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Fire prevention is cheap compared to the cost of your equipment.

The best fire prevention is a clean shop and good wiring.

Sawdust flies through the air then settles down in hard to find places that do not get cleaned up and creates a fire hazard. Your first investment should be a dust collection system connected to your table saw, miter saw, and anything else that creates sawdust. The dust collection system should be grounded with a copper wire running through the inside of the plastic tube to your saw. Sawdust traveling through the tube causes static electricity, which can start a fire in the tube.

Other ways that fires start in wood shops are usually caused by sparks and bad wiring. If the motor on your table saw shorts out, for example, and throws a few sparks that land in sawdust, you have a fire starter. Same is true for bad wiring in the shop.

A hazard that people often overlook is spontaneous combustion caused by rags soaked with turpentine or other flammable solvents. Always put them in a tightly closed container.

Remember to post a couple of no smoking signs around the shop to remind friends who stop by not to smoke in the shop. A hot ash in the saw dust could mean new equipment and maybe new friends.

With a nice clean shop, and everything in good working condition, there still is a chance of a potential fire. To make sure no fire that might get started gets out of control you need the right fire extinguishers on hand. If you do not have fire extinguishers, you should invest in them as soon as possible. The best fire extinguishers for a wood shop are ones with a rating of 2A10B-C.

Depending on the size of you shop, you should have an extinguisher every 25 feet of walking space. They should be mounted near doors in your shop. Keep all the extinguishers charged and up to date. Dead extinguishers are as good as not having any extinguishers at all.

For more great woodworking tips, plans, magazines, and tools, go to http://www.leestoolbench.com

Copyright by Lee Bowman