NO. I'm not going to stick my feet in my lawnmower and I'm not going to put my hands into my tablesaw blade. The guard is more trouble that it's worth. If I was cutting tons of MDF all day, then a guard with DC would be a must.
Dave
I'd do the same thing if I had a guard.
Sounds like a good topic to share with the group.
What are the most frequent causes to accidents with tablesaws?
Carelessness. Failure to understand and/or proper cutting techniques.
Bingo! ... As you get older you realize that gaining good habits is as easy as gaining bad ones and the sense to find a good blade guard and use it, and the discipline to make the use a habit, ends up just like you describe.
I've been sent to emergency rooms by radio control airplane propellers and on and off-road bicycle crashes, but never a tool.
Every time, the attending professionals asked about the details of the injury. I met a PA who flies r/c and an orthopedic doc who mountain bikes!
Yes and yes!
The main differences are: the top plate of mine is maple (I ran out of lexan ), I used 6-32 cap screws (I had them) and I used a 3" threaded PVC connector as the dust port, which takes a 4" hose nicely.
I'm extremely happy with that guard and glad I built it. I like the idea of screwing parts together without glue, in case a replacement is needed. The saw is cleaner, too!
You're right about that ... however, as a builder, I often count fewer fingers on jobsites than should be.
I really like my Uniguard ... has an excellent splitter, two guards that can be used independently and/or swung up out of the way, and it can be removed in less time than it takes to tell.
In short, it is "convenient" ... a quality which fosters use.
This, of course, is one very good reason to use a blade guard. The blade is inside the guard. If you keep your fingers outside the guard, they won't hit the blade.
If you truly *need* to be looking at the blade in order to remember that it's dangerous, you probably should take up a safer hobby. Something like knitting.
I guess there are two "David"s, but I agree with the other one.
The other risks are the usual
No guard. Pushing a hand into the cutting path to block kickback. No outfeed support, requiring a lot of downpressure at the end of the cut. If it binds, the hand goes into the blade. (Sometimes even with a pushstick.) The monotony of repetitive tasks. Alcohol (believe it or not) and fatigue. Knots. Freehand cuts and pieces that are too small. Failure to use pushsticks. Lots of injuries occur after the cut -- reaching over the blade and running a hand or forearm over the invisible, spinning teeth. Distraction (either sudden - a tap on the shoulder during a cut or chronic - dwelling on other problems while working). Time pressure to finish a job. I believe that carelessness and poor technique play a big role, but people differ on what they consider careless (note the thread on "watching the blade"), and what is appropriate technique.
David
David wrote:
My point, which you appear to have missed, is that the failure of construction workers to use guards means absolutely *nothing* with regard to whether doing so is a good idea, or not -- in my experience and observation, most construction workers use little if any safety equipment, even something as basic as goggles when running a Sawzall *overhead*.
Yes, I have -- some cuts are impossible to make on my saw with the guard in place. (I'm using the factory guard, which has an integral splitter. The splitter has to come off for a dado or rabbet, which means the guard does too.)
Mostly because it provides a little extra protection for those moments when, for whatever reason, that close attention wanders a bit.
I disagree completely. I think a lot of accidents in the shop happen to people who are knowledgeable and aware, but whose attention slips briefly at just the wrong moment.
No, I won't have a big crisis from you mentioning it, but *you* will some day from *doing* it. That's just not a smart idea.
That's why the guard is there.
Just because it hasn't *yet* does not mean it never will.
The point is that the guard provides additional protection in case it does.
That's the whole discussion in a nutshell.
Please read the "rant" posted earlier by 'zap'...
Just because you haven't *yet* does not mean you never will.
Oops -- forgot to respond to the second part of your question.
I'm using one now because I believe it's an important safety practice to use
*all* guards on *all* machines for *all* operations, whenever possible.The combined guard and spliiter comes off my table saw when I need to make a cut that's impossible with them in place -- usually this means a cut that's impossible with the splitter, specifically, in place -- and it goes right back on as soon as I'm done with that operation.
Well, to be fair, if one were to take zap's rant too much to heart, one would never venture into the shop since life is full of so many fluke accidents.
Not necessarily at all Doug. I'd agree that short cuts done free hand offer a significant potential for problems. The smaller the piece, the more likely it is that you can't control the travel of the piece through the blade accurately enough to maintain a proper straight path. However, long rips do not pose the same threats. He's not in any way guaranteed to have a problem by cutting freehand - depending on what the definition of freehand is. I have been forced to make many free hand cuts on a table saw over the years. It's not my prefered technique or approach, but I've done it. You'd have to do more than simply assert that this is something that *will* some day result in a big crisis.
Nor do I. But at least it is more believable than the guy who was posting on the Saw Stop thread that his wife was a surgeon that does a thousand a year.
It doesn't correlate statistically with my experience as a maker of saws in defense of personal injury claims and providing individuals as technical experts in depositions.
This is an important matter. David should authenticate if it is true.
Table saws are inherently dangerous and all should be encouraged to use their guards, splitters, and pushsticks whenever possible, and their minds in all cases. UL/CSA standards committees should be encouraged to provide standards that would allow manufacturers to provide OEM guarding that is "practical" and effective. That has not always been the case.
There was a time, and it may have changed I'm several years out of the business, that the very good aftermarket guards no matter what brand could not have been supplied as standard equipment with UL/CSA saws because they didn't meet the standards. That doesn't make sense.
Frank
Mabe we'd better agree on a definition first. My definition of a freehand cut is one in which only the operator's hands are used to guide the work past the blade (this would include hand-held pushsticks etc), without using a guide of any sort -- no fences, jigs, fixtures, sleds, whatever, just the hands and hand-held devices.
Forced how/why?
OK, change that to "will probably"... It's not a good idea.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.