AY Honors/Tool Safety

The main safety rule to follow with any tool is to use common sense.

Coping saw

1. Clamp your work firmly to a bench before cutting it with a coping saw. You may wish to pad the clamp with a piece of scrap wood so it does not mar the piece.
2. Be careful not to saw into the bench.
3. Keep your fingers clear of the blade.

Rasp

1. Do not draw the rasp across your skin - it will cut skin even easier than it will cut wood.
2. Do not strike a rasp with a hammer or mallet or it may shatter.

Plane

1. Do not test the sharpness of a plane's blade by sliding it along a finger.
2. Retract the plane blade when storing.
3. Keep the blade sharp.

Knife

1. Do not push the knife toward another person (or yourself!) when cutting. Imagine the path blade will follow if the item you are cutting suddenly give way, freeing the blade. Always make sure nothing is in that path.
2. If you drop a knife, let it fall. Do not try to catch it.
3. When handing a knife to another person, offer them the handle - not the blade.
4. Do not throw the knife.
5. Do not use a locking knife unless the blade is locked.
6. For non-locking knives that fold, be aware that it may close on your hand if you apply pressure the wrong way.
7. Do not pry with a knife - you may break the blade and cause a piece to go flying.
8. Keep the blade sharp. Dull blades are dangerous.

Chisel

1. Store the chisel with the blade covered.
2. Keep the blade sharp.
3. Keep both hands behind the blade.
4. Use a mallet with the chisel rather than pushing it along with your hand. This will ensure that your hands are both behind the blade.
5. Do not put a chisel in your pocket.

Sanding block

1. Do not throw a sanding block
2. Pay attention to the path of the sanding block. It is easy to knock something over when you're paying attention to the piece you're sanding instead of the surrounding environment.
3. Do not sand skin. Sand paper will abrade skin.