Safety

Safety is very important in all aspects of fabrication. It is important to follow safe operating proceedures while constructing machines. Things like safety glasses, protective clothing, sane methods and care with corrosives and flammables.

It is also important that your machine is safe while operating. This means that it does not shed parts, create safety hazards to bystanders and produces safe voltage levels that are contained within itself and the transmission lines.

While most battery voltage levels are fairly safe for healthy people if you should contact the live wires, even a smallish battery bank can release astounding amounts of current very fast. So while touching both leads from a battery with your fingers is relatively safe, shorting those same leads through your wedding ring, for example, could heat and liquify the metal faster than you can pull away and cause you a severe burn and perhaps introduce uneeded marital disharmony.

The best policy is to err on the side of safety. Go slow make deliberate actoins, think it out before you act. Always wear safety gear like safety glasses, gloves, long sleeves, good footwear, etc.

Things like overspeeding windmills, inverters and household wiring can contain lethal voltages so be aware of that and do not work on live circuits unless you are certain you know what you are doing.