Posted on 08/08/2020 4:53:27 AM PDT by Mrs. Warrior
My husband was building a reloading bench this afternoon. When it came time to use the table saw. I felt a little queasy. I left, and had to be still for awhile.
I remembered something that happened in middle school. I went to Home Economics class and the teacher said we were going to do something different today. She said “you girls are going to shop class to learn to make wooden things to sell. The boys will come here and learn to cook scrambled eggs”.
When we girls went into the shop there was a square table in the center of the room, which we gather around. “First we have to learn about measuring” the shop teacher named Mister Mark told us. Then he gave us all a piece of wood and a tape measure. He told us to measure the wood and draw a pencil line across it. I pulled out the measuring part and was trying to measure but all the little lines on the tape were hard to figure out. When I tried to hold the tape and draw the line, I had to use both hands and every time the tape disappeared right back into the silver container! I went to the teacher and exclaimed “My measuring tape is broken”. All the other girls told him theirs was broken too. He gave us an odd look and then sighed in exasperation.
He got up from his chair, and walked over to a machine along the wall. He told us to gather near, but not to close to the table. He turned it on and it made a loud high pitched whine and we all jumped back in surprise.
“Is it a monster?” We asked?. “Yes it is” he replied. It is a table saw and if you put your hands near the blade it will cut your hand right off and blood will squirt all over my saw!
Some one began to scream hysterically; (that was me). I had been traumatized from abuse in my family. All the other girls began to scream too. You know how girls and screaming is a contagion.
The Home EC teacher came running in. “What is going on here Mark?” she demanded to know. She told us to go back to the Home EC room.
We went back and the room smelled awful! “Oh no, the boys burned the eggs”! I sat down and started to cry. “What's wrong?” the teacher asked. “My hands hurt, I think they are going to fall off” I explained, thinking about the awful table saw and how it cuts off hands. “ I think I need to go to the nurse and get a band aide to make them feel better”. The other girls started crying too, “we want our Mommies”.
Mr. Mark came into the room, “You are going to have parents calling you about this” the teacher said. He looked at the crying faces of the girls. “I'm sorry girls, I just wanted to keep you from getting hurt, I got carried away. I will probably loose my job”, he said.
I started to feel sorry for him. “Don't worry. Mr. Mark, my momma won't call you”. I told the girls, we can tell our parents that there was a girl who was causing trouble in class. Just tell them that she made you upset. Mr. Mark looked at me, “Kid”, he told me, “I think you are very special”.
I never knew why I was always afraid of table saws and now I know!
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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