Safety considerations for CNC and lasers

CNC machining involves the removal of material using a hardened metal bit that can fling fragments of your workpiece all over your shop. It should be needless to say that you should always have hand and eye protection on whenever you are working with and on your machine. This is especially true with lasers. The blue, green, or red laser on your machine can destroy your eyesight in an instant, so whenever the laser is on, you should have appropriate glasses on to filter out any harmful reflected laser light. Never operate a laser without those special glasses. Every laser unit I have ever purchased came with a suitable set of adjustable glasses (a green lens for a blue laser, for example). If your CNC bit shatters, you do not want metal fragments in your eyes or on your hands, and if your laser hits a reflective surface, you do not want to blind anyone looking over your shoulder or elsewhere in the shop with you. Do not allow pets anywhere near...