Sawstop save

[earl wojciechowski]

I am building a medicine cabinet (following article in recent popular woodworking) and was ripping maple boards to width.
I have been doing woodworking for over 25+ years and should know better. I was using a magnetic featherboard to hold the board against the fence.
Now the really dumb part, reached behind the blade while ripping to push the board against the fence behind the blade.
Next thing I knew, felt a small nick on my hand and the saw stopped. Knew immediately what happened and was really annoyed at myself.
I looked at my thumb, and sure enough there was a small nick, but no blood. Scared the bejezzers out of me.
Shut down for lunch and to collect my wits about myself.
I realize that if it was not for the sawstop feature, I probably would have lost the tip of my thumb :-(

Will eat some lunch, undue the damage and buy a new blade and Sawstop cartridge to continue my project. Won't be reaching behind the blade anymore.

Earl Wojo2

[Sid Matheny]

Good to hear you were not hurt. Things happen fast!

[Ben Rivel]

Nice. Glad you didnt have to go through a worse experience with that one. Be sure to send the brake to SawStop as I understand they will give you a free one if it triggered due to the blade contacting skin.

[mreza Salav]

Second SS save in this week here. Good to hear you are Ok. I too would be mad at myself for doing that.
But why do you need to push the back of the blade against fence? were you using riving knife?

[Mike Henderson]

Glad you're okay. That "insurance" you bought with the SawStop paid off.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

So the price difference just disappeared, eh? glad you weren't hurt.

[Joe Jensen]

Glad you were not hurt. When I was young I did tons of unsafe things and I was largely just lucky until I got a sawstop and became much more aware of the safety aspect. Now I'm a bit of a wussy and I cringe at cuts on TV shows all the time, especially the home improvement shows where they have somebody who has never used a table saw cutting with no guard.

[Ben Rivel]

Now I'm a bit of a wussy and I cringe at cuts on TV shows all the time, especially the home improvement shows where they have somebody who has never used a table saw cutting with no guard.
Oh those are the worst! These DIY YouTubers that pop up overnight everyday showing people how to build their own bookshelves and coffee tables and have no idea how to use the tools themselves are painful to watch too. Its even more interesting when they show their accidents and trips to the hospital when things go wrong.

[Neil Gaskin]

These two recent threads about saw stop saves make feel good about the recent purchases we made for our company. Glad both of you are ok.

[Victor Robinson]

Glad you're ok!

I know the instinct to push the board to the fence behind the blade...it's disconcerting to see the board peeling off the fence behind the blade as a sign that something is not right with the cut.

Question: Was there a kickback as a result of your pushing the board against the fence behind the blade or did your hand just graze the blade in the act?

[Daniel O'Neill]

Glad you're okay!

[Rick Fisher]

Wow.. Just imagine the pain that Saw Stop saved you .. ugh.. Today would be a rough day without it..

Good story

[Keith Hankins]

Wow glad you are ok! I've had mine two years and no issues, but good to know its there. Take care.

[Rod Sheridan]

Earl, I'm very glad to hear that you're OK.

I suggest that in the future for ripping solid wood you use a short fence that ends at the front of the blade.

A simple "L" shape made from 2 pieces of 4 inch wide wood clamped to your fence would provide a short fence for you.

If you make it exactly 4 inch or 3 inch, it's easy to still use the rip fence scale for dimensioning.

Oh, and make sure the guard/splitter/riving knife is on the saw..............Regards, Rod.

[Jim Andrew]

Do you not use pushsticks?

[johnny means]

All I hear is that you ruined a good blade and have to get a new$70 brake. Damned Sawstops.

[Rod Sheridan]

All I hear is that you ruined a good blade and have to get a new$70 brake. Damned Sawstops.

Hopefully that was meant to be humorous?

What I heard was that he didn't lose a finger, simply received a scratch.

regards, Rod.

[Mike Henderson]

All I hear is that you ruined a good blade and have to get a new$70 brake. Damned Sawstops.
Let's see what you would have heard if he didn't have a SawStop.

"Cut my finger off. Rushed to the ER where they sewed it back on. Cost me (and the insurance company) over $100,000 and I still can't feel anything on that finger or move it very well. And it's a little shorter than it used to be."

And that's the best case outcome.

Mike

[To give some cost comparison, I had an accident (not a shop accident) where I split my lip pretty bad. If I had let it heal on its own, I would have had a bad scar. Went to a plastic surgeon who sewed it up. Billed the insurance company a bit over $12,000. I'm sure they didn't pay all that but that was the bill - just for sewing up my lip so that it wouldn't have a noticeable scar. Yep, that's me in the picture below getting my lip sewn up.]
338480

[Glenn de Souza]

Earl, I'm very glad to hear that you're OK.

I suggest that in the future for ripping solid wood you use a short fence that ends at the front of the blade.

A simple "L" shape made from 2 pieces of 4 inch wide wood clamped to your fence would provide a short fence for you.

If you make it exactly 4 inch or 3 inch, it's easy to still use the rip fence scale for dimensioning.

Oh, and make sure the guard/splitter/riving knife is on the saw..............Regards, Rod.

Hi - is the purpose of the short fence to prevent any binding happening past the leading edge of the blade?

I have a Biesmeyer style fence, but I have worked in shops with the Delta Unifence and I recall that it can be adjusted to accomplish what you are describing.

[johnny means]

Hopefully that was meant to be humorous?

What I heard was that he didn't lose a finger, simply received a scratch.

regards, Rod.

I'd rather die with no thumbs than live under the twin thumb screws of corporate greed and government regulation.

[Joe Jensen]

I'd rather die with no thumbs than live under the twin thumb screws of corporate greed and government regulation.

Really? That's a big one

[Frank Pratt]

I'd rather die with no thumbs than live under the twin thumb screws of corporate greed and government regulation.

Whatever... Pretty sad.

[Ben Rivel]

I'd rather die with no thumbs than live under the twin thumb screws of corporate greed and government regulation.
LOL and you think any other / EVERY other corporation isnt doing / hasnt tried / wouldnt do if they could the exact same things?! If so I wish I lived in the same world you do...

[Rod Sheridan]

I'd rather die with no thumbs than live under the twin thumb screws of corporate greed and government regulation.

I'd rather keep my thumbs.......There are better hills to die on than the SS one.

[mark mcfarlane]

Hi - is the purpose of the short fence to prevent any binding happening past the leading edge of the blade?

I have a Biesmeyer style fence, but I have worked in shops with the Delta Unifence and I recall that it can be adjusted to accomplish what you are describing.

Yes, the short fence helps prevent binding at the back if the blade, thereby reducing kickback chances. You can do this with your Biesmeyer fence, just attach a piece of plywood (or whatever) to the infeed side of the Biesmeyer fence and make it stop ~ 1" inch into the blade.

Here's an example (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7QXIN2X8-w) jig.

[jessie hachey]

Glad to hear you aren't hurt.

I have never had a Saw Stop. Been doing woodworking and cabinetry in an industrial setting for 11 years. I run a 5hp 12" saw, had several close calls, all parts in tact, zero hospital visits. But when I say close I mean close.. I almost lost my balls one day!! Literally.... That chunk of wood blew a total of 4 holes in my jeans, 2 holes in my underwear, and a large chunk out of the concrete block wall behind the saw, all in one motion. All because my push stick slipped out of my hand, which hit me in the gut... Moral of the story.. be ready for anything..

I never subscribed to SawStop just because there's an override switch for working on damp material. So basically if I run damp material and I forget to hit the override switch, it costs me $300... Then after you run damp material, you have to worry about employees turning the safety back on. I always figured too much cost and messing around. I figure if I lost a finger it would be on my jobsite saw anyway, cause I don't work quite as dangerously in shop.

[William C Rogers]

Glad to hear you aren't hurt.

I have never had a Saw Stop. Been doing woodworking and cabinetry in an industrial setting for 11 years. I run a 5hp 12" saw, had several close calls, all parts in tact, zero hospital visits. But when I say close I mean close.. I almost lost my balls one day!! Literally.... That chunk of wood blew a total of 4 holes in my jeans, 2 holes in my underwear, and a large chunk out of the concrete block wall behind the saw, all in one motion. All because my push stick slipped out of my hand, which hit me in the gut... Moral of the story.. be ready for anything..

I never subscribed to SawStop just because there's an override switch for working on damp material. So basically if I run damp material and I forget to hit the override switch, it costs me $300... Then after you run damp material, you have to worry about employees turning the safety back on. I always figured too much cost and messing around. I figure if I lost a finger it would be on my jobsite saw anyway, cause I don't work quite as dangerously in shop.


Just st a clarification: the safety resets automatically when the stop switch is initiated. You must reset the safety each time you start the saw.

[Sean Troy]

Doesn't the Saw Stop have a riving knife? If so, why would you be pushing the board against the fence behind the blade?

[johnny means]

I'm still surprised that everytime these threads come up the same old "wet material", "forget the override", "what if I hit a staple", "adjusting the brake for every blade" ideas are still floating around.