TLDR: Friday afternoon, someone left the jointer separator can full, continued jointing with the full can, thus packing the jointer itself full of chips, then did something dangerous on the jointer that sheared off an entire corner of a push block. Whoever did this should talk to a steward about proper jointer use before they hurt themselves.
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Friday evening a little after 6 pm, I discovered the chip separator can for the jointer was over 3/4 full. First, I was annoyed that I had to empty it myself, along with the planer can which was half full. All of the chips from both cans were from the same type of wood, indicating this was left behind by a single user.
Second, I was concerned with how full it was. The efficacy of the separators drop off considerably once the can gets half full. As I feared, a slew of chips blew back out at me when I turned the jointer on. Letting the can get so full had dropped the dust collection efficiency so low that the hose leading from the jointer had clogged up with chips. I disconnected the hose and dumped it out, then pulled chips out of the lower part of the jointer itself, yielding this pile.
I figured that I had pulled out most of the chips from inside, and that the remainder would get pulled out by the dust collector. I was wrong. I had to get an air gun and blow it into the jointer from below to dislodge this additional tightly packed mass. In total, these piles filled a garbage can 2/3 full with wood chips.
Well, mostly wood chips… My journey had thus far gone from annoyance to incredulity, and now proceeded to horror when I realized there were a lot of small black rubber and yellow plastic pieces in the top layer of that mass; I quickly found the push block they had come from.
So whoever did this, thank god you used the push block, or I might have been sweeping up tiny pieces of your fingers instead! I hope you weren’t otherwise hurt. But HOW did you do this on the jointer?! I just can’t imagine what you were doing that ended up with an entire corner of a push block down in the cutting blades. For your own safety, please talk to a steward about proper jointer use.
For everyone else: 1) Use push blocks on the jointer! 2) Check and empty the chip separator can regularly when jointing a lot of wood. It’s not just a matter of courtesy, but also efficiency and safety. 3) At least one other person used the jointer briefly after this. If the jointer is spewing chips back at you before you even put a piece through, please check the separator can, and if the chip spewing persists, find a steward to correct the problem.