[Tom Line]

I've had to correct students numerous times about the dangers of tools. The most common issues I see:

1. Girls (more rarely boys) with long hair that is not restrained. Or jewlery. There's a reason most shop folks don't wear it.

2. People using gloves. Good Lord, but I hope FIRST stops pushing gloves. They are a HORRIBLE idea around any tool that spins - dremel, drill, drill press, lathe, etc.

3. The usual safety glasses

4. People trying to hold on to parts on the drill press rather than using a vice

5. People using the bench grinder incorrectly (resting parts on the backstop and placing their fingers in the way of the pinch).

It's seriously enough to make me fight any inclusion of a serious machine-shop style tool in with the general build group. They need to be seperate and apart. They don't go along well with horseplay, and a small bump in a crowded space can spell disaster.

Right now we do pretty well with a drill press, grinder, vise, arbor press, drill, and saws-all in our build facility. Our mill facilities are at a mentor's house where we can tightly supervise who goes there (just a couple at once) and how it is used. Having big machine tools within reach of 30 kids is a disaster waiting to happen. The mill is new (to us) this year and has been a wonderful addition. We got it for $500US because it had a burnt out motor and then one of our more industrious mentors replaced the motor and did rehab work on it.