Safe Machine Practice
A two-day workshop in using woodworking machines safely and with confidence.
Most woodworking machines are not dangerous if you understand them. They become dangerous when people use them without understanding what they are doing, why, and what the machine will do next.
This two-day workshop is for people who want to use machines properly. That includes complete beginners who have never switched one on, and people who already have access to machines but have been working things out for themselves and know there are gaps in what they know.
Both are welcome. The goal is the same: to leave with a clear, confident understanding of how to work safely with each machine, and why the practices that keep you safe are the ones that also produce better work.
Machines covered
Bandsaw The most versatile and forgiving machine in the workshop, and the one most often set up and used incorrectly. Blade selection, guides, fence work, curves and resawing.
Tablesaw The machine most people are most nervous about, and with good reason if used carelessly. Ripping, crosscutting, guards, splitters and the logic of safe feed direction.
Mitre saw Setup, clamping, stop blocks and the cuts that look simple but go wrong. Understanding what the machine can and cannot do.
Drill press Speed selection, bit types, work holding and the cuts that require more care than people expect.
Thicknesser Feed direction, snipe, dealing with difficult grain and understanding what the machine is actually doing to the timber.
Jointer Setting up for a true face and true edge. Understanding the relationship between jointer and thicknesser and why sequence matters.
Workshop details
Duration: 2 days
Location:Mount Egerton VIC 3352
Group size: Maximum 4 participants
Experience: Open to all levels, from complete beginners to self-taught machine users wanting to fill the gaps
Price: $550 per person
Dates: Dates announced to the EOI list first, register your interest below
Mount Egerton is located on Wadawurrung Country in Central Victoria, approximately 90 minutes from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Ballarat. The studio is easily reached from Melbourne's west and from Geelong, Daylesford and regional Victoria.
Who this workshop suits
This workshop is for anyone who wants to use woodworking machines properly. It suits complete beginners who want to start right, makers who have taught themselves and want to address the gaps, and anyone who has access to machines at home or in a shared workshop and is not fully confident using them.
It is a prerequisite for the Make a Chair and Chair Design workshops at Moonlite Studios, and a recommended step before any of the advanced making programs.
About the teaching
Ross Annels has been working with woodworking machines for over 25 years in professional studio and teaching environments. Machine safety at Moonlite Studios is taken seriously — the studio holds current safe operating procedures for all machines and all participants work within a structured safety framework.
The workshop is practical and direct. The emphasis is on understanding, not on rules for their own sake.
Express your interest
Dates for this workshop are announced to the interest list first. If you would like to be notified when bookings open, contact Ross directly.
Where this leads
Safe Machine Practice opens up the full making program at Moonlite Studios. Participants who complete this workshop are well placed to move into:
Hand Tools Fundamentals, a 5-day deep dive into furniture making with hand tools
Make a Chair, a 5-day workshop in contemporary chair construction
Chair Design, a 5-day guided process of designing and prototyping a chair of your own
If you want to go a little deeper, we offer Machine Tools Fundamentals, a 5-day workshop where we cover machine tool safety and make a piece of furniture. It covers similar ground to Safe Machine Practice but with more time, more making, and a finished object to take home.
Many participants choose to combine Safe Machine Practice with Hand Tools Fundamentals to build a complete foundation for woodworking and furniture making practice. Together the two workshops cover the full range of tools you will reach for in the workshop, and give you the judgement to know when to use each one.
Moonlite Studios is a working furniture making and creative practice based in Mount Egerton, on Wadawurrung Country in Central Victoria. Courses and mentoring are offered year-round in small groups within a studio environment.
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