitting on the floor, marking lengths of fir 2x4 and then pushing them, single layer, up against the base of the workbench. After that I needed the workbench, so I just stood on the wooden "floor" formed by the lumber lying in front of it.
Is it my imagination, or does it feel better to stand on wood than on concret? I mean just *standing*, not moving my feet. Maybe it's just wishful thinking ("I wish I had a hardwood floor"), because I don't see how it could feel any different, unless I were walking around.
Edited 10/27/2002 1:29:14 PM ET by DWREAD
Edited 10/27/2002 1:31:01 PM ET by DWREAD
DWREAD,
It's not your imagination. It feels MUCH better having a wood floor underfoot than concrete.
And I believe that it's possible to get mitered edging for those rubber mats for just the reason you describe.
R
Yes the wood flooring does feel better. I can understand your your problem with stubbing your toe, the LOML does this while I bump my head. So wer're either to tall or blind in one eye & can't see out of the other.
Here is a solution my dear cabinetmaker uncle used. He dropped so many drills, routers, jigsaws, and skill saws that he had a standing policy that he would keep all of his power tools on the floor. (plugged in I might add)
He said they never break when they are down there. Although the dancing router never happened to him.
How about a few sheets of plywood?
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled