Posted on 08/08/2020 4:53:27 AM PDT by Mrs. Warrior
Everyone should be deathly afraid of table saws. I own two, use them frequently for some high precision woodworking tasks and they scare me to death.
The SawStop is an excellent table saw. As a former manager at Woodcraft in Leesburg, VA once told me, “The SawStop shows that Taiwanese will build in the quality that you are willing to pay for.”
I have one, not only for the safety, but for the fit and finish and overall quality.
The SawStop is the only exception in my shop. All my other tools are “Old Arn”, made in the USA or Canada previous to 1965. I restore them and put them back to their intended use.
Remember the old wood shop safety films?
I never cared for the band saw. t even looked monstrous!
When I think of BLM and Anti-fa, crying hysterically, and table saws, I get a thought...oh, never mind.
I have a Shopsmith Mark 5 that is older than I am. When I crank the speed up it is frightening!
I love quality American made tools.
My stepdad had a short middle finger because of an incident with a saw. Despite that mishap, he continued to build things. He built a really cute little chicken house for my pet chickens. We lived in a house that he built, and he had built every structure on the property, as well as the property where he kept the commercial chicken ranch.
You just have to be careful with saws. Very careful. And maybe wear hearing protection because they are so loud.
I have great respect for power tools and have used many, many different kinds. I have double or triple respect for table saws.
Funny you posted this.
I was just in the Emergency Room week before last from a table saw accident. Took the tip of my right index finger off!
Luckily, not far enough down to get the bone.
I was making a trellis for my wife to go around our pool equipment. And to make it, I had to rip down some 1X6 cedar boards. I am usually careful and have the blade barely come through the wood. But the board was cupped a little in the middle and the blade wasn’t making it all the way through.
So, I raised the blade about 3/8” to finish the cut, but then got sidetracked doing something else. When I came back to it, I forgot that I had raised it up and cut again.
This time, my finger was overhanging the blade and the tip was gone before I knew it! I immediately grabbed a bunch of paper towels and trotted into the house. I didn’t want to look at it for fear I would get squeamish.
Five hours in the Emergency Room. Nothing to stitch, just X-Rays and tetanus shot and antibiotics.
After insurance, $2064 for Emergency Room. $240 for the doctor, billed separately. Before insurance it was over $4000.
I was back using the saw the next day. But with a lot more respect!
I’ve had a radial arm saw since 1973. One of my old bosses cut his thumb off using the same kind of saw because he was tired and in a hurry to get the job done. I have always remembered that using my saw and so far so good.
Yeah; stereotypes. Uh-huh, yup. That's the ticket.
Table saws are like corrupt congressmen.
Kickbacks can be a problem.
On military aircraft, the “plane of rotation” is clearly marked on the inside of the cabin. It’s there to warn crew & passengers not to occupy that danger zone.
The same theory applies to power tools, whatever I’m using, I try to be aware of that zone.
Good tip. Thx!
Any carpenter worth his salt is missing fingers. /s
Sorry that happened to you. I use a push block to hold the wood down and a push stick to push the wood past the blade on anything other than a wide rip cut. An old carpenter with all his fingers taught me that.
For whatever its worth to you, I have a slogan I say to remind myself when I pick up my grinder/cut off tool or use my table saw.
“DANGER DANGER!”
These tools DO NOT forgive. My grinder got me once and it was only coasting!
I’ve been using table saws for about 50 years and still have all my fingers (knock on wood). I remove the safety guards so that I can see EXACTLY where the blade is spinning and use a push stick for close work.
More fearsome than the table saw is the radial arm saw...
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