SAFETY FIRST
Common hazards and protective
measures:
There are common hazards
associated with the equipment while working on metal skin - for each
hazard, there are measures need to take to stay safe:
Hazard: Flying
objects.
Protection: Always wear
approved eye protection (safety glasses, goggles, face shield or a combination
of these) whenever machines or any other process are being used in the workshop.
Hazard: Loud
noise.
Protection: Always wear
approved hearing protection (ear muffs or ear plugs) whenever machines or any
other noisy processes are being used in the workshop.
Hazard: Dust.
Protection: Always wear an
approved dust mask whenever dust is being generated.
Hazard: Entanglement.
Protection: Always wear
sensible, tight-fitting clothing, constrain or tie back long hair, remove
jewellery and anything else that can pull you into a machine.
Hazard: Slips,
trips, falls.
Protection: Always keep your
work area clean and free of trip hazards before you start a task
- also, periodically clean the area while you are working.
Hazard: Distractions.
Protection: Always stay focused on your
tasks: switch-off your phone when in the workshop and never talk to
people when operating equipment.
When working with sheet metal
we are working with potentially dangerous materials, tools and equipment
To work safely with sheet
metals I taken into account that:
o the
materials have sharp edges and corners and, if not handled carefully, can cut
me (sometimes badly) I experienced minor cut during the process.
o the
tools have sharp points or edges that can cut, scratch or puncture me if not
handled correctly;
o the
equipment can crush / amputate fingers if not used correctly.
Also,I protected myself by:
o wearing
eye protection (especially when working thin springy material that may jump up
into my face). This also applies if some of us are a bystander or helper;
o wearing
gloves (especially when I am handling large heavy sheets);
o not wearing
gloves when I am working with machinery that rotates, like the slip rollers,
that can grab my glove and pull me in;
o wear
hearing protection when it starts to get noisy( in my case the whole time
because a lot of students in the workshop at the same time);
o being
careful when I am near others who are carrying or positioning larger pieces of
sheet metal (I might get cut when they turn around);
o not
removing guards that are put there to protect me and others;
o wearing
suitably sturdy clothing and shoes.
The other aspect of workshop
safety when working sheet metal is how the material is placed and stored. It is
dangerous to leave sharp edges hanging over the edge of the bench or sticking
into a walkway, where somebody can walk into it and cut themselves. Or to leave
sharp shards lying about on the floor.
Making things in sheet metal can be somewhat
difficult and if I don't get my folds in the right place my piece looks
terrible and doesn't work at all. The accurate marking out when working with
sheet metal is very important. Mistakes can be costly and waste of valuable
time.
Tools I used when marking out the metal sheet:
o steel rule
o tape measures
o scribes / knife
o marking out blue
/ marking pen
To achieve
the accurate marking, I drew the line as thin as possible by using a scribe
that leaves a fine scratch (which is often difficult to see). To make the
fine line more visible the area to be marked is covered with marking blue or a
marking pen which is then scratched through to leave a fine shiny line. Curved
lines are marked out by using a prick punch to put a series of dots along the
line to make it easier to cut out.
I mainly used hand tin snip, aviation shears to cut,
reshape or modify sheet metal parts and
hammers, wooden mallets, shot bag, stakes / dollies as forming tools. I found
out that some of the tools require a deal of strength to use and if used for
long periods of time could lead to overuse injuries, to avoid this wise to take
regular breaks especially when my hands and arms are feeling tied and sore. None of these tools are
particularly easy to use and to use well takes a fair amount of practice.
I used the guillotine designed to cut
sheet metals, in my case Aluminium sheet. I slided
my aluminium sheet under the guard and line my cut line up with the edge of the
bottom blade by looking through the gap between the top blade and the guard.
Once the sheet is in the correct position, I press down on to stop moving then
push down on the foot pedal to complete the desire cut (make sure no one
is around the foot pedal).
Once I got the accurate metal
sheet for my metal skin, I used Pan Brake to fold the sheet according to my
form-work.
After that I started carefully
cutting out the unnecessary pieces with tin snip(the edges are extremely sharp
and I had a minor cut). I placed the cut off pieces one by one into the bin
as soon as I finished cutting to prevent hazard from others.
I used the clamp attached to the
working bench to firmly hold the form work and started hammering constantly
with hammers and mallets to shape the metal skin based on my
form-work.
Final metal skin for
the form-work
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