They say 4000 idiots a year saw their fingers off on table saws. That's
10 per day! What is it about 'keep your fingers aways from the spinning blade' that they do not understand? The federal gubberment is going to work on a bill to require that new 'meat sensor' safety device on all table saws. It will add $300 to $500 to the cost. Gee, mine cost $150. Been using one for 50+ years and still have all my fingers. There must be some real dummies out there. By the way, the safety device destroys the blade and motor shaft if activated.
Thanks for posting this, but the Saw Stop and potential legislation issue has been around for a few years.
I'm glad you have all your fingers, but many a sensible seasoned pro has lost one on occasion. I has happened to the best so don't jinx yourself by gloating.
I must say your grammar and punctuation is quite good for someone so young. By the time you're 12 or so, you might have made a mistake. If you're lucky it won't involve machinery. If you're really lucky, it will involve machinery but only damage some safety gear- or only scratch deep enough to serve as a warning.
If you aren't that lucky- come on back and tell us how 'shit happens'.
Jim [got all my digits, and only minor scars-- but I'm human]
In spite of using care a piece of wood can cause kickback and it draws your hand to the blade in milliseconds. Sometimes it is being tired, rushed, or distracted. I wonder how many of those accidents are "just one more cut and I'm done for the day".
It has nothing to do with luck and superstition. Relying on religion won't save your fingers. I don't care if you have 10 PhD's, if you stick your finger in a saw blade you are an idiot.
I dare say a good part of them, with most of the rest being people who watch a DIY show and run out and buy a saw, but never had an experienced user watching over them and giving them a dope slap when they do something dangerous. My father, and the master carpenters that worked for him back in the day, were kind enough to teach me how to use a saw, and they didn't mince words when I did it wrong. Gotta give Norm Abrams credit- he always does the safety spiel, uses push sticks and feather boards, etc.
(Side question- I haven't seen any fresh new Yankee Workshops lately, and Norm barely appears on the other show any more- has he semi-retired or something? I call him a machinist who happens to work in wood. Yes, some of his projects are absurd for a DIY to attempt, and his tool collection is worth more than my house, but he sure is fun to watch.)
I hope to have space and time and money to have a table saw again one day, but it won't have a self-destruct mechanism like that. But then again, I won't be doing production work, and I'm already to the point in life where if I'm tired or hungry or pissed off, I STOP doing complicated stuff before I screw something up or hurt myself. There is always another day to finish it. After enough expensive/painful 'aw shit' moments over the years, that lesson finally sank in.
I bet more people hurt themselves with circular saws, since there are probably 1000x as many of those in use. Haven't seen any push to idiot-proof them, beyond the orange buttons. Chain saws are another hazardous tool that gets little attention- after the recent storm here, there were at least a dozen folks (according to the local paper) that hurt themselves seriously, cutting up downed trees. Right after the storm, seems like all the guys with a chainsaw in the garage were running out to get their streets open on their block. The ones with nice shiny saws seemed a little unsure of themselves, and you could see the old gray-hairs with the seriously used saws were having to keep an eye on them.
I have a friend whose dad took up woodworking when he retired. Nice, smart guy who worked at a desk for many years but with NO experience with tools....he promptly removed three fingers. And most people tempt fate in some fashion now and then. An experienced supervisor in punch press dept. where I worked nipped off the tip of a finger showing someone how to do something....just a quarter inch off, I suppose.
I recall reviewing the types of injuries saws produce and there was a very impressive number of people who used circular saws over their heads on a ladder (sawing holes in ceilings, for instance) that lived to regret it and quite a few that didn't. Live, that is.
The problem I've seen with naive chain saw users is they don't account for what happens when the last little bit of material is gone and gravity or the "springiness" of wood takes over. My favorite has to be the guys who cut this huge 20' section of a 2' diameter oak tree. They had it tied to four other trees quite thoroughly to prevent it from falling. When the final cut was made this huge section of tree started jumping around like the ghost of Paul Bunyan riding a pogo stick. The branches they had tied it to were quite springy and it took quite a while for the bouncing around to stop.
You're right about the jinx. In the infantry talk like that gets you assigned to walking point - a lot - until you learn to keep from saying things that might "call the shots in" on your fellow soldiers. Or until you get shot or blown up. Either way puts an end to that jinx talk.
Speaking of: My HS shop teacher ran all 4 fingers vertically through blade. He was later asked how he did it and demonstrated - yep, cut them again! We all stood there dumbfounded.
I am 62. I'm retired. In my life, I was a certified weldor, steel erection contractor, certified commercial diver, OSHA certified crane operator, OSHA certified rigger, OSHA certified lift truck (fork lift for the newbies) operator, and lots of other things. I have worked overseas. I currently have a large shop with lots of tools. I also have all my digits. So far. But I do know that something can happen at any moment to change that.
And it mostly happens to those who think it can't happen to them.
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