The theme of the December meeting of the Nova Woodturner’s Guild was lathe and woodturning safety.

Ken Parsons, an experienced woodworker and wood turner who has been practicing his craft for over forty years, was the guest speaker. An expert in woodworking and cabinet making Ken also does custom production work in both spindle and face plate turning. He has learned a lot about safety in woodturning, often the hard way… as most of us do, unfortunately.

Ken covered a wide range of issues from toxicity in wood to proper clothing and various safety guidelines like:

1. Always wear a facemask when turning.
2. Keep the guards on your grinder.
3. Always use a dustmask when sanding.
4. Stand to the side when starting your lathe.
5. Ensure tightening tools are removed when starting your lathe.
6. Blow sawdust out of equipment, electrical outlets and heaters

This was a general talk that served as a reminder of the importance of safety in the workshop, something that we can never get enough of.

Back to the shop…