Woodturning Tool Safety
Pastime or professional activities that require specific skills and knowledge of skilled work are what describes crafts work which are quite many including woodturning, metalwork, glasswork among many others. Wood turning uses a tool referred to as a lathe that is able to rotate a workpiece about the axis of rotation hence makes objects that are symmetrical. The lathe tool performs quite a number of functions such as cutting, knurling, drilling, sanding, facing, deformation and turning therefore coming up with an object that is similar on either side of the axis of rotation. The end products are usually symmetrical and may include tool handles, knobs, lamps, cylindrical boxes, needle cases, legs, spindles and pegs for furniture, spinning tops, baseball bats among many others.
Other than a wood lathe, there other tools used in woodturning which includes spindle roughing gouge, skew chisel, parting tool, spindle gouge, bowl gouge, French curve bowl scraper and others. These tools use different materials such as steel and carbon steel, and the edge can maintain sharpness depending on the type of high-speed steel that has been used. Rough and round shaping of a spindle is usually done by a spindle roughing gouge. The main purpose of a spindle roughing gouge in woodturning is roughly shaping a spindle in a rounded shape. During woodturning, creating details on a spindle which includes adding beads and coves is done by a spindle gouge. Turning of the inside and outside of a vessel or a bowl during woodturning is done by a bowl gouge. Making the spindles smooth, cutting beads and they also add some details on the spindle is done by a skew chisel during woodturning. Parting tools usually work with the lathe together so as to help in creating large and small diameter sections. There are other tools used to cut out deep sections when making steep bowls, hollow vessels and also vases and also others help to drill part way holes or holes all the way through a wooden item. Woodturning tools are required to be frequently sharpened using powered sharpening wheels and abrasives so as a clean cut can be maintained since wood passes through them at a great speed.
Having a protective working gear when working with woodturning tools is important to enhance a person safety thus accidents are avoided. These safety gears that should always be used includes eye and head protective gear to prevent debris and dust from getting into the eyes, respiratory equipment such as nose mask to prevent one from breathing dust being produced and also era protection to avoid damaging years when there is excessive noise. Other protective gear should protect the feet and also hand and skin and it is advisable not to use gloves since they are easily tangled by rotating machines causing accidents.