I completely agree about the e-stop being for my protection which is why there is a button to cut the power. My thinking with the arrangement I had is essentially what Jazz has described. Hitting the limits is bad but I don't think it should be considered a life and limb emergency that calls for cutting the power as long as, and this is the important point, the machine can handle the situation safely.

Here's the plan then...

  • Keep the e-stop that cuts the power and in fact add another button in series with it. One button will be on the control box and the other will be on the machine.
  • Remove the e-stop button from the limits circuit.
  • Add a machine hold button.


Great t-shirt story Dean, it reminded me of a near miss I had. I'd been doing some DIY around the house and I needed to clean up some debris so got the vacuum cleaner out. All the tools I'd been using were in the way so I picked them all up to clean around them. So there I am, both hands full of tools with the vacuum cleaner hose pinned under one arm and swinging about. I bend down to do some cleaning and the vacuum cleaner nozzle leaps up like a wild animal and starts sucking on my t-shirt. I practically jump out of my skin and try to bat it away with my other hand. Unfortunately I'd forgotten that hand had a Stanley knife in it and I managed to run the blade across my wrist. Luckily for me I'd been abusing the blade for the last hour and it was blunt so the cut wasn't very deep, if it had been a new blade I'd definitely have been in A&E trying to explain why it looked like I'd tried to kill myself.