Dale Thompson
05-03-2005, 9:57 PM
Hi Folks,
I think that was the name given to a bomb in WWII that was used for dam busting. I came close to having one on the TS late yesterday afternoon.
We have quite a few safety posts on this Forum. That is GOOD! Here is another one: A while back, we had a very long and informative discussion on the Sawstop. I made several points on safety in the shop in that post. Two of them involved “fatigue” and “showing off”. This is the scenario:
I am making a rounded table/cabinet for my daughter and SIL. The cabinet part requires four simple shelves. They are Oak plywood faced with solid Oak strips. They are simple rectangles with one corner rounded at a 4” radius. After many complex, for me, mathematical calculations, I determined that if I ripped about 1” from the back of the shelves and about 1” from each square end, the shelves would fit “better” into the cabinet. BRILLIANT!! Anyway, I was a bit tired but even a normal moron who was half asleep could SAFELY make four “simple” rips and four “simple” cross cuts on some “simple” flat stock. FIRST MISTAKE: I AM A SUBNORMAL MORON! Also, it was time to pour a “pint” and check out the cadavers who were floating down The Creek and showing off their talent. In addition, while I was not exactly “showing off”, I was mentally patting myself on the back for a few “new” cuts that I had made earlier in the day. Actually, they weren’t even mediocre but they weren’t total scrap either.
Pic #1 Shows what I think went wrong. The shelf hit the fence and I kind of deflected it away from me. As luck would have it, the piece “danced” across the blade and didn’t even leave the tabletop. I will admit, though, that there was a second or two when I wished that I were somewhere else – ANYWHERE else! After I hit the floor and killed the motor, my first reaction was that I had forgotten to “lock” the fence. WRONG! The fence had moved over about two inches but was still in the “locked” position. I didn’t think that that was even possible. Fortunately for me, it had apparently absorbed much of the potential “kickback” energy.
Pic #2 Shows that I SHOULD have feed the radiused end first and also shows the tracks of the blade as the shelf “danced” in a manner that was completely out of control.
I just wrecked one out of my four shelves.
From the three left, I did a perfect job of shortening the first TWO! You will not believe Pic#3 – even if you know me! Being a bit “shook up” I started to cut the WRONG end! Well, for some reason, instead of finishing my mistake, I decided to pull back on the Incra. BAD DECISION!! Again, I was VERY lucky. The Incra absorbed most of the “kick” and the only damage was that it was knocked out of “square by about 7 deg.
Pic #4 shows you the damage to the second shelf. HEH! Two out of four is a darn good average for moi!
Moral: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “SIMPLE” CUT! Either CONCENTRATE or PROCRASTINATE – no exceptions!
DISCLAIMER: The guard is removed from the saw for picture clarity. ;)
DISCLAIMER: NASA removed my brain many years ago. They had a new electron microscope with which then could view sub-atomic particles. For twenty years they have searched for a SINGLE living brain cell. To date, the results have NOT been encouraging! :o :( :eek: :eek:
Dale T.
I think that was the name given to a bomb in WWII that was used for dam busting. I came close to having one on the TS late yesterday afternoon.
We have quite a few safety posts on this Forum. That is GOOD! Here is another one: A while back, we had a very long and informative discussion on the Sawstop. I made several points on safety in the shop in that post. Two of them involved “fatigue” and “showing off”. This is the scenario:
I am making a rounded table/cabinet for my daughter and SIL. The cabinet part requires four simple shelves. They are Oak plywood faced with solid Oak strips. They are simple rectangles with one corner rounded at a 4” radius. After many complex, for me, mathematical calculations, I determined that if I ripped about 1” from the back of the shelves and about 1” from each square end, the shelves would fit “better” into the cabinet. BRILLIANT!! Anyway, I was a bit tired but even a normal moron who was half asleep could SAFELY make four “simple” rips and four “simple” cross cuts on some “simple” flat stock. FIRST MISTAKE: I AM A SUBNORMAL MORON! Also, it was time to pour a “pint” and check out the cadavers who were floating down The Creek and showing off their talent. In addition, while I was not exactly “showing off”, I was mentally patting myself on the back for a few “new” cuts that I had made earlier in the day. Actually, they weren’t even mediocre but they weren’t total scrap either.
Pic #1 Shows what I think went wrong. The shelf hit the fence and I kind of deflected it away from me. As luck would have it, the piece “danced” across the blade and didn’t even leave the tabletop. I will admit, though, that there was a second or two when I wished that I were somewhere else – ANYWHERE else! After I hit the floor and killed the motor, my first reaction was that I had forgotten to “lock” the fence. WRONG! The fence had moved over about two inches but was still in the “locked” position. I didn’t think that that was even possible. Fortunately for me, it had apparently absorbed much of the potential “kickback” energy.
Pic #2 Shows that I SHOULD have feed the radiused end first and also shows the tracks of the blade as the shelf “danced” in a manner that was completely out of control.
I just wrecked one out of my four shelves.
From the three left, I did a perfect job of shortening the first TWO! You will not believe Pic#3 – even if you know me! Being a bit “shook up” I started to cut the WRONG end! Well, for some reason, instead of finishing my mistake, I decided to pull back on the Incra. BAD DECISION!! Again, I was VERY lucky. The Incra absorbed most of the “kick” and the only damage was that it was knocked out of “square by about 7 deg.
Pic #4 shows you the damage to the second shelf. HEH! Two out of four is a darn good average for moi!
Moral: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “SIMPLE” CUT! Either CONCENTRATE or PROCRASTINATE – no exceptions!
DISCLAIMER: The guard is removed from the saw for picture clarity. ;)
DISCLAIMER: NASA removed my brain many years ago. They had a new electron microscope with which then could view sub-atomic particles. For twenty years they have searched for a SINGLE living brain cell. To date, the results have NOT been encouraging! :o :( :eek: :eek:
Dale T.