Power lockout for shop tools

[Nate Perkins]

Hello,

I've been lurking here for some time. The posts from the experienced wreckers here have been of great use to me -- thanks!

I'm a relatively new woodworker (about 1 year), and I have two small children ages 2 and 4. I worry a lot about keeping the monkeys out of my shop. My shop is in the 3rd bay of our garage, and the door is kept locked, tools are kept unplugged and cords knotted, blades down and/or detensioned, etc.

I've been looking for a way to lock out the power, but it's tricky because I don't have a dedicated circuit breaker.

I came across an interesting shop safety device that I thought might be of general interst. This is a small keylock device that engages over the male end of a standard 2 or 3 prong 110V plug ... it effectively locks out anyone who doesn't have the key from powering up the tool. The keylock is from a company called Roride in Santa Barbara, CA. I found them through McMaster-Carr for about $10 each (item 10715A19).

I have no affiliation with this company. I offer the information because I figure their might be other woodworkers with young kids, and this might be of use to them.

Cheers,

Nate Perkins Northern Colorado

[Gfretwell]

Another idea is to put twist lock plugs on your tools and make up a short adapter cord that you control. The easiest answer may still be to lock out the wall receptacles with a switch if you can get to an electrical choke point.

[Doug Miller]

In article , n [e-mail] (Nate Perkins) wrote: [snip]

The latest issue of Wood magazine has a reader tip that addresses the same issue, at a lower cost: put one of those miniature luggage padlocks through the hole that's in the tip of the prongs of many (most?) 110v plugs. The guy that sent this in said he got a handful of the locks, all keyed alike, so that he needs only one key for all the tools.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

[Ramsey]

That's a neat idea. When I was 5, I used to work in my dad's shop while he was at work.Of course, that was on a farm so it wasn't really unusual. kids gotta do something. The more I hear ya'll discuss this, the more I like a dedicated fuse box for the shop area.

[Lewis Dodd]

The simplist way.......

Tell the kids no and to stay out of the shop unless you are there!

After blistering their little butts a few times, my kids learned when I said something, I meant and enforced it, period.

Never had a problem.

Lewis

[tnfkajs]

Ahhhhhhhhhh. So you think!!! Two scenarios are very likely: (1) they disobey and creep in when you're at work (2) Bobby, the neighbor kid, comes in a either entices your child or sticks his own hand in the saw or doesn't know better and hits the switch when your child is in the wrong spot at the wrong time

Geesh - has it been that long since you were a kid that you've forgotten about all of the times you did something really stupid and against your Dad's advice?

You don't leave your Draino out in the open. You put the childproof tops on the medicine. You (perhaps) use gun locks.

But you don't go that extra mile with your power tools?