Update #16

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Perhaps the solution to the problem is for FIRST to establish (or allow one team to establish) a "Simple Drilling and cutting station" separate from the machine shop, so they are not loaded down with other duties. Three rules
1. Mark points to be drilled and Mark size
2. Mark cut lines
3. Wait in line

just thinking out loud

Brilliant!

I see no reason that a team should have to venture down to the machine shop just to use a band saw or a drill press to cut a single piece of material, and nor would I want to lose a "quick and easy" approach to cutting a simple piece of aluminum angle or Lexan if needed.

A special "drill press and band saw" area at each regional (maybe the size of two pits?) with one of each machine in there, and both being overseen by a judge/volunteer, would be a much better solution from FIRST rather than simply outright banning them.

If they really want to be safe, they can even 'enclose' the area with cloth sides to prevent any bits or chips from flying anywhere*, much like they do with mechanical voting booths, but with much more space around the tools.

I really don't want to see FIRST regress to the point of practically having to wrap everything in bubble wrap to pacify concerns over safety. If I know what I am doing, pay careful attention to what I am doing, and have respect for the tools that I use, then I shouldn't ever get hurt. No matter what injury ever occurs, a lack of one of these is always to blame, unless it's just some freak accident. Then again, in a freak accident a piece of space junk reentering the atmosphere could crash into my house tomorrow...

* Although in all the years I've used drill presses at school, robotics, and in my own basement, I have never seen chips fly more than two or three feet from a drill press. The only time 'shrapnel' becomes in issue is when someone who does not know how to use a drill press tries to drill through a small piece of material without clamping it down in a drill-press vice, and the drill bit 'sticks' in it and the material is ripped out of their hands and begins spinning like crazy.