3/18/2008 10:05:00 PM Technology improves safety in PHS woodshop
The Daily Courier/Jo. L. Keener
Carl Lueck cuts a piece of wood in the Prescott High School woodshop class with the new safe saw. The new saw, called Saw Stop, has a brake on it to prevent accidental loss of fingers.
PRESCOTT - The Prescott High School woodshop can boast that it's literally on the cutting edge of technology.
The woodshop students are using the latest equipment, and the equipment's technology creates a safer environment for students.
Woodshop teacher Tom Bockman does not have to worry anymore about students injuring themselves with a table saw, thanks to the acquisition of two new SawStops.
At first glance, the SawStop looks like a regular table saw. The difference is what happens inside the saw.
Bockman said the SawStop's inner workings include a brake and blade sensor.
"When soft tissue, like a finger, touches the blade, it stops and drops into the cart," Bockman said. "In 27 years at PHS, we haven't had many accidents; however, when I found out I could get a grant for this, I knew we needed it at PHS."
The SawStop safety system includes an electronic detection system that "sees" when a person touches the blade, and a fast-acting brake stops the blade.
PHS bought two SawStops with $10,000 in grant money.
An additional piece of new equipment has brought Bockman and his students national attention.
The teacher bought a CarveWright for his classroom. The tool lets students design scrollwork on a computer and transfer it to a piece of wood.
When a woodworking magazine wrote a story about the woodshop's laser etcher, it also mentioned the students were using the CarveWright.
CarveWright officials called Bockman and asked if he was teaching his students to use the equipment. They were surprised since the machine was so new that no classroom instruction was available.
Bockman eventually wrote the curriculum for the CarveWright, and the company featured him and his students in its brochure.
Junior Carl Lueck is using the CarveWright to build a biplane.
Carl said he designs his projects on a computer, selecting board settings and creating a 3-D picture that shows all of the routing and design work.
Students upload the file onto a card that students put into the CarveWright.
Carl said students could load several projects onto the card. When students put the card into the CarveWright, they can cycle through and select their project. The machine also lets them stop and restart a project.
Bockman said CarveWright officials donated two machines and bits to the high school.
The bits are important because, as Carl explained, "Different projects use different bits.
