My new router (well, it's new compared to the elderly Elu I have) has no latch on the switch.
Is this some sort of safety thing? The result is I end up using velcro or rubber bands or cable ties to hold it on when it's in the router table, which is far from safe.
I suspect in the end I'm going to take it apart and fit a rocker switch.
Any other examples of "safety" making things worse?
Yup, nanny knows best... (and has never tried to route a circle handheld!)
Well, the standard solution offered by most router makers amounts to the same thing anyway these days.
The right way to do it is with a NVR switch. Axminster do a nice plug in one that would be ideal for this situation:
The message from John Rumm contains these words:
Oh, I can do all that, but I still have to hold the router's switch in, NVR swtich or not.
On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 12:44:37 +0100, Guy King wrote (in article ):
Which one is it?
Yes. It's a result of the Machinery Directive.
For hand held routers it makes some level of sense.
The result is I end up using velcro
When I used to use a router table (I use a router spindle in the spindle moulder now), I fitted a router into the router table as a permanent fixing. This was one obtained in the U.S. which was a twistable base rather than a plunge arrangement. Plunge ones are difficult to use in a router table unless you have some kind of additional height adjuster.
This one has a toggle switch, since the Americans don't have the same safety regulations. It was used with an NVR switch, which is appropriate for the application.
Increasingly hand held power tools have or will have switches without a latch arrangement.
It depends on whether it's less convenient to use or actually makes the product unusable.
Many of the newer requirements, especially in respect of machines stopping within 10 seconds or less, do make sense.
It becomes a problem when an operation becomes impossible and people resort to bodges to make what would otherwise be a fairly safe operation unsafe or when the extra safety devices lull them into a sense of false security until they are bitten.
The message from Guy King contains these words:
And another thing. I have a B&Q "Performance" dust vacuum. Very handy, it's much smaller than a full sized dedicated workshop dust extration system - about the size of a big shoebox. Has a power takeoff so you can plug your power tool in and it'll start automatically. Great. It has a run-on delay of about six seconds at the end to get the last of the dust out. Great. It also has a delay at the start of about six seconds. Not so great. It appears to be a "feature". Hmmm. I'm tempted to take it apart and defeat the feature.
The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
A homebase own-brand 1/2" chuck "Power-Pro" thing. Works well enough, though the quality of the accessories isn't good. The fence is a pisspoor thing of pressed steel. I bought it anyway 'cos the fence of the old Elu fits nicely.
The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
I sometimes think regulations are being used as a substitute for good workshop practice and common sense. While I'm all in favour of, for example, guards on grinding wheels NVR startes where appropriate, those bloody useless flip-down guards you get on pillar drills are a right pain in the arse. Even well designed ones are a menace and rarely if ever get used.
On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 16:24:49 +0100, Guy King wrote (in article ):
I agree with you on that one. I am not sure that they achieve anything if one does the obvious and wears protective glasses.
The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
I reckon goggles, earmuffs and a good set of gloves, combined with some common sense and a willingness to slow down a bit will take care of most hazards. Add dust extraction/mask as appropriate.
Large releasable cable tie...
The message from John Rumm contains these words:
Exactly what I used, but the knob the switch is on is rounded and not easy to get the tie to stay on.
Trend do a switch lock for the T9, not sure if that would fit yours:
The message from John Rumm contains these words:
No, it won't. I think I'll have to brave the deadheads at Maplin and wander in looking for a switch.
Hi,
Velcro tie and some inner tube rubber should doit.
cheers, Pete.
Hi,
Velcro tie and some inner tube rubber should doit.
Just to add...
Instead of some inner tube rubber a bit of velcro could be securely glued to the switch, and this would lock onto the back of the velcro tie. (velcro is v. strong in shear)
cheers, Pete.
The message from Pete C contains these words:
Not very reliably. The knob that the switch is in is bulbous so ties and things tend to slip off the back.
Anyway, it's got a rocker switch now.
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