Table saws and push sticks

[lovemachine]

You guys need to work with sheet metal.......

If you ain't bleeding you ain't working hard enough.

I know gloves wasn’t invented yet when you were in your prime. But us sheet metal workers use gloves now. Amazing invention

 

[OneBadV8]

Eventually you'll learn to stop saying "idiot proof".

You'll amend the phrase to "idiot resistant".

And the world will create better idiots

 

[2A_Tom]

When I can sit at the computer, instead of this stinking tablet, I will post my best/worst jobsite injury story.

 

[johntheplinker]

Worked many years in furniture factories. Seen people get cut by saws, routers, drills, and assorted other machinery. Worst one was a guy got bit by a jointer. Turns my stomach just thinking about it. Luckily worst I've had just needed a bandaid or 3 from changing a shaper head without gloves.

 

[Bigtanker]

You guys need to work with sheet metal.......

If you ain't bleeding you ain't working hard enough.

Laying carpet for several years in the RV industry was about the same way. The carpet blades, when new, would cut you and the first thing you'd feel was the warm blood running down your hand or leg. How I never got any stiches was beyond me.

 

[ghuns]

...Worst one was a guy got bit by a jointer. Turns my stomach just thinking about it...

Ouch. I can imagine.

 

[Dirtebiker]

At least saws tend to cut. Worst woodshop injuries I saw came from routers.

Ouch! Never seen that.... yet!

 

[amboy49]

I have a small woodworking shop with most of the needed tools except for a joiner. My Dewalt table saw can be a little intimidating, especially if you watch a few videos on what happens with kickback. However, I would STRONGLY suggest anyone using a table saw spend a few dollars and buy a Grripper Push Block. It will make using a table saw safer and actually easier to use. Some would say why spend $80 when I can make my own push stick out of scrap pieces of wood ? If you ever tried one of the Grripper push blocks you’ll quickly see there is a world of difference.

In lieu of that, buy a Sawstop table saw.

 

[edporch]

I've had a table saw for many years, and my biggest worry is I'll get too complacent with it and let my guard down for a second.

 

[04FXSTS]

I've had a table saw for many years, and my biggest worry is I'll get too complacent with it and let my guard down for a second.

And that is all it takes. Jim.

 

[Lost Californian]

I've had a table saw for many years, and my biggest worry is I'll get too complacent with it and let my guard down for a second.

Yep, that's what I did, and got a manicure out of it. Thankfully not a body modification.

 

[johntheplinker]

Ouch! Never seen that.... yet!

They can be rather ugly, to put it mildly.

 

[Nazgul]

Amboy "However, I would STRONGLY suggest anyone using a table saw spend a few dollars and buy a Grripper Push Block."

Received one of these from my brother day after I trimmed my thumb with my tablesaw.....

Don

 

[gmcttr]

I grew up around the family's construction company's wood and metal shop and was turned loose on all of the equipment at a young age. Commom sense safety and the need to pay attention to what you were doing was taught to me from the start. If my dad, uncle or grandfather didn't teach me, pain did. To date, I have all my fingers.

Push sticks and feather boards go a long way in keeping you safe but zero lapses in attention will go even farther.

 

[flatlander]

Worked in a shop years ago. Had an OLD joiner. Damn thing had cutters that scared the crap out of me because you could see the monsters. Initially, all it had was the fence you stood the board against with no other guards as I recall. One day, guy decides to run it after, allegedly, smoking a joint. Bad idea. He lost most of 3 fingers. The pup in the shop got a hold of the bits and finally gave up 1. Snauseges. Added feather boards etc afterwards. Insurance settled at a pretty low figure due to the alleged smoking issue.
I have as much respect for machines like that as I do firearms if not more so.

Bob

 

[04FXSTS]

I worked as a machinist for 20 years and as a toolmaker for 20 years and have had my own hobby woodworking shop for 12 years. Been hurt a few times but still have all my fingers, anytime you work around these things there is an element of danger. Things have gotten a lot safer since I got started in 1973 but nothing is totally safe. One thing all my accidents have in common was they all happened in an instant. Jim.

 

[2A_Tom]

So, here is the kickback story I promised.

As the lead trin carpenter I was hanging and trimming doors, trimming windows, building stairs etc. My trim buddy Mark (some of you have met him) was finishing the cabinet install.

In those days I had a great little Makita table saw. He was cutting a champfer on a short piece of oak.

I heard the saw whining and went to see what the problem was. As I walked into the opening between rooms I stopped, as I noticed the bind he had the piece in. He had the fence on the left and the blade on the right at a 45 toward the fence. The blade was too high and he was attempting to push the 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 11" with a 1/4" bevel through the saw without a push stick.

I thought, "As soon as he finishes I will ball him out and explain just how stupid and dangerous it was!"

Just then he steps to the side and let's go of the work piece. It rockets out and hits me in the stomach, actually lifts me off the floor. I fall on the floor and get up wanting to kill him. I pull the screw driver out of my arm... What did I just do?

When I was jacked up in the air my tools came up out of my pouches and somehow the screwdriver flipped and landed handle first and I landed on it. I was wearing several layers because it was winter. The doctor had to slice me open to remove the debris and it was another 9 stitches.

That screwdriver saved Marks life and me from a long prison sentence.

I had an 11" x 1 1/2" welt across my stomach for a week.

 

[Lost Californian]

OUCH!

Glad it wasn't worse, and he survived, too.