Ever have one of those days

[Jay Jolliffe]

that when you bought your new table saw two years ago that you had the extra $2000.00 for a Saw Stop saw. I do today. I was using a dado blade to cut a stopped dado in the side stiles for frame & panel doors, which I've done it this way a hundred times. Well I don't know what I did different this time but I just got back from the clinic. The pad or what ever you call on the bottom of my thumb looks like hamburg & the finger next to it has six stitches across the top. Hurt's like he**. I'm Waiting for the sh** storm from my wife which will be coming. For the ones who need pics there won't be any. Just picture two fingers the met up with a dado blade set at 7/32's..I think you can figure it out. I could be closer getting that new Saw Stop. Any one interested in a nice Canadian General 350 low mileage only one accident.:(

[Rod Sheridan]

Jay, I am glad the injuries were so slight, although I'm sure they really hurt.

People under estimate the risk of running a saw without a guard, however it is substantial.

You could do what I did with my General 650 and put an Excalibur overarm guard and Merlin splitter on it.

With the above setup you get above the table dust collection and the ability to use the guard on non through cuts.

Regards, Rod.

[Robert Reece]

Sorry to hear about your accident. My Dad sawed his thumbprint off once so this type of thing must happen frequently.

Hopefully after you think about it some you'll figure out what you did. Please post back if you figure out the failure point because it helps others to think it through and hopefully avoid what you did (no offense intended, just like to know the specifics of how an accident occurred).

Here's to a speedy recovery! When I cut my finger tip off with the bandsaw, I spent a good week zoned out on painkillers.

[Victor Robinson]

Ouch! Sorry Jay. I hope it heals up well and you're back to the shop soon.

If your memory returns on what you were doing and how it went wrong it would be really helpful to us to know so we can try to avoid the same...

[Van Huskey]

You could do what I did with my General 650 and put an Excalibur overarm guard and Merlin splitter on it.

With the above setup you get above the table dust collection and the ability to use the guard on non through cuts.

Regards, Rod.

+1!!!

A good overarm guard is a wonderful thing. We often forget there is a lot of room to improve the safety of cabinet saws without "having" to buy a SS. No question the SS has a huge advantage for safety but that doesn't mean we can't improve the safety of what we have.

Jay hope you are "back on your fingers" soon!

[Neil Brooks]

Rod Sheridan will probably know what I mean when I say ....

I'm a BMW motorcycle rider. Years ago, I got tired of people telling me "dead biker" stories.

But then I realized ... I should be grateful for the reminder ... the reminder that it really COULD be any one of us.

So ... thanks for the reminder. Heal fast. Heal fully. Get back in the shop, asap !

[Brian Kent]

Does the SS safety feature work on Dado blades?

[Philip Rodriquez]

Does the SS safety feature work on Dado blades?

Yes, it does. However, you have to buy a special brake that works with the 8" dado stack.

[Chris Kennedy]

Sounds rough. Sorry to hear it and hope you heal up quickly.

Cheers,

Chris

[Peter Aeschliman]

Bummer. Sorry man.

If you can't afford (or justify the expense of) the sawstop, then yes, an overarm guard that works for non-through cuts is a must.

Either way, I think this is a good time to make that decision.

I have a sawstop, and the stacked dado still freaks me out. It's one thing to cut your finger off. It's another to grind it into hamburger. eek!

[Shawn Morley]

Ouch, sorry to hear of the misfortune. I had an employee rout a profile in his thumb last year, at least he was able to show it off anywhere we went.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Thanks people for the kind words. I'm selling my saw & getting a saw stop. I have to sell the old saw first. I went to the shop today & figured another way to do the stopped dado. I knew I could do it this way but the dado blade is faster, removes more material & finger flesh faster. So I'm doing them on the router table with a lift. Much safer than lowering the wood onto the blade & stopping at a certain point & lifting if off. I know real stupid procedure. I do also know the router can do a lot of damage if not careful. I've had two warnings that removed parts of my fingers with a table saw & i'm not wanting another. So I guess a new saw is in order. My wife is also pushing for it so that will be easier spending the money.

[Mike Cruz]

Looks like it didn't affect your typing too badly...:o

Sorry to hear about it. Thanks for the reminder. Get well, and back to wwing.