Gary A. Shaw Box 4520, Milton FL 32572-4520
Safety Comes First
Hobby Knife Precautions
To get back into the building swing after a long sabbatical, I agreed to assist a friend with the construction of a nice .60-size airplane. I was looking forward to the project.
When I received the kit, I set out to put things in order in the shop: building board on the workbench, glues, sanders, pins, X-Acto™ blades, etc., on top. Satisfied that all was in place, I grabbed a cup of coffee and returned to the garage to spread the plans on the board for review.
When I sat down on a shop stool, I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the board. Almost immediately, the board tilted up and slapped me in the forehead, dumping everything on top into my lap.
I was tempted to laugh at myself for being so stupid, but my attention was focused on the nagging pain I felt on top of my leg. Looking down, I noted a small hole in my jeans and a few drops of blood from a small cut where an X-Acto™ blade had slid off the board. Ouch!
Getting cut by an X-Acto™ blade reminds me of what you feel when you get cut by paper or glass — no initial pain until the body recognizes the wound, then wow!
Although my cut was minor, many in our hobby receive cuts each year that are much worse. In the not-so-lucky category is Paul Neves:
"Used properly and carefully, the hobby knife is an excellent tool for cutting, carving, and shaping balsa. Used improperly or carelessly, it will cut or pierce anything that happens to be in its way. I speak from experience.
"While working on a model late one January night in 1994, I was attempting to chip excess epoxy from some nylon aileron hinges. With the wing in one hand and the hobby knife in the other, I applied a lot of pressure on the work, and guess what? The blade slipped! Operator error!
"When the knife slipped, it transformed itself from a great tool to an unfriendly scalpel. It was now moving at great speed and reckless abandon toward my other hand. No matter how fast your reaction time is, this flying object will only stop after it hits something.
"Unfortunately, it didn't hit the wing. It picked a spot just below my left thumb and opened a one-inch-long very deep cut. I'm not into self-mutilation, but I thought, 'Wow! It doesn't hurt much!' Then I realized that my thumb was numb. I looked into the gaping hole and saw severed nerves.
"In the operating room, the doctor used a real scalpel to open the wound even further in order to repair the severed nerves, along with the nicked tendon. Fortunately, the tendon that controls my thumb was only nicked, not severed.
"Nerves take a long time to regenerate. As I write this in August of 1998, I still have a numb thumb, although it is slowly regaining some feeling. This episode also has lightened my wallet to the tune of about $5,000. It was not just a dumb mistake, but a costly one as well. I have a constant, everyday reminder in the form of a numb thumb, not to do it again."
What did I learn that I would like to pass along to my fellow modelers? Always cut away from your body. Let the knife do the work. Don't use a lot of pressure. Applying a lot of pressure will cause the blade to slip or break, and broken blades will cut also. Care will keep your hobby knife from becoming a scalpel.
P.S. I could have bought a lot of nifty airplanes for $5,000.
Paul's story made me think of a few ways I could have avoided my accident. The solution was to secure the building board to the workbench with wood screws and apply Velcro™ to the knife handle and building board. I put a long piece of male Velcro™ across the top of the building board and a small piece of female Velcro™ on the blade handle. Now when I lean on the board, it stays put and I know where the blades are. They don't roll off!
Battery Charging Considerations
Although I've been fortunate through the years to have had only a few battery issues, others have not been so lucky. In previous columns I've discussed numerous battery issues, including hot pockets from glow starters, field boxes burning down airplanes, crashes in flames, etc. — all because of short circuits, which cause rapid discharges, heat, and fire.
While scanning the T.C.R.C.S. Safety Web page (address available using Yahoo!), I noted a story regarding a battery incident with an R/C boat that occurred while it was being charged. The story made me think about how I would handle a similar situation.
Frank Chase, editor of the Sierra Signals, publication of the High Sierra R/C Club, Carson City, Nevada, provided the following via the T.C.R.C.S. Web page:
"Fred and I participated in the Rudin Farm 'Farm Days' event again this year. We did the normal show-and-tell for those who were interested in RC. For us, this was also a good excuse to share some time with our friends from the 'Susquenango' R/C Boat Club. They are a fine bunch of folks. Their kinship and hospitality were dearly enjoyed.
"One of the boaters nearly had a disaster due to a malfunction with his brand new Ni-Cd charger. We were alerted to the problem by urgent calls of, 'There's smoke coming out of the camper.' After rushing to the camper, we found that the charger was on the verge of bursting into flames. Quick thinking by the camper owner and a little luck saved the day. I shudder to think about the outcome of this event had no one noticed the smoke. The charger, a name-brand charger, had begun to melt from the heat. Curiously, the battery pack that had been on the charger was not even warm.
"Charging Ni-Cds is a fairly safe and simple operation. Unfortunately, it is not completely free of hazards. We have all, I'm sure, heard of, read of, or seen events where something has gone wrong during the charging process. Yet, most of us, myself included, all too often take the charging of our batteries for granted. We fret more over things, albeit important things, like 'when were they charged last? What is their capacity for storage and discharge? Polarity reversal, memory, connections and mounting?'
"Let's take a few minutes to consider ways to reduce the hazards of charging."
To lessen the possibility of losing our equipment and property to fire, there are some simple things that we can do. The first, and often most difficult, is to monitor the charging operation. I'm not suggesting that we should create a watched-not-act, but I am saying that it is not a good idea to "slap those suckers on the charger and head down the road." Remaining close enough to occasionally check on them or respond to a problem is the prudent course.
It is a good idea to establish a designated charging area that is both removed from combustibles such as wooden walls, curtains, sofas, and explosive vapors. This area should also facilitate easy monitoring of the operation. Establishing the area over a bare concrete floor would be a good move.
Plugging our charger(s) into one of those outlet strips with a built-in circuit breaker will lessen the chance of fire by preventing thermal runaway. A smoke detector near the area will lessen our monitoring chores by allowing us to do other things while someone keeps an ear tuned for the smoke detector. "Yes, dear, I can wax your car again if you can listen for the smoke detector."
Lastly, should all of these precautions fail, it might be smart to have a dry chemical fire extinguisher located in a convenient spot several feet from our charging stations. It is important to remember that should you have a fire at your charger, it is an electrical fire. Don't start grabbing things like wires with your uninsulated hand. Use something like a long-shanked screwdriver with an insulated handle to break connections. Never use water or liquid fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Don't panic. Use your head.
Thoughts to Ponder
- If you use a cord to secure your model while you start it, make sure that you take up all the slack, or the model will jump forward when it starts.
- Let the person assisting you know if you plan on advancing the throttle. If the person is caught off guard, the power of the model might cause him or her to fall forward and release the airplane.
- Never sit in front of a running, unsecured model. A glitch will have it in your lap, and you probably can't move fast enough to get out of the way.
- Never put an uncovered glow driver in your pocket. If the unexposed head comes in contact with anything metal, you'll be the star attraction as you try to shed your clothing.
- Before flying, be sure your transmitter antenna is extended; many airplanes have been seen leaving the field because of no signal after takeoff.
- Get the pin for your frequency when you intend to fly. Trying to say you're sorry for shooting someone down is never the best way to start a friendship.
That's all for this month!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
