Spindle moulder safety

[heimlaga]

I am considering if there is some safety update I could do in the spindle moulder of my combination machine. Before you tell me I want to point out that the "scrap it and buy a new CE approved machine" route is completely out of question. I have discussed the matter with both safety inspectors and the insurance company and convinced them to accept home made guards.

So.....are there still any improvements I could do to this:

I have already made the hinged top guard and rebuilt the brake and added a dust hood on the back. There are also a pair of hold down springs that fit into the holes at the top of the fences.

 

[RogerBoyle]

Power feed

 

[custard]

That looks like a good job, and should certainly help with straight cuts along the grain of the wood (for example rebating or moulding).

If you plan on using your spindle moulder for curved cuts or for end grain cuts (for example tenoning), then you'll need to do some more. I suggest you download the Aigner catalogue which has many illustrations of useful approaches to guarding for different spindle moulder operations, even if you don't use the Aigner system (it's unfortunately very expensive) there's still some good ideas of the type of guarding to aim for.

http://www.martin-usa.com/cms/_main/aigner/

If you can afford a power feed it's a great option and extremely useful for spindle moulding, it dramatically improves both quality and safety.

 

[custard]

One other thought, can you attach a false plywood fence (at least 18mm thick) to your existing fence? You need something that full length and that you can cut through with the cutter. That can be a real help with many spindle moulding processes and improves safety by reducing the amount of cutter exposed and giving a "zero clearance" which also improves safety. The key things are can you attach the false fence and can you safely move the false fence back into the spinning cutter?

 

[heimlaga]

Most Aigner guards seem fairly easy to make from wood and iron. The front pressure rollers attached to the front rail seem lika a fairly good idea for thin stock. A few false fences with different size appertures in them would also make sence and be easy to make and fasten with screws in threaded holes in the cast iron fances.
Finding a secondhand feedwork should not be too difficult but I am not sure whether there is anywhere to fasten the pedestal. I cannot bolt it on top of the table and there is a lot of belts and pulleys and dust collection parts on the back of the machine. I have to think about it.

I do not expect to do much curved work and I already have a fairly safe tennoning setup: