Why it's called a chop saw!!

[Keith]

I recently learned that two weeks ago an old friend almost lost his arm above the wrist when his sleeve got caught by the chop saw blade, dragged his arm in and cut it to just short of the tendons and main artery. His son told me the arm was hanging down.....His father grabbed it and pushed it against the other severed section, then ran across the street to get a neighbor to call an ambulance.

Doctors spent three hours doing what they could to prepare him for airlift to a larger hospital some 500 miles away.

Once there, he spent 9 hours in surgery. They must have done a miraculous job because he was able to move his fingers within a few hours after! He was a VERY lucky man.

Bottom line - Don't look away while you're cutting and don't wear long sleeves....It only takes a second. Makes me think that one of those instant-stop devices might not be such a bad idea. I guess Nahm's repeated safety tips aren't such a bad idea after all :O)

Keith P

[Don D.]

Been there done that from years back. But not as bad.

I was in High school I.A. about 25 years ago and we had a mitersaw in wood shop that someone took the guard off and I being left handed grabbed the handle with my left hand and the short piece of stock in my right started cutting, the stock must of slid while cutting and got caught by the blade, my fingers went into the saw and it took my middle finger off and cut my pointer up. I cupped everything together and went to tell the teacher I cut my finger and I need stitches.

The best part was when I told the teach, he acted like a big ass that he was anyway and said "did you get a little cut? let me see what you did" I showed him a he fainted at that point. A couple of us in I.A. when to the hospital alone and the doctors sewed the middle finger back on and stitched the pointer closed and teach finely showed up about a half hour later.

Bad part was I could not return to I.A. wood or metal shop for the rest of the year because my fingers were rapped.

The school was in the wrong by having the guard off.

That is only one left handed episode. (thinking more now before I operated any tool)

Don D.

[makesawdust]

When I was a young guy working in a cabinet shop we had a 15" miter sa that we called the "widow maker". I tried to avoid this machine at al costs, but had to use it on occassion. One day, while using it m t-shirt got caught in the blade - evidently the front of my shirt wa untucked and touched the blade. I was fortunately able to brace mysel against the workbench while the saw tore the shirt from by body. It's miracle that I didn't do open heart surgery on myself that day

-- makesawdust

[Mike Marlow]

Loose clothing and any type of moving machinery do not go together. Not that just about all of us haven't been just plain old luck not to have experienced this same thing...

[firstjois]

Are all forms of the "chop saw" equally dangerous? Mitre? Compound? Any other name?

Josie

[Richard Clements]

recently learned that two weeks ago an old friend almost lcaughts

blade, dragged his arm in and cut it to just short of the tendons

there a LOT safer then a RAS, but all power tools should be used with care, in high school the shop teacher would make everyone take of all rings, and he would show some pictures of a kid who had a class ring on and it got caught in the table saw, it was nasty, it pulled muscle, tendends and other soft tissue from all the way back to the elbow

you only need to see something like once

[Mike Marlow]

I won't agree with the "don't wear long sleeves" part, but I do agree with being very aware and keeping a focused approach to power tools.

Hmmmm... maybe we need a new "don't"... don't wear shirts while using power tools. Now... where's the 28 year old brunette shop assistant I've been talking about?

But, as long as we're telling war stories... back in the early days of my career I was a tech for a mainframe computer manufacturer. This was in the old days when we actually climbed inside frames and cleaned things. On a particular day I was cleaning a line printer with our standard vacuum - a Cadillac rotary. These things had a screen that locked in place over the impeller, with a quarter turn twist but they were constantly coming out. Well... the company had a policy that we had to wear ties. Absorbed in my cleaning duties, I didn't notice the screen come off the vacuum. Next thing I know the vacuum is winding it's way up my tie. Did I say these things couldn't be stopped with a crowbar jammed in the impeller? All the way up. I'm eating the metal skin of this thing and it's still trying to climb up me more. Twisting all the while it's climbing. Neck tie. Twisting. My partner is just standing there looking at me in total shock. He can't move. He thinks he's watching a guy die. So do I. Finally I fumbled around enough to hit the power switch. Had to grab my jack knife and cut my tie off before I could breath. Meanwhile my partner is still just standing there.

I tried to turn that to my advantage and get the company to drop the tie requirement, but they didn't go for it.

[Doug Miller]

How do you figure that? A radial arm saw isn't dangerous unless you put your hand in the path of the blade. Of course, if you're dumb enough to do that, anything as complicated as a butter knife may be dangerous to operate.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

I hate to think about what she might drag through the blade. What a waste!

[Mike]

I've always wondered if Norm is more safe on TV than in real life. Oh..and that table saw guard that they claim is taken off for the TV viewer, I'll bet Norm doesn't even know where it is.

Mike

[pray4surf]

And did see that 'photo' in USAF - finger with ring, caught on something remove the finger and muscles and tendons - No rings when working around the aircraft...

My near miss came just the other day. Ripping some short stock on the table saw (guard removed) moved my left hand to assist in keeping the stock against the fence and in doing so brushed my left thumb across the spinning blade. So lucky that all I got was a small cut maybe 1/16" deep and 3/8" long. Scared the crap out of me. I realize that in that same instant, I could be minus a thumb...

Rick

[Greg O]

I had a 4-1/2" 10,000 RPM angle grinder with a wire wheel in it attack me one day. I was wearing a button up work shirt and the front of the shirt got caught in the wire wheel. It wrapped it up so fast it was like getting punched by Mike Tyson in the chest. It dropped me to the floor and I had to sit there for a few seconds to catch my breath. Luckily the grinder stalled when it ran out of shirt so no real harm was done, other than to the shirt! I had to pull the cord from the wall socket as the grinder was humming away, trying to turn. Most fun I had in a long time, at least since the time I set myself on fire, but I will save that for another day! Greg

[Prometheus]

I don't think so... I've got a 10" simple miter saw, and I couldn't imagine calling it a Widowmaker, or anything of the sort. Just a handy little tool. It's got a guard, and can't kickback- reasonable amounts of caution supply all the safety I need. A compound miter saw might be a different story. And, as far as I know "chop saw" usually refers to the big ol' metal cutting saws with the abrasive disc instead of a blade and a vise for holding pipe.

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

[Swingman]

Bind the blade in "simple miter saw" someday and you might be surprised. And a sliding miter saw can definitely "kick back" quicker than you can say "Boob Villa" ... and unlike a table saw, the whole head assembly comes back at you.

[Keith]

Oh Lordy!!! I have a Makita 12" saw on layaway and after using my neighbors Makita 10" for the last year (what a great neighbor, however he moved house) thought it was the cat's meow. I have something in mind that will definitely increase the safety factor for all operators and on any machinery....It involves electronics - very small - VERY inexpensive.

Keith

[rcook5]

Amen to that! A second's inattention around power tools can have devastating -- and lifelong -- results.

I'm still a little afraid of my saws and such and I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

--RC

Projects expand to fill the clamps available -- plus 20 percent

[Don D.]

Rule of thumb: Always have a little fear in power tools. When you become not afraid you may start acting stupid and things will happen. Know how to operate the tool properly and respect it for what it does and what it can do to you if not handled properly. Take it from me being left handed and having to think twice on most tools. I am in a right handed world. Two saw accidents with saws, one on the hand (miter saw) and one in the left leg (skill saw). Both being a dumb and kid not thinking. Don D.

[Lazarus Long]

Well, I kinda agree with Mr. Clements on this. Here's my reasoning - my mental picture of an RAS is the Craftsman one. The way it was sold back around 20 years ago was with no guard. Normally when used crosscut, you knew damn well to keep your fingers/hands/arm away from it. However, it's adjustability would allow you to pull it to the end of the arm to rip a board. IMO, probably not the best tool for ripping, but it was capable. So now you've got all that spinning steel totally exposed just inches from disaster. You know damn well if it's easy to touch and with no guard to at least warn your hand it's too close, that someone will touch it.

My compound miter saw at least has a guard. The blade is fairly well covered up to stop such disasters from happening.

[Prometheus]

Yes, a radial arm saw can kick back, but I can't imagine that the miter saw would do much, unless I had my nose right over the handle and it kicked itself back up. All the force is pushing the wood down and towards the fence- it's certainly safer than many other types of saw, IMO. Granted, some folks could chop off a finger with a butterknife, but when it comes to particularly dangerous tools, miter saws are not very high on my list. Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

[Prometheus]

Ok, I agree with a "little fear"- but it's not good to get gunshy, either. If you're too scared of a tool, and trying to stay as far away as possible, it's just as likely to cause an accident as doing something more obviously stupid. I'm not saying you're guilty of this, just pointing it out for anyone that may be just beginning in woodworking. A little knowledge and a lot of control goes a long way towards staying safe. Aut inveniam viam aut faciam