Comments on: When Is An Operation Too Dangerous?

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:58:14 +0000

I’m new to woodworking. I bought many books the year or two before I started and am always surprised to read conflicting advice from experts…”saw blade no higher than 1/8″ above work” or conversely “keep the blade high to reduce kickback”,… “never free-hand” or “sometimes you have no choice other than to free-hand.” etc. There are many more,as you all probably know.
I think most experienced woodwoorkers assess “risk” partly based on individual level of experience and mentally calculate how “risky” a particular operation may be (for them). My problem is I don’t have a lot of experience and need to rely on the advice from seasoned craftmen. So I’ve adopted the attitude to always go with the safest method, even though doing so, will be a pain to setup or (God forbid) use hand tools.
Still haven’t completely figured out the blade height thing…

By: David

David — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:51:40 +0000

I teach a high school shop class. I teach my students to always use the guards, use stop blocks, push sticks, where to stand etc. I also mention that they will see people on tv shows doing things the wrong way. I tell them that a great deal of safety is common sense but that alot of people don’t have common sense. I teach the right way to work wood realizing that after they leave my shop they will have to decide for themselves if the will do it the right way. I have been teaching for almost 20 years and still have all my fingers and two functioning eyes. All of my students have left my classes without serious injuries. Nuff said.

By: Barry

Barry — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:42:46 +0000

If a person bypasses the safety features of a tool, and doesn’t use it properly, common sense is not part of the equation. Had a friend who never used the guard on his table saw since he never saw one used on New Yankee Workshop. Lost three fingers because of it. To me, that is not a display of common sense.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:45:23 +0000

I’m guilty!
In my defense though, I believe it’s all about using common sense. If a piece seems too small to rip, it probably is. I’ve been smacked a few times with pieces flying out of the saw and it’s taught me to stand to the left a little bit. I’m not saying it’s the right way, I guess it’s just what you’re used too.

By: Walt Barnes

Walt Barnes — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:32:08 +0000

You can bet I wouldn’t