Originally Posted by
Mark Hennebury
I have done a lot of operations with various degrees of danger, Some woodworkers would find the way I work quite okay, others would want me put in jail. It depends on their point of view. I never had a blade guard on a table saw or a jointer, 18" saw blade 5-1/2" of blade above the table, 7.5hp motor, 24" jointer, jointed tens of thousands of bf lumber mostly using my hands, even jointed /Micro honed the blades with the machine running. I understand the risks, and my skills and make decisions on how to do an operation based on how many I have to do vs setup time, the probability of success, and where my fingers would be in case of failure. They are my rules. I don't have set rules like never get your fingers within 4", 6" 12" to a blade etc... or always use pushsticks etc. I don't have many blanket rules, I work on a case by case evaluation.
There are certain things that I do by instinct, safety glasses, dust masks, earplugs, roll up sleeves, , analyze the procedure plan the operation, mental run-through of the operation, commit to task and have the focus, control and discipline to see it through.
I personally would not do what that guy did in the photo. The fence has no advantage but increases the danger level considerably. My conclusion is the guy doesn't know what he is doing and will get hurt.
But it is no point me telling you how to do woodwork, because most woodworkers will say that I am dangerous and have a reckless disregard for safety, in their opinion.... couldn't be further from the truth in my opinion.
Most of what I see done in magazines and Youtube I disagree with, most of the Youtube Gurus, including the ones mentioned have had accidents on tables saws and jointers, even though they have all of safety guards, grippers and pushsticks.
Lots of people make excuses and say anyone can have an accident, which of course is true, but most accidents are caused by the person, are predictable and preventable. Most accidents that I have seen were not due to the operation being "too dangerous" just that the operator did not possess the level of ability to do it.
Personal Safety is personal, I work within my comfort zone. If i feel that I have better control feeding the wood by hand, then that is what I do. If i feel that i need a pushstick, then that is what I use. You have to evaluate each job.