Woodgears.ca power feeder

[jasfrank]

Not to say how safe or unsafe this is, but those cordless drills sure have some real torque. People use them to power 8" holes through 2 feet of ice up here in the winter.

[cvillewood]

I agree with Phil - safety police party poopers.

I never would have thought to put together something like that. Mathias is very inventive.

[JGrout]

I agree with Phil - safety police party poopers.

I never would have thought to put together something like that. Mathias is very inventive.

It is fairly obvious that none of the supporters of this have ever seen the results of a board being shot out of a machine like an arrow by an improperly set up well designed power feeder 

Go ahead and build one but don't ever say you were not warned when it goes south

[Steve N]

First off if someone doesn't know woodgears, and has no idea what is being talked about here, allow me to link you to the video,
which actually shows the wizbang feeder in question.



The guy is Matthias Wandel, he could be reached at matthais   AT  woodgears   DOT   ca

Matthais may be brilliant, but he is also Cheap.......Sometimes making your own is a great idea, sometimes not so much, specifically in the safety department. This I believe is one of the times you would be much better off fixing it with $$$$$$$$$$. The price would be around 1100 bux delivered, it's a Grizzly G4181 power feeder. 1hp, and it gets the work done. So that when when the drill (toy) get's overwhelmed you don't stick your hand down there to help it out, to find your fingers in the blade. NOT having to have your hands near the cutters are why people use a "real power feeder" to move stock at the TS, BS, router table, shaper.





I'll have you note the 3 dissenters, beside myself are all seasoned woodworkers who make their living at woodworking, they all suggest a real power feeder. That alone should really speak volumes to those who think this drill trinket is a good idea. it is NOT. Joe and Russell both work every day woodworking as their trade. John is an engineer, trained to understand how something should work, he is also a seasoned woodworker. I am strictly from a safety point of view, but do have years in the shop, and it's a toy, trying to do a serious job. When the toy fails if you think it's all safe because of the trinket, and you put your hand in it, to "fix it" that is when parts start coming off. I've seen the guys like those who think, well hell yeah, that works..............when they showed up in the ER with a big blood soaked towel wrapped around what is left.

Call us any name you want to, fact is we are pointing out it's not a good idea, especially to an open audience who may not appreciate where the problems lie, we are just trying to be the voice of reason that hopefully will give a Noob pause to NOT continue on. Those of you who imagine that you can use this thing safely, happy trails.

[JDuke]

I really like wandel and his creativity to make tools rather than just spending a bunch of money to buy stuff.

I like the idea of having a power feeder on a router and don't think I would use a shaper for much of anything without one.

As a hobby woodworker, I can see the draw to spend a little money and creativity to build a power feed system.

I think if I was going to try to recreate his, I would try to make it work with at least 3 wheels and make sure they had some type of independent suspension on each one.

I couldn't find any video on his web sight yet specifically about the power feeder, but when it comes up I'll definitely watch it.

Duke

[Phil Thien]

I've given it some thought, and I pretty much disagree w/ everything that has been said questioning the safety of this idea.

ANYTHING that keeps fingers away from blades and operators away from stock, especially during long (repetitive) tasks, is a blessing.

His feeder doesn't preclude using a splitter or guard, he just never uses either.

Again, this was just a prototype.  But if I had to run hundreds of board feet w/ or w/o his feeder, I'd take the feeder.

There is really no other argument to be made that doesn't require silly assumptions.

[Stwood_]

Being in the business for quite a few years doing kitchen cabinets and staircases (now retired), I always liked making gadgets and jigs, but in the case of his drill powered feeder, I believe I would've just used a baby power feeder.
Reasonable in cost, easy to setup, and no time lost in making all those various gadgets he had to hold the drill.

[Phil Thien]

Being in the business for quite a few years doing kitchen cabinets and staircases (now retired), I always liked making gadgets and jigs, but in the case of his drill powered feeder, I believe I would've just used a baby power feeder.
Reasonable in cost, easy to setup, and no time lost in making all those various gadgets he had to hold the drill.

Oh absolutely, if you're in the business I think you can justify the expense.

A guy making his own molding once, or his own pickets once, maybe not so much.

[cvillewood]

Next up - design a money tree.

[jteneyck]

His feeder doesn't preclude using a splitter or guard, he just never uses either.

So he's brilliant but has no common sense.  Newbies see this stuff and some will think it's OK to emulate.  That's the real danger.  Norm was the biggest offender because of the scope of his audience, but Mattias has a following, too.  

John