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"Safety Tips for Knife Makers" by Allen ElishewitzSafety in the shop is the most important thing knife makers should be concerned about. Being safe in the shop is more important than making the knife. Knife makers must be very cautious of what they do and how they do it.
In the first step of knife making, your material is ready to be cut on the band saw. There are two major areas of possible injury here: your fingers and your eyes.
Your eyes should be protected from little chips of metal or handle material that bounce off the band saw. To prevent your eyes from getting punctured, wear safety goggles. I recommend yellow filtered goggles because they make what you see appear brighter. Also, pick goggles that protect the eyes in a 180 degree.
Fingers are injured when they get caught in the band saw blade. To prevent fingers from getting stuck while pushing materials on the band saw base, eliminate the pushing aspect: Make a block to set on your base and cut your material on top of that block. This raises your base to a smaller surface and you are able to hold onto the handle material and push, turn and pull it without having your hands in front of the blade. Also a push-stick will distance your hand from the blade.
A lesser concern you may want to take into consideration is the vibration and noise factor when cutting steel or sheets of titanium. I recommend using ear plugs or muffs or at a minimum foam ear protectors to limit the possibility of ear damage.
Another chance of injury occurs during drilling. The main concern is your eyes. When drilling, many chips are flung and twirled out of the hole by the flutes of the drill bit. These chips are very hot because the bit creates a lot of friction with the steel. Here again, I recommend wearing safety goggles. A way to prevent hot steel chips from landing on your skin is to use a coolant to cool the drill bit and the material you are drilling. This also prolongs the life of your drill bit. Sometimes your material may get caught by the drill bit and might hit or cut your hand. To prevent this, buy a clamp for your drill and clamp the material you are drilling to the base.
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