Did anyone watch Ellen's Design Challenge on HGTV?

[Ellen Benkin]

On the last episode one of the "professional" carpenters had a horrible kickback on a tablesaw. I watched closely and could not see a spliter or riving knife on the saw (a Jet). The guys on the show then joked about it. I was surprised that they showed it and didn't take the opportunity to explain why it happened. What bad publicity for Jet!

[eugene thomas]

For tv viewing seems most reality TV shows think guards and such are a no no... must think we tool junky's like to see spinning blade.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think it was bad publicity for Jet. More than likely the people who know why it happened don't blame the tool, and the people who don't know why it happened aren't going to buy the tool anyway.

[richard poitras]

I like the show but one thing about it is they only have 3 days to complete a project so speed is of the essence and once you do that you tend to sacrifice safety.

[Chris Hachet]

I watch little Television, but I often see safety no no's when I see power tools operated.

[Stan Calow]

I saw one show where the assistant was cutting 2x4s free hand on table saw with no splitter/guard. Later in show he was walking around with a big bandage on his hand. Hmmm

[Chris Hachet]

I saw one show where the assistant was cutting 2x4s free hand on table saw with no splitter/guard. Later in show he was walking around with a big bandage on his hand. Hmmm


Was watching an old show with Norm Abram where he was using both the miter gauge and the fence to deal with stock...I kept waiting for something to bind up and get interesting...

[Joe Adams]

I watched the show and the guy was cutting 2x strips to make a butcher block top. I think it was actually the offcut that was thrown back by pressure from the plate of the saw blade but I could be wrong. It's not quite as scary as when the cut closes on the back of the blade and the whole thing comes back at 60mph. Been there. Done that.

I use the guard on my Delta Unisaw 95% of the time. (After the kickback incident.) The only exceptions are dado's and sled cuts.

I agree the time constraints are ridiculous. They create false "drama" and decrease safety. I'd much prefer them to have a week for the build so we can see everyone's best work.

All that being said, this show is more about design than process. Personally, I enjoy it.

[Jay Larson]

The one thing that I hate is my fiancee will see something and say that it only took them a couple of day to do all that. Why does it take me twice as long...
I try to tell her that a) I don't have any monkeys running around doing the little things, b) they edit out a few steps, and c) I can build it that fast but you won't like the quality. And I would be doing it over the right way.

[Larry Browning]

I like the show too, the wife and I watch it together. I agree with the previous poster who thought the show would be better if they were given a week to build something.

[Marty Schlosser]

I certainly agree that when you're in a hurry the likelihood of an accident when using power tools increases. However, assuming the saw in question comes with a properly fitted riving knife and effective guard, there was no reason whatsoever for having removed them. Further, the technique that I saw in that episode being displayed, was definitely unsafe.

It's my contention that the producer was negligent for allowing such technique to be shown. Perhaps they should have a knowledgeable safety specialist on hand to advise them?


I like the show but one thing about it is they only have 3 days to complete a project so speed is of the essence and once you do that you tend to sacrifice safety.

[Ted Calver]

I've been watching the show and saw that kickback. Some of the "professional" helpers are just guys from other reality shows. I wonder what their credentials are other than that? I don't know anyone with any sense that doesn't at least use a splitter when ripping. At least he had the sense to stand off to the side.

[Jeff Franklin]

The way they edited that event (I used to be a video editor BTW) I could not really tell the exact sequence of events. Being new to woodworking I noticed something that I don't understand. He had the fence on the left side of the blade. Why would you need to do this? Seems like it could have contributed to the problem.

The other thing I saw was Sef wrangling a long, thick piece of hardwood through the table saw - and struggling with it. At one point it looked like he actually wiggled it left and right and I fully expected the board to fly back and smash his forehead to jelly on national TV. Plus, he had a Grripper right there, sitting unused on the table saw.

Safety is definitely taking a back seat. The producers should be made aware.

[Larry Browning]

Safety is definitely taking a back seat. The producers should be made aware.

The cynic in me thinks that the producers not only are aware of the safety issues, they are secretly wishing someone will get hurt in hopes of boosting the ratings. You know those contestants signed all sorts of liability waivers before they ever stepped foot in that shop.

[Chris Padilla]

The way they edited that event (I used to be a video editor BTW) I could not really tell the exact sequence of events. Being new to woodworking I noticed something that I don't understand. He had the fence on the left side of the blade. Why would you need to do this? Seems like it could have contributed to the problem.

That is a good point about watching some of these shows on TV. I think we all assume we are seeing things in CHRONOLOGICAL order but I'm sure that isn't true ALL the time. The wife likes Flip or Flop (Tauruk (sp?) and Christine) and I have to question the order in which things are presented to the viewer (not to mention their really low prices to do things like landscape and bathrooms, etc. but that is a topic for another thread).

As to moving the fence to the left of the blade, that is a normal procedure depending up how you like to cut angles other than 0/90 degrees. Saws tilt right or tilt left. It ought not contribute to a potential kickback situation assuming the fence is dead parallel to the blade.

[Prashun Patel]

Kickback and it's associated danger isn't very intuitive to the uninformed. For this reason, I don't fault Ellen or even the show producers for not quite getting it. But the designers and especially the 'carpenters' should have been shocked and known better. Instead they smiled and laughed it off. "Woah, wouldn't it have been funny if that shot me in the back?!"

There should be some kind of safety penalty if you don't abide.

Ellen seems like a very nice, genuine person, and I can't imagine the show's producers WANT people to get hurt for ratings. Rather, I think the show encourages the players to be helpful and encouraging.

Even when contestants have the opportunity to 'steal' from each other during theme selections, they don't. They all want to win fair and square and recognize each other's good work too. It's a very good show.

It's like the Downton Abbey of reality shows.

[Larry Browning]

Prashum,
I am by no means "in the business", but I do know that TV production is an extremely tough and cut throat business (or so I have been told). "Helpful and encouraging" would only be encouraged if it helped the ratings. Cause without the ratings, they can't get sponsors to pay and without the sponsors there will be no show. They are in the business to make money. If they don't make money, they look for something that does. It really doesn't matter how good the show is, great shows get canceled all the time. So in my mind, if the producers thought an accident would improve the ratings, they would probably secretly be happy about it. Of course, they would be horrified publicly, and take all sorts of measures to make things safer, but if the truth be known, if an accident improved the ratings, they would be jumping for joy behind closed doors.