Goofs & Blunders You Should Avoid.

Ahh, table saws! Thanks to one and my own stupidity, I ended up with forty stitches and one thumb an 1/8" shorter than the other as a teenager. My Dad had an 8" MW table saw with the on/off switch on the base of the motor. I reached over the saw to shut it off and caught the blade. Fortunately there was only about 1/8" of exposed blade but my right hand looked a bit like hamburger. The only good thing was it got me out of writing a term paper for a few weeks, even though I'm left handed.

Ever since then, whenever my hand is close to the blade, I make sure that at least three fingers are hooked over some sort of anchor.

I work with chain saws, radial arm saws, jointers, and even a 30" 50 hp. buzz saw for fire wood but, to me, the most fearful is the table saw.
 
Of course nobody does it like the Army.

I was at a demonstration on how to safely use pyrotechnics. The guy in charge picked one up, held it in front of his face, and said

"You never want to pull the string like this..."

BLAM!

It was a very effective teaching method. Fortunately he only had flash burns.


RJSakowski said:
the most fearful is the table saw
Click to expand...

I agree. Things happen pretty fast at the speeds they run.
 
Too many people underestimate woodworking machinery. That applies to veterans as well. The uncle I had that recently passed away had been a carpenter/cabinetmaker for 70 years or so, and had all his fingers, but about 5 years ago ran his palm across the jointer pushing a board through. I never saw him use a push stick, but apparently he was good....up until then. Maybe age caught up with his spacial sense and he thought he was clear. I wasn't there when it happened, but saw it later. It wasn't too bad, but there was no excuse.

I think one of the main things different about woodworking machines is the speed they operate at. With metal equipment, by comparison, we may have time to pull our fingers back, or react to protect ourselves, but with ww equipment, it's all over by the time we realize there is a danger.
 
The big difference between woodworking and metal working machines, as I see it, is that when working metal the work is securely fastened down and moved to the cutting tool or the cutting tool move to the work in a controlled manner. Additionally, the controls are typically removed from the cutting zone.
 
I'm guessing Monkey-Wards, George..............but I could be wrong.
 
I KNEW it would be clear once I heard the answer!!! Just couldn't extract MW from my head. I wish people would not abbreviate words so much.
 
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