Alexandra - Wavelength Paddling Magazine

ters, allowing the fullest protection possible
and quick-change ability to one or the
other. For sanding epoxy I always wear
the full respirator which seals around my
face.
Hearing loss is cumulative. Maybe you
don’t care to hear your grandchildren later
in life, but hearing protection does have
immediate benefits. Ripping strips on a
saw or running router bits, etc, can be both
an annoying and an ear-exhausting experience.
Quality earmuffs or even cheap
foam earplugs lower exposure thresholds—while
allowing greater relaxation
and lower anxiety.
CORRECT TOOLS & TECHNIQUE
In the past, I’ve received some N-A-S-
T-Y cuts from simple handsaws on the
push-stroke. I now much prefer the highly
rated Japanese saws, which cut on the
pull-stroke.
Boat building presents ample opportunity
for the use of a router. Best described
a motor with handholds, with a decorative
or functional cutter-choice mounted
on the end-shaft, they have revolutionized
the home workshop. Mortise slots are easily
done on Baidarka gunwales using a
small made-up jig to reference the router.
While a portable router is an effective freehand
device, I much prefer to bring the
work piece to the router, rather than bring
2001 FEBRUARY • MARCH WaveLength
the router to the work piece. You don’t
need an expensive shaper table either. A
router can be mounted upside-down in a
homemade router table using a baseplate.
Add a fence and an outboard switch, and
you have a highly effective, inexpensive,
and safe shaping device. This really is the
safest and most efficient way to make
those 15-foot long dowel stringers or coveand-bead
those hundreds of feet of cedar
stripping.
Normally you always feed wood
against the rotation of a cutter or blade.
You should feel a steady resistance as you
move the wood along. The average tipspeed
on a tablesaw blade is close to 120
mph. Moving the work piece in the same
direction as the blade rotation, or backing
up the piece during a cut, is to invite disaster.
Push the piece past the danger area,
and always wait until the blade stops
moving before retrieval. I’ve found that a
splitter mounted just behind the blade is
the only fool-proof way of preventing
kickbacks where the work piece climbs the
back of the blade and throws it toward the
operator.
For long cuts on stationary power equipment,
be sure to provide proper in-feed and
out-feed support. I wax and buff metal surfaces
with paraffin wax to make sure wood
slides well, and use roller-stands and/or an
out-feed table. For particularly long pieces
of wood, create an extended fence. And
don’t raise blades any higher than necessary
to complete a cut.
CONCLUSION
I’ve only briefly touched on a few of the
issues, but most shop accidents are preventable.
Safety is up to you. Knowing what to
do is as important as knowing what not to
do. Good paddling is about knowing and
respecting the dangers. So is shop safety.
Respect the tools and respect yourself. That
is the end of my sermon. ❏
Doug Lloyd is a longtime paddler and
woodworker from Victoria. He is donating
his author’s fee from this article to the
Georgia Strait Alliance. ©
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