I did something today that I’ve always been afraid of, accidently slipping a finger into my trim router while it was spinning.
I’ve got a porter cable laminate trimmer that I use for all kinds of stuff besides trimming laminate. If you’ve never seen one of these it’s basically a motor with a small base. The base is enclosed on three sides, with one side being open to the all the way to the bit. I think this is silly because you almost always have to take the base off to change bits, (well you don’t have to, but it’s a lot easier so why not?)
Anyway, since the whole tool is quite small, and my hands are quite large (he he) I’ve always been nervous that I would drop a finger into the base and join the ranks of nine fingered woodworkers. Thank God that I only contacted the collet, which still gave me a pretty nasty abrasion, but I can live with that. To add to the danger I immediately dropped the router and then had to paw for the cord with my bloody hand.
Soooo, I think that PC should offer a fully enclosed base, the open side is completely unnecessary. I’m going to try and rig up a guard to cover that side, in the mean time, just be super careful, I know I will be.
Justus
Replies
>> ... the open side is completely unnecessary.
That would be true if you never use it with the bit buried in the work and never have to be able to see the bit to cut to a line.
Sometimes things are clearer in my mind than in my prose,
When I say enclosed, I mean a transparent guard like most routers are equiped with.
When I say that it's unessary for that side to be open, I mean that it is not nessary for bit changes. Thanks for helping me clear that up.
JustusJustus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
Justus,
This is a guard that I designed and fabricated for a colleague of mine in an identical situation to your own. ... a professional craftsman, has used the tool hundreds of times, not quite sure how - but managed to touch the spinning collet with his pinky finger - a broken finger, but in and out of a splint with 100% recovery.
The guard consists of a 1/8" thick x 1.75" (tall) piece of Lexan, and two 1/8" (diameter) x 3/8" (long) steel pins epoxied into holes drilled into side walls of trimmer base (see enclosed graphic). I carefully shaped the Lexan by heating it with a heat gun and bending it over a steel pipe. It was bent to slightly narrower than the base - this gives it a spring effect keeping it securely in place on the pins. The holes in the Lexan are best drilled slowly with some sort of wood backer.
The guard is rock solid, and pops off is a split second for changing bits.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Jackie! Hey I love your Movies!, who knew that you were also a woodworker ; )
That is very cool, and similar to what I was thinking of. But with your design makes it easy and clear. Maybe you should sell it to PC? Before someone sues them.
I, just like your friend, have used that thing a hundred times, and, also just like your freind, managed to drop my pinkie in there. Sounds Like I got off easier than he did though.
Again thanks. Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
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