Circular Saw q

[Andy Hall]

Dated 1975

[Stuart Noble]

Well, if you're a d*****ad, there's no limit to the accidents you can have.

[Stuart Noble]

I think maybe it's time you detailed what the safe use of a sawbench without power feed or sliding table might be.

[Andy Hall]

The HSE has an information sheet on the safe use of circular saw benches:

Here are a few extracts from it:

"Adequate workpiece support is essential for all operations at a circular saw bench. Large workpieces should be supported using extension tables or roller supports at both the infeed and outfeed ends"

"A demountable power feed should be used whenever possible"

As one would expect, use of guards, push sticks and riving knives are mentioned numerous times.

[Stuart Noble]

The terms "large" and "adequate" mean bugger all. You wouldn't expect to feed an 8x4 sheet without support both ends, but a length of 2" x 1" requires nothing either end

Fig 2A shows the beginning of an operation that AFAICS cannot be completed. What happens when the hand holding the push stick reaches the guard?

"Never try to clean a running blade" Now that's what I call good advice.

[Andy Hall]

Hence the use of the word "adequate". I believe you suggested that infeed support wasn't required at all, unless you meant something else.

Would you propose this operation without the use of a guard? The purpose of push sticks and push pads etc. is fairly obvious.

"In a study of 1000 accidents at woodworking machines, accidents at circular saw benches accounted for 35% of the total, with most resulting in the amputation of fingers. Eighty three percent of these accidents occured while ripping or cross cutting, and in most cases the saw guard was either missing or not properly adjusted. Many of these accidents would have been avoided by simply having a correctly adjusted saw guard and using a push stick"

Indeed, along with the other points on safety.

[Stuart Noble]

You're answering a question with a question. Imagine illustration 2A is a video. Fast forward it by a few seconds. What happens? Can you complete the cut?

[Andy Hall]

The push stick is used.

Of course.

[Owain]

There is. Beheading tends to be self-limiting.

Owain

[Steve Firth]

There speaks the voice of personal experience.

[Stuart Noble]

It's already being used. What happens when it meets the blade guard? Does it travel under the guard?

Then explain how

[Andy Hall]

Obviously it travels between the guard and the fence.

I already did.

[Stuart Noble]

When ripping narrow stuff, as per the illustration, there is no room for the push stick if it is to be parallel to the fence

[Andy Hall]

Yes there is. There are all kinds of designs for push sticks.

[Stuart Noble]

Don't tell me, you have a set of 100 in a hardwood box, lined with green baize.

[Andy Hall]

No, I make them when needed, considering them disposable, or use an alternative method such as power feeder or sliding table.

I know that it may be common practice to do stupid things such as not using guards or to stand in line with material when cutting, but it isn't necessary with a very little thought.

This point was illustrated to me a couple of weeks back when I met a chap who used to make wooden window frames and so was using a table saw and spindle moulder all day long. I shook his hand and there were two and a half fingers missing. He had lost a moment's concentration one afternoon and run his hand through the (unguarded) blade while ripping a length of material. The machine was fitted with a guard and a power feeder but he had moved the guard and wasn't using the feeder.

Even the NHS managed to do a reasonable patch up job. His ring finger, which wasn't too badly damaged, was repaired and then moved to the index finger position so that he could at least do some basic gripping. He can still manage to do *some* work but it's quite limited.

A power feeder costs a few hundred pounds. A guard is a few tens of pounds even if it has to be replaced regularly. In comparison with the risks of having ones hands near a substantial circular saw blade, these investments are buttons.

[Stuart Noble]

There are many operations that aren't possible with the guard. Virtually every jig I've ever made wouldn't function with it in place, and I'm not prepared to trade that versatility for some lily livered notion of what's safe for a halfwit.

or to stand in line with material when cutting, but it

Where are you standing when you use a push stick then? In line with the material is the only place you can exert downward and forward pressure. Safety is one thing, paranoia is different.

The point it illustrates is that, if you have a short span of attention, don't operate machinery. You could always feed your fingers under the guard. Don't drive, climb ladders, walk on cliffs....

[Andy Hall]

There are not as many as most people who don't use guards imagine. It may take a little longer to set up, but impatience is another cause of accidents.

I imagine that accident reports at HSE are filled with accounts of people who said that.

If the material is small enough to use manual feed, then it's perfectly possible to use a push stick without standing immediately behind the material.

If the material is larger than that, then an alternative method such as a power feeder or sliding table become appropriate.

.. and stupidity and overconfidence something else again.

The point it illustrates is that both a guard and a power feeder were fitted to the machine. He fully admits that had he been using them, the accident would never have happened. The loss of concentration was as a result of doing a repetitive task which should have involved the use of the power feeder. Nobody, even the guy himself disputes that. Now.