Sawmill Safety

[PA]

I'm about ready for the first cuts on my bandsaw I've built from the Linn Lumber sawhead I bought a few months ago. I've built guards and controlls per specks, and it all looks safe from here. I have always wanted a mill, but the circle blades were  intimidating, even when I was bullit proof. Thats why I went for the bandmill.. It looks like a safe rig, but I could be wrong..  What should I look out for?? What goes wrong with these tools.. Any safety suggestions or war stories I need to hear??
Thanks..
PA

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Sounds good, PA. Where's the pics??? :D :D

  If you used shafts from Linn and did a good job welding, you should be fine.

  We started slow, more watched the blade cut and listened for strange noises. Within an hour, we were up to speed and throwing blades off and sawing log stops and all that fun stuff :D :D :D :D

  Blade tracking is the biggest challenge you should encounter. Just pay careful attention and you should be piling up boards in no time. Keep us informed. ;) ;D

[D._Frederick]

PA,

The LINN LUMBER mill has Vee belt pulley's for wheels, you shouldn't have problems with tracking after you get the wheels aligned. Did you get the hydrualic tension system, without it you may have a problem of getting enough tension and throw blades.  Don't let anybody stand in alignment with the band blade while the mill is running, if a blade does break it can whip out.

[shopteacher]

Careful no one's on the other side when you roll your first one off the back of the mill. :D

[pasbuild]

 :D

[DanG]

Some things are obvious, like "don't stick your finger into a spinning blade." :D  From the standpoint of your own safety, always err on the side of caution. I keep a stick handy to knock things out of the way, rather than sticking my hand in, for instance.
Your biggest safety challenge will involve other people. DO NOT be afraid to let everyone know that you are the boss. You can explain the reason for this in a nice way, but they must understand that you are in charge of the area around the mill. You may find it necessary to bark a firm order to someone who is about to get hurt, so it is best to clarify that ahead of time. I learned that lesson when I was skippering a charter boat. I always explained that they were there to have fun, but if something happened, they were part of my crew and my orders were to be followed. Nobody ever objected, and it seemed to give most of them confidence that I was looking out for their safety.
By the way, congrats on the new mill. Keep us informed and post some pics if you can.

[EZ]

Common since has alot to do with your safety and others.

The end of last summer I had a call for one 30 inch oak 16 ft long. When we got there the guy said it was back in that hay field. We drove back and there it was on a hill, not real steep. Told wife that this will be easy, being I burn up the winch and we were using a hand crank, I told her that I'll just pull on the down side of the log and it will be easyer to crank it up. Well it was pretty easy to crank but when the log hit the bunks it started to roll by it's self. When it hit the winch post it stop and the mill frame started to tip over. The frame was up so high on the back side that it was kinda balancing it's self for a few seconds and fell back on its legs. That was so close to rolling over I shook the rest of the day.
If I would have used my common since that day I would have rolled the log down the hill to a flat spot.
EZ

[Jeff]

Maybe some examples from some of you on how you may have been hurt by or by working around your saws would give a greater insight on what to watch out for.

[Bibbyman]

Jeff,
 
I've tried to think of some but,  knock on wood,  in the ten years we've been sawing we've not had any accidents that would be classified as serious.  Most are slight cuts from handling blades (should wear leather gloves but I almost never do),  black finger nail from stacking lumber,  or a skinned shin from running into the hitch, loading arm or chain tensioned bolt that sticks out past the end of the frame.

All the close calls have involved falling weight.  Logs are heavy. A pallet load of lumber is heavy.  Even falling a few inches can smash a hand or a foot.  I get super nervous when strangers get too close to our log stacks.  We try to watch when loading a log on the deck that there is nobody on either side that maybe struck with it if it should fall off the back or roll back off the bed.  We try to keep customers away when we unload logs or load lumber.  We try to keep them from helping – especially when we are using the loader.

I've come close to turning the tractor over more than a couple of times.  A farm tractor and loader is just not the best thing to handle logs.  Many are too light and the center of gravity is too high.  The tractor and loader may be able to lift the log but the weight of the log is hanging way out in front and to the left and right.   Get on a slope and run one side up on a rock or chunk and the tractor will sway from the weight being out too far.  Start to drop the loading arms to lower the center of gravity and when the loading arms stop,  the weight is multiplied many times over.  Again a weight thing.

Otherwise, a well shielded mill with all the guards left on,  and given the same respect you'd give a riding lawn mower,  chainsaw,  or working with any other piece of equipment and you should be reasonably safe.  

Oh yea,  eye protection,  hearing protection,  leather gloves and steel toed boots will give a lot of protection from most minor injuries.


Here is a locally built mill that I feel has inadequate blade shielding.  About half of the blade is exposed.  We were cautioned to not stand inline with the sawhead.  I think he probably knew why. A broken blade could shoot out at over 3,000 fpm could do a lot of damage.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Since I broke the leg, right near the mill, I guess the best advice is "KEEP THE AREA AROUND THE MILL NEAT AND CLEANED UP".  There is NO room for stumbling over chunks and cant hooks and anything else that can be picked up. : :

[Tom]

I agree with the "keep it clean". At least "neat".   It's easy to let a slab pile get out of hand.  One cross-wise slab makes the whole thing unstable ....and takes up room too.

Logs stacked one upon the other are convenient at the ramp but children should not be allowed to climb on them.  I  have a sawyer friend who lost his 12 year-old grandson to a log slipping in a pile.  He had just told the boy not to get on the pile.  Make sure that stacked logs are handled from the end or from behind and never from downhill.

It is safer if only one person pulls boards or slabs too.  It is awful tempting for a second person to step in front of, or behind, the bandblade to help off-bear a board. He could fall backwards into the blade but there is a  more common injury. One person will move the board a direction that the other isn't expecting and the second person can lose a finger or hand.  Having a hand trapped between a board or slab and the mill is a dangerous and hurtful thing.  A couple of months ago, even with warning, I had a customer who was determined to do this.  He not only slowed my sawing up, because he was stepping into an area that prohibited my moving the saw head, but he had a slab drop on his hand and it crushed his little finger and broke the ring finger.  

If a slab or board is too large for one person to remove from the mill then you need to be sawing smaller stuff.  Sometimes a slab may be too heavy but special care should be taken and everyone should be aware of the possibility of injury.  This is where that tool, the hookaroon, is handy.

Bandmills are relatively safe.  Their blades should be encased in metal shields and that part of the blade that isn't will usually be inside of a log.

Climbing on a mill while doing maintenance is dangerous too. One should keep a board handy to stand on if he must get up onto the log bed.

Other injury points are lifting injuries.  They can happen while setting the mill up or moving logs.  Learn to lift properly.

Be aware of repetitivness.  It's not just office people that suffer from carpal tunnel or worn joints.

Wear substantial boots.  Don't wait for them to get "worn out".  Boots should support your foot and ankle to keep you on your feet. They can't if you wear over-run shoes or boots and let the soles get worn crooked.

Don't wear loose clothing that will get caught in moving parts.

Be aware of Mother Nature.  Sunburn and frostbite is as much of an injury as a broken leg.

[Percy]

All great advice. Id just like to re-enforce the eye protection aspect of things. I got a rule, if the mill or edger is running, no one goes within 30 ft without eye protection. Sometimes I think my stuff is intentionally trying to blind me. I get hit in the face( I wear a full face protector) at least once a week and sometimes 5 times a day(WM debarkers fling the crap away from me  but the dern richochets(SP) get me every time ;D)

[Stump Jumper]

I ride my woodmizer and the debarker throws things wright at me   so i use a face shield

[Swede]

I tell people ONE time where to stay and not to stay. Next time I stop the engie and just look  >:( at them. Mostly they understand a qiet engine, if they don´t I tell them in terms You don´t want to know.
I always stop the blade when I or anyone else is in front or in line of it.

Who knows a safe way to control the sawdust temperature ?

Swede.

[woodmills1]

Speaking of boots, anyone else into redwings?

[Larry]

Used to wear them all the time.  When I retired I tried some Herman surviors.  Cheaper and so far they seem to be just as good as redwings.

[steveo_1]

What about hearing protection?One Saturday my brother and I ran the mill all day without any, after we finished we kept hearing a ringing that we couldnt find where it was coming from.Do any of u guys wear ear plugs or muffs?

[Steve]

I can't stand to run mine (MD) without ear plugs.

[Norm]

Our mill runs on electricity so I don't wear hearing protection just eye protection. I've gotten used to hearing what the mill is doing so if any noise doesn't sound right I know I'm doing something wrong. My hearing has really gone downhill the last 10 years. Too many rock concerts and shooting without using ear protection. Gave up the concerts years ago and use it for shooting now, too late thou.