154 Machine Safeguarding: Basic

Miscellaneous Aids

Special hand tools may be used to place or remove stock, particularly from or into the point of operation of a machine. A typical use would be for reaching into the danger area of a press or press brake. The figure to the right below shows an assortment of tools for this purpose. Holding tools should not be used instead of other machine guards; they are merely a supplement to the protection that other guards provide.

A push stick or block, such as those in the figure below may be used when feeding stock into a saw blade. When it becomes necessary for hands to be in close proximity to the blade, the push stick or block may provide a few inches of safety and prevent a severe injury. The figure on the right, below, shows how the push stick works by fitting over the fence.

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