Woodshop using donated equipment

Three large electrical woodworking tools donated to Sisters High School by Central Oregon Community College have flunked safety tests and, for the time being at least, cannot be used.

But High School Principal Bob Macauley is not complaining; he said last week that the total donation involved about $40,000 worth of equipment. The unusable machines are valued at about $18,000. So the school can still make use of a lot of hardware it would not otherwise have.

"We're still way ahead," Macauley said.

The donation came after budget cuts forced COCC to drop its cabinetry program. Sisters officials heard about the available equipment and worked out a deal to trade for the college's use of some Sisters classroom space for evening adult classes.

A fall inspection by a representative of the Underwriters Laboratories office in Camas, Washington, determined that three big machines would not qualify for UL labels -- a drum sander, an edge bander (planer) and a multi-hole drill table.

"This used equipment is very old," inspector Joe Butler wrote in his report, "and most of the testing necessary for its certification cannot be performed in the field. Items such as necessary guarding, internal wiring conditions and non-certified parts are a few issues that cannot be verified."

Macauley said he thinks the planer can be salvaged and be made usable. But it would be "pretty expensive" to make the necessary upgrades to the other two pieces.

"Even though a couple of machines are not up to par we will still be able to do it (offer cabinetry classes)," the principal said. "The way it works is that Jim Reiss will be coming in to teach eight Heart of Oregon kids cabinetry, at no cost to the district. And in the spring we will do an integrated approach to construction and cabinetry where we share instructors, which will provide eight ADM (average daily membership) we didn't have before. So everything seems to be a win-win."

He was referring to the way the state counts school enrollment, which becomes the basis for the per-student allocations every Oregon school district receives annually from the state.

Macauley explained that in the absence of the drill press students will build a template and "drill the holes individually instead. It will just take a little longer."

Similarly, the lack of a sander will make sanding take longer but won't make the job impossible.