Upping the power tool ante

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Upping the power tool ante
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Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16000

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 21 8:47 am Post subject:

I don't know what yours are like Slim, but the one we have has the advantage that when you release the handle it stops almost instantly. We always wear safety trousers and helmet when using a chainsaw anyway. I don't use any chainsaw as I am frightened of them, rather than wary, which everyone should be.

Generally I hate power tools but see that they make life an awful lot easier and enable us to work more efficiently. We started by cutting firewood with a chainsaw and hand splitting with an axe. At most, the three of us could manage 2 loads a day, both in time and energy. Now we can easily do 3 and are only really limited by delivery time from doing more, even though we are 20 years older.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 21 12:07 pm Post subject:

my chainsaw is beasty, so is the c3 ppe, i am probably more likely to die of heatstroke than hypo systemic shock

re dangeroos power tools hand held circular saw gets high votes from site and A and E chums from st thomas's who referred to them as bank holiday gelding tongs

i am very careful slicing boards

9" or 12 " industrial leccy angle grinders are a bit frisky and skittery unless handled with a lot of care, the gyroscope twist is interesting with some,
the better modern ones have electronic slow start which helps, unless you move with it running such as swerving a lump you just sliced off

anything that cuts wood will be good at cutting people, some behave better than others

screw tip auger bits are surprisingly nasty

joinery workshop kit is cat 4 careful, the more industrial the safer it is as a rough rule, all can mangle big style

etc, we have lasted this long, why we have should be shared

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 21 10:27 pm Post subject:

The main point of battery tools, imho, is when you want to work where there is no power supply, which is most of my place.
I'm a dewalt woman, when it comes to drill and jigsaw. True they are heavier and you have to remember to charge in advance, but I can carry to outbuildings with no power and use.

Similarly my garden is too long for extensions leads, and we use Bosch battery operated lawnmower and strimmer. Battery power has comes a long way.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6613
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Nov 25, 21 11:31 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Machine Compatibility

Many chaps are not rated to protect against corded or cordless electric chainsaws. The Kevlar and Tek warp fibers in chainsaw chaps will break apart and clog the chain in the event of an accident, instantly bringing the chain to a halt by stopping the engine or disengaging the clutch. This will not work with electric-powered chainsaws because they use an electric motor instead of a gas-powered engine and do not use a clutch to engage the chain. Manufacturers of chainsaw chaps will not certify their products for use with electric chainsaws.

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-chainsaw-chaps/

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 7:20 am Post subject:

that makes sense, oh well, the full Brazilian seems the way forward

flip flops, shorts and a torn football shirt seem to work with huge bars on beasty logging saws, so that will probably do ppe for a domestic leccy one

i spose chain mail or something to bounce the teeth away rather than trying to tangle them in kevlar is needed for these leccy ones

it would be safe but if it was padded for comfort and strong enough to work mail would give rather cumbersome ppe and crossing the stream to get to the next tree might get a bit medieval rout

climbing in chain mail never seems to feature in tales of knightly heroics, plenty of drownings and heat stroke though

i recon the sort of chain mail that is used by speed butchers would repel most chain blades, fitting enough of that to chainsaw ppe requirements and still being able to move and work might need some thought from the armourers

tangentially i wonder if non-newtonian gels would stop a leccy chainsaw from dismantling the operator, the harder it pushes the more solid they get etc

well spotted mr slim, this is a big issue for wood cutters, especially ones who like to trust safety equipment to at least help a bit when they are careless or unlucky, hint most folk will be careless or unlucky at some point

it would be interesting to find out what a leccy one says if it is suddenly introduced to a plastic hat with a mesh visor
from what you tell us i suspect it might be rather scary, petrol ones bounce off or get jammed with mesh and hat bits, these ones might chew in like a lamprey

thinking of bouncing the teeth off rather than tangling the saw, modern composites are quite strong and can be made into any shape

making solid skin, with articulation, ppe/armour to fit well enough to be practical is never going to be cheap
my size out of 3 sizes of thick trousers can be a reasonable price, a bespoke shell traditionally costs an estate's income for a few years

there will be a solution, but it is a classic example of "arms race", when the "weapon" changes the "armour" needs to change as well

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16000

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 8:35 am Post subject:
I can't find anything else about it, but our Health and Safety Executive don't have anything about it, and they are very hot on that sort of thing.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 9:38 am Post subject:
hse has been gutted they have problems with getting the basic stuff done, new potential safety issues are off the agenda until it hurts or kills enough folk for it to be noticed and usually far more are harmed before "it is being sorted" sorted takes longer

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6613
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 11:19 am Post subject:

The trouble with relying on the fact that they stop spinning more rapidly than gas powered after you disengage the trigger is that you may already be well into flesh by the time you've managed to disengage the trigger.

I've not heard the same issue mentioned regarding helmet/face shield. I think that kind of kickback injury is maybe easier to deflect with something to bounce off of it, versus cutting down, but that's just an idle guess.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 1:20 pm Post subject:

if that idle guess is correct, which seems reasonable, body ppe might be fairly plausible using bounce off and/or deflect

most ballistic and kinetic challenges can be mitigated with good ppe, tis a matter of understanding the problems and trying solutions until something works

for instance my chum re-created arch duke ferdinand's cardboard and silk body armour, tested it with the same sort of weapon and concluded if the assassin had been a better shot(centre of body mass) the duke would have been bruised rather than neck shot and the match to light ww1

if a light mesh and plastic hat seem to be ok, articulated plates for legs or even climbing full body kit might be possible to work in and safe ish

it has to be easy to work in, affordable in the context of leccy chainsaws which is a niche market at the mo, and do what it said on the tin to mitigate slips and errors

most folk with ice saws have little or no ppe, see the full Brazilian

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6613
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 1:53 pm Post subject:
A downcut with your body weight on top of it is very different than a kickback with the machine pivoting at your hands. Also bar length may play a role in changing the dynamics of a kickback.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 21 3:24 pm Post subject:
if i understand this, chewing in is the problem between ice and leccy behaviour, ice jams on fluff and leccy keeps chewing prevent the chain grabbing owt soft or fluffy with a "carapace" seems worth a try

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16000

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 21 9:07 am Post subject:

At present in the UK I don't think electric chainsaws are that large. They are often used for tree surgery as they are lighter, and particularly in towns and cities, far quieter. I believe in London where tree surgery of street trees in particular is done at night or silly o'clock, petrol chainsaws aren't allowed. We use ours for light tree work, but not large enough for felling anything other than small trees, so use petrol chainsaw for that.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 21 10:32 am Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

If I needed a large number of tools and a decent battery I'd look at one of those 'battery' generator things.

On that note this popped into my inbox as they say.

£3000 is a bit out of reach but if they come down in price a tad it would solve quite a few problems such as powering a remote building, having a back up generator for the inevitable power cuts and being able to use all my existing corded tools rather than throwing them away.

https://www.festool.co.uk/products/mobile-power-supply/sys-powerstation/205722---sys-pst-1500-li-hp-gb240#Overview

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Dec 04, 21 2:16 pm Post subject:
that is a similar capacity to two of our bike batteries with a variety of outputs. probably a fair price, gulp. a day of powering industrial strength tools is still quite a challenge for a battery pack

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 21 8:16 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

if i understand this, chewing in is the problem between ice and leccy behaviour, ice jams on fluff and leccy keeps chewing

prevent the chain grabbing owt soft or fluffy with a "carapace" seems worth a try

creature feature

this sort of thing seems to work for the big fishy folk

not far from roman lorica segmentata in style

that might be ideal for either sort of chainsaw and could be practical to wear

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