Just a warning for those of you who have Grizzly tools. I almost lost my fingers yesterday because the magnetic starter on my Grizzly 3 h.p. shaper decided to start the motor by itself.
I was using a large panel raising bit and shut the shaper off to flick a chip away from the cutterhead. Suddenly the shaper started itself and missed my hand by a fraction of an inch.
How did this happen?? After I quit shaking, I removed the cover from the magnetic starter enclosure and found that the entire starter mechanism had come loose from the back of the enclosure and the spring force of all of the wiring had forced it forward into the start switch button, which of course, started the shaper motor.
I found that the starter mechanism was GLUED, NOT SCREWED to the back of the enclosure with some type of cheap looking construction adhesive. The whole thing had simply popped off the back of the enclosure box.
It was a starter made by Shendian Electric. If any of you have this starter on your machines, I would look at how it is mounted to the back of the box. If you see construction adhesive oozing through where a screw should be, don’t use the machine until you attach it properly with SCREWS!
Replies
I took the end of my thumb off when my knee brushed a magnetic switch that had the on button standing proud of the shroud. Never trust a switch! Always unplug the machine no matter what the brand. I've seen a number of switches that had a mind of their own. Glad you didn't have to visit the ER.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I bought a Grizzly central vac -- good size one 220 volt etc -- running fine and all of sudden the motor is on but not vacume -- took it apart and the fan blade that creates the vacum came off the shaft -- it just was not properly mounted and torqued. Re-installed and it has worked well for 20+ yrs. Wrote Grizzly -- they could care less - said I'm supposed to take the machinery apart before using the first time to make sure it is safe -- I honestly do not know what to check -- I would not have clue as to what went wrong with a magnetic switch -- I would just throw it away and buy another one -- switches are something that I do not fool with and try to pull the cord before changeovers -- all of my switches are protected so I cannot bump it on.
So your DC has worked for 20+ years after you re-tightened the nut, right? How does an experience 20 years ago possibly relate to current Grizzly customer service, especially after all of the good experiences have been relayed in various threads here? I agree with you about changeovers and unplugging, though.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
How does an experience 20 years ago possibly relate to current Grizzly customer service, especially after all of the good experiences have been relayed in various threads here?
for all the "good experiences" that you talk about I can show you equally or more that are not good.
Your over in Knots, you see the negative feedback that they get, are you suggesting that all these people are wrong!
You do sound like you work for Grizzly!
Doug
You're warning us about Grizzly when you should be warning about Sheridan mag switches. Same switch I have seen on almost every similar tool in the last 5 years.
Large panel raising bit and hands don't go together- that should be a clue. Never try to clear the area around a cutterhead, especially on a shaper, with your hand. I don't care if you've been doing it that way for 500 years, use a stick or something else. Even on a router, especially when using agressive bits, don't feed them without a push stick or block. It doesn't take much for the bit to kick a piece of wood out of the way and nick a finger. (first hand experience)
highfish, I've got a huge shop full of every kind of tool you could imagine and I don't have a switch like this on any of them, including the few other Grizzly tools I've got. If these switches are everywhere as you claim, I hope the owners check the switch before someone gets hurt.
It's certainly good advice not to change knives, blades etc. with the power cord plugged in, but how many times does a person get near a blade to eyeball settings, measure to a fence etc.? All it takes is a kickback and somebody can get hurt.
By the way, do you work for Grizzly. You sound a little sensitive! I mentioned the Grizzly name because that's the machine the switch happened to be on. That would be a good clue on where to start looking if you own this type of machine.
Nope, I don't work for them, but again, they didn't make the switch. I'll look inside the enclosure on mine, but even if it is glued on, there are some awfully strong adhesives out there. You know there are cars and trucks with plastic body panels, right? You got it, they're glued on and they stay on.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Hey Bojangles
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Again WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Almost 40 years ago I put my fingers into a running planer and now the 3 main fingers on the right hand are all the same length . The middle one being a lot shorter than it should be. Since then I have been wary (read scared) of any machines that have a table like a table saw, router tables, planer etc etc and ONLY used radial arm saw, mitre saw and hand power tools because at least I knew where my right hand was.
Only just recently in the last few weeks I have joined a club that has all sorts of woodworking equipment and I finally built up the courage to use the really nice table saw. I couldn't believe why I had waited soooooo long to use a table saw because it was so versatile and I was switching blades to do all sorts of neat cuts. I never thought about the thing starting when my hands were down there in fact I was just commenting on the huge red cap you had to lift just to start it and hit it to shut it off.
I think I've regressed 40 years.
Thanks for the info. I beleieve that it was GRizzly that who opted to use the switch and is resposible. They of course would go after the switch manufacturer.
PS: what does a magnetic switch look like?
roger
Edited 12/11/2005 4:00 pm ET by roger g
Some folks on this board may try to file your incident under "operator error", but I'll bet Grizzly Tool's attorney would see things differently. Send them a written notice about the starter, and demand they replace their defective machine.
I'd guess most people buying this stuff from Grizzly don't have the benefit of years of experience and they may not know someone with missing digits. They might even think an on/off switch actually works as labeled. Yes, power tools are inherently dangerous, but crappy construction as you described needs to be pulled from the marketplace.