Below you’ll find answers to common industrial machine safety questions about our braking systems, anti-restart protection, installation, and compliance standards.
We are a San Diego engineering company whose mission is workplace safety. Check out our about us page for more!
We make industrial safety devices that work with most stationary power tools and industrial machinery. If you want to know more about the problems we solve, visit our resources page. If you want to know more about our solutions, check out our dedicated product page.
You can shop at our online store or contact your local distributor.
The power tool brake is intended to mitigate occupational safety and health risks in industrial manufacturing environments, home shops, and vocational training centers.
MAKESafe Tools’ Power Tool Brake can be plugged into band saws, grinders, and many other induction motor power tools, and has three primary functions. First, it actively brakes your tool to prevent dangerous tool coasting. Second, it prevents accidental startup of your tool if power is lost. Third, it has an emergency stop to allow you to quickly stop the machine in the case of an emergency. For more details, check out our products page.
Check out our blog for detailed discussions on OSHA & ANSI requirements and standards. Short answer: Our products are listed as UL508 Industrial Motor Controls by a Nationally Recognized Test Lab and that test lab is regulated and approved by OSHA.
Yes! Check out our product specs for more information.
Yes! Check out our product specs for more information.
Yes! We regularly integrate our technology into industrial control panels which allows our products to be used with nearly any voltage, horsepower, and machine configuration. Contact us for more information!
No. This device delivers an amount of power during braking equivalent to the typical startup power of the motor. It simply provides regulated DC current instead of AC current. As long as you follow the calibration instructions and stay within the recommended duty cycle, this device has no lasting effect on your motor. Want more detail, check out this interview w/ our founder.
This device will brake any AC Induction motor and can be used with most stationary power tools like band saws, bench grinders, disc sanders, table saws, etc. If you are wondering about a specific tool, please use our compatibility checklist (available in the manual) to confirm compatibility. If in doubt, please contact us and we can help.
Nope – this device is completely plug and play. No wiring or specific knowledge is required. Our compatibility guide will help you to determine if this device is compatible with your tool and our instructions will guide you through the simple and one-time calibration process.
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Our brake is easily adjustable during installation so you get to choose how fast it stops. A good target is the same time it takes for the motor to start itself. For example, if your band saw takes about 2 seconds to come up to speed when you turn it on, then that is a good target for braking speed. However, you can adjust how aggressive the braking time is to meet the needs of your risk assessment.
When our devices apply braking, it is normal for the motor to create a buzzing sound around 120hz (click here for sound).
Our devices inject DC current into the motor and what you’re hearing is the residual frequency of the line voltage. The AC is 60hz and when we turn it to DC it leaves a voltage ripple of 120hz. That is what creates the buzzing sound. As the braking torque is increased, the volume of the buzzing will gradually increase.
Normally the sound is only a gentle buzzing. In some cases the sound can get loud but it’s usually because a piece of the machinery (like a loose piece of sheet metal) is vibrating during braking. Or if the motor is enclosed in a cabinet, it can create a resonance chamber (like the body of a guitar). This only makes it loud when a part of the machine just happens to have a natural resonant frequency of 120hz and the sound can normally be reduced easily. If in doubt – contact us. We’d be happy to help.