Man killed by circular saw

[Dark Angel]

firm?????

I thonk the satory must have been relocated to

[Andrew Gabriel]

I just referred back and the story has been updated. Besides being more gruesome now than I recall when I first read it, it implies he wasn't using the saw at the time, but was climbing down the ladder.

URL has changed:

[dingbat]

It probably had a go, just not quickly enough. It needs to close entirely before hitting the body part, otherwise you'll hold it open - as indeed it's designed to do.

It's also very common for users to wedge the guards back, or remove them. One of the reasons I like my Skil Legend is that it has a very convenient thumb lift for the guard, avoiding all need to do this.

[dingbat]

There are two conditions where I just don't use circular saws:

- Old timber or pallets, with the risk of nails etc. in it. If I do cut this (and I do) then it's checked with a metal detector, then it goes through the cabinet saw with the chipped blade on it. The saw is also powerful enough to saw nails cleanly in half rather than jamming, although thuis is hard on the blade.

- Off the ground, or anywhere where I can't control the reaction or gyroscopic forces of the saw. That's what big reciprocating saws are for.

What's this hypothetical situation where there's no alternative but a circular saw up a ladder ?

[Christian McArdle]

Indeed. It seems like a genuine unfortunate accident, as even with a proper work platform, you'll probably have to climb up and down a ladder with your tools.

However one must assume that the circular saw had a defective blade guard and I'm amazed just what damage a stationary circ blade can do.

Christian.

[Charlie]

I'm a trapeze artist (who still has a lot of DIY to do in real life :-) and I'm perfectly happy hanging by my toes from a 1" thick metal bar 25 foot above the ground - i.e. a trapeze.

I *hate* ladders though - I've been using them for years for rigging trapezes, and given the choice I wouldn't use them. Usually I attach myself to something solid with a harness once I'm at the top of a ladder. Wobbly, sharp, bendy, shiny horrible things, the lot of them.

Charlie

[David Lang]

But what on earth had he been doing? I would never attempt to use a circular saw on anything that wasn't clamped to a bench.

Dave

[Owain]

Does any group have a wider range of expertise than this, really?

Owain

[Matt]

In fact on more modern ones its more effective than that in preventing accidental turn on. They still have what looks like a lock button on the side but you need to press this to get the main switch to depress

- that's the way my Makita works and its a damn sight safer than the way my old one could be accidentally powered or locked on.

[nightjar]

You don't need to move them while they are still powered though.

Colin Bignell

[<me9]

I used mine /once/ when I was young and daft. Never again.

[John Rumm]

nightjar You don't need to move them while they are still powered though.

There is no detail in the two articles I have read that indicates if it was spinning when the accident occurred. It may simply have been he was carrying it down from the platform where it was being used, and the static blade did enough damage its own.

[AlexW]

Everyone does something daft occasionally, even intentionally. Most of us get away with it though.

Spare a thought for him and his family eh...

Alex.

[AlexW]

If you were unlucky enough to land on the blade edge on even from 10 feet that could/would be it really.

Alex

[Chris Hodges]

One of my criteria for choosing a drill is that it has a side handle but is light enough for 1-handed use (obviously doesn't apply to SDS though!)

[Henry]

Perhaps he was climbing down a ladder from a bench or more likely tressles perched atop the school roof. A terrible tragedy.

Henry

[Andy Hall]

I have a Hitachi circular saw with electric braking. The blade spins down pretty fast when the trigger is released but not so fast as to create too much of an unwanted force.

Nevertheless, it gets treated with great respect.

[Andy Hall]

Is it possible that it had something to do with his being from Rainham as the article implies?

At least the priest was there and that appears to be the only saving grace.

[Andrew Gabriel]

My lawn mower used to do that, but the breaking stopped working after about 5 years.

[Rob Morley]

What does that mean?