Track saws?

[-MIKE-]

Isn't a utility knife a hand tool? :-p

[Ed Edelenbos]

Hmmm... maybe I *haven't* learned to think before I do. (grin)

Ed

[-MIKE-]

Glad you're ok.

Perhaps had I wrote "foolish" in place of "stupid," there would be no arguments.

Nonetheless, the analogy holds water.

[-MIKE-]

Semantics. You guys crack me up.

Perhaps had I wrote "foolish" in place of "stupid," there would be no arguments.

Foolish people work with power tools while fatigued.

If in fact fatigue impairs judgment. I'm guessing that's why the military or firefighters have drills after drills after drills after drills with certain procedures. It becomes such a habit, so ingrained in them, that fatigue doesn't come into play.

Same thing with safety procedures. If you're anal about it from the beginning, and continue with them, to the point that other guys make fun of you, then you just do those procedures without a second thought, even when those other guys are snickering and pointing at you with their stubby, two-knuckled fingers.

[DiggerOp]

Thanks. : )

In my case, stupid is the the appropriate word ... without doubt : )

1/ It was middle of summer and I removed the protective face shield I was wearing because I had to keep wiping the sweat from the inside. 2/ The grinder wouldn't fit inside the narrow opening of the machine housing I was working on, so I removed the side handle. 3/ My hands were also sweaty which made it difficult to hold the grinder securely. 4/ I couldn't reach the last weld I had to grind off with the grinding wheel guard in place, ........ so I removed it. 5/ I had done something similar before and lost control of the grinder, seeing it kick back and fly past me, landing 20 feet away. 6/ I had other options, -- get a smaller more manageable grinder, or use oxy/actylene.

To my way of thinking, foolish would have been using that tool which was too big and awkward in the first place, when there were safer alternatives. : )

However, doing something that I already new was dangerous and then proceeding to remove all the safeguards in place to make it even more dangerous, ....

That definitely qualifies as stupid. : )

[J. Clarke]

Actually not. I've done things when I was tired that I knew better than to do when I was not. One of the things the Iron Butt Association makes a big deal about is how to recognize that you are fatigued to the point of having impaired judgment. Most people don't know the signs and don't know to watch for them, which is ignorance, not stupidity.

Fatigued people don't know that they're fatigued. It sneaks up on you.

It does.

couple of fatigue in the workplace handbooks from the Australian government (big downloads from a slow site--be patient) experience--continuing a motorcycle trip onto a bad and very isolated road late in the day when a couple of events earlier in the day should have told me that my judgment was already impaired).

Don't dismiss it as stupidity or foolishness, learn the signs and practice watching for them.

That's part of it, but the main part is that under stress people tend to do whatever they're practiced doing.

Very true.

[dpb]

-MIKE- wrote: ...

There is voluminous research that fatigue _does_ impair judgment, reaction time, etc., etc., etc., ...

Even trained people make mistakes and more so when tired.

--

[mkaras]

Well....there are these things. You have to be extra smart to use them.

-mkaras

[Markowitz.Dave]

I gather! I'm managed to send myself to the ER without shop tools-- I'm an expert in making tournequets from my experiences with a box cutter and a stick blender.

Yeah, I get that. Someday....

[Markowitz.Dave]

This is part of a dilemma for a beginner. This solution for ripping straight edgers presupposes you already have a way of ripping straight edges :-)

[Sledge Hammer]

straight edgers presupposes you already have a way of ripping straight edges :-)

[Sledge Hammer]

I gather! =A0I'm managed to send myself to the ER without shop tools-- I'm an expert in making tournequets from my experiences with a box cutter and a stick blender.

[Nova]

You only need one straight edge to begin with and the factory edge of a piece of 1/2" or 3/4" plywood is usually pretty good.

[Robatoy]

I own a few Festool sanders and the 1/4 sheet palm sander isn't one of them. Overpriced indeed. Now this one is a great sander for a good price:

absolutely love that little thing and with the dust collector adaptor, almost perfectly dustfree with even a basic shopvac. Just because it is Festool, doesn't make it an automatic 'best deal'. That said, Festool doesn't make any bad tools. They're all excellent, just in some categories, overpriced. I would, for instance, never consider their jigsaws or routers either and for the same reason. Great tools, stupid money. I will continue recommending their ROSanders, at almost any price. Oh.... and maybe that wee mitresaw thingy they make...sweeeeet, Virtually dust free, quiet, small footprint...

[Steve Turner]

When I was in high school a friend of mine and I used to have our own little automotive painting business. Of course, all the workspace and tools were borrowed from our fathers, and I'll never forget one HEAVY and nasty old metal bodied hand-held grinder owned by my friend's father. We had a big wire brush installed on that thing for rust removal (safety guard? What's that?), and it was turned on and off with a TOGGLE switch. One day I was preparing to use it, so I hauled it out and plopped it down in the middle of the driveway, then proceeded to plug it in. Of course, then damn toggle switch was in the ON position, and I can tell you there's nothing quite so frightening as a nasty screaming wire brush monster hopping around the driveway trying to take a bite out of your shin bones! I don't know how I managed to escape injury or to regain control of the power cord and yank the connector apart, but I can tell you I had a racing heart and a fair amount of shit running down my legs!

[B A R R Y]

Not really, which is what Mr. J. Clarke is trying to point out.

The factory edge of an undamaged sheet of plywood is straight enough to make a guide. The base of the saw will bridge minor dents and imperfections. The guide rail really doesn't need to perfectly smooth.

[J. Clarke]

Next time I make one maybe I should shoot video for the people for whom drawing them a picture is not enough.

[Robatoy]

I use a few of those saw-guides day-to-day at my shop. They're easy to make and simple to use. One thing that the 'real' ones do, is to keep the blade from wandering off the fence. I have yet to make the investment. I get by just fine with a basic saw- guide. (They also protect the material from picking up scratches from the saw's shoe.)

[Charlie Groh]

...this is true and works well. I use an aluminum straightedge (a rule carried by any good tool source works good here) attached to a slice of 3/8" baltic birch, for my guide, which travels with me to jobs...it's set up for my 18v Makita 6" and gets a lot of work. They

*do* tend to get worn, so leave enough room to move your straightedge over slightly so you can cut another parallel edge on occasion (this extra also serves as a clamping surface away from the saw motor). Once you've established that you can achieve a straight cut, the ultimate flaw is in your marking and clamping...the devil is in the variables and these two are the keys to a good, parallel, cut. Clamping should be easily achieved by a quick check for tightness before you hack away...marking is another matter. I've gotten *close* to error-free here by using my utility knife to score tiny kerfs to lay the straightedge to...all that said, I'm at my table saw whenever possible!

cg

[B A R R Y]

I still use the exact same guide to break down full sheets before trying to rip them. A great marital peace maker, as I don't need the machine-petrified wife to help cut full sheets.

For extra credit, make the base wide enough to guide a router with 1/2" bit on the other side. Side one guides the saw, side two provides a perfect edge with two good sides.