A New Way of Injuring Yourself on the Bandsaw!

[David Walser]

Alan Stratton has a popular woodturning channel on YouTube. Today, he posted a video explaining how he recently injured himself on his bandsaw. It's a method of injury that I had never dreamt could occur. It's also a method that cannot happen on many modern bandsaws. However, if you have a old Delta 14" bandsaw (or one of the many clones) you should look at this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-CEZX98T4

[Gary Pennington]

Amazing. Thanks for posting.

g

[Reed Gray]

Both of my bandsaws, a little PM and a big Laguna, both have the up side of the blade totally enclosed so that can't happen. Surprised that that design made it off the design table. Wonder how fast Jet will fix this????

robo hippy

[Tim Elett]

I am assuming that guard comes in the riser block kit for powermatic?

[Edward Weber]

I think someone didn't install the plastic guard.
I have a 14" HF, when I got a riser block kit, it came with a longer guard.
I can honestly say if it didn't, I would have made one. Having a saw like that is simply unnecessarily unsafe.
This is why I have a love/hate issue with youtubers.
He didn't fix his saw because it was the right or safe thing to do, he fixed it because he got hurt. Which, looking at it seemed inevitable, with the blade so close to the power switch.
He may be good at other things but having a tool like that is kind of a deal breaker. I would unsubscribe.
JMHO.

[Robert Hayward]

I also thought the bandsaw was missing a guard. So I went to the Jet site and poked around. Here is a section of one of the pictures Jet uses to sell the machine and a section of a page from the manual. Sure looks to me like the bandsaw is made that way, no cover over the blade on the switch side. Cannot believe that is being sold that way today.

[Edward Weber]

I had to look it up out of curiosity
Here is a basic riser block kit
https://www.rockler.com/jet-band-saw-riser-blocks?country=US&sid=V91040&promo=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=PL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl9j0wPbC8gIVHz2tBh3Q2gjZEAQYAiAB EgJpo_D_BwE
Yes, there is a blade guard included.

[George Heatherly]

I have that riser block installed on my old blue Jet 14" bandsaw. The guard is installed and is visible in the video. It is open in the front as shown in the video. I think it is open to facilitate blade changes. I will probably tape a thin strip of some material to mine to act as a warning device. The openning in the guard is not very wide, I think Mr. Stratton must have beeb VERY unlucky to hit the opening in exactly the wrong place to get his finger cut!

[Gary Pennington]

I have a PM without riser but has the same type of slotted guard. It has a 1/4" blade mounted that tracks in the center of the top wheel which puts the blade almost an inch away from the opening. There's no way any of my fingers will fit into the slot. Maybe with a wide blade tracked to the front of the wheel issues could arise. With a narrow blade its a non-issue IMHO.

g

[John K Jordan]

I had to look it up out of curiosity
Here is a basic riser block kit
https://www.rockler.com/jet-band-saw-riser-blocks?country=US&sid=V91040&promo=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=PL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl9j0wPbC8gIVHz2tBh3Q2gjZEAQYAiAB EgJpo_D_BwE
Yes, there is a blade guard included.

I think the blade guard protects from touching the side of the blade but still has the slot in the edge the guy stuck his finger into.

As I posted on another forum, I have a 14" Delta with riser block which has the opening in the front also. However, with a 1/2" blade there is no way I can stick any finger far enough into the slot to contact the teeth of the blade. I adjust my bandsaws so the blade runs on the center of the crown on both wheels. Perhaps the guy had his saw adjusted so the blade was running on the very front of the tire. Or perhaps he was using a 3/4" or 1" wide blade, in which case it probably wasn't adjusted properly since that saw cannot properly tension a wider blade.

Those with wide blades and improper adjustment and prone to carelessness might want to make a guard for the area near the switch. If the blade is wandering too close to the front of the slot, a piece of tape may not help.

I'm not sure I like the beanbag support either, seems likely to shift during the cut cause a big and dangerous problem.

JKJ

[richard shelby]

Also..a "dead man" switch on a foot pedal is a good idea. I secure my wood with bar clamps.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

I have that saw with the riser installed. Don't remember a blade guard for it. Had it for about 20 years and haven't hurt myself yet. Without the video tomorrow would be the day I stuck my finger in there. Thanks for the tip.

[Edward Weber]

I think the blade guard protects from touching the side of the blade but still has the slot in the edge the guy stuck his finger into.

As I posted on another forum, I have a 14" Delta with riser block which has the opening in the front also. However, with a 1/2" blade there is no way I can stick any finger far enough into the slot to contact the teeth of the blade. I adjust my bandsaws so the blade runs on the center of the crown on both wheels. Perhaps the guy had his saw adjusted so the blade was running on the very front of the tire. Or perhaps he was using a 3/4" or 1" wide blade, in which case it probably wasn't adjusted properly since that saw cannot properly tension a wider blade.

Those with wide blades and improper adjustment and prone to carelessness might want to make a guard for the area near the switch. If the blade is wandering too close to the front of the slot, a piece of tape may not help.

I'm not sure I like the beanbag support either, seems likely to shift during the cut cause a big and dangerous problem.

JKJ


There is no gap in which to stick your finger or anything else. My little saw has an identical setup and the blade is totally encapsulated and is designed to accept even the widest blade for that saw.
Also not a fan of the bean bag but it seems to be in line with the level of safety he's comfortable with.
To each their own.
I have all my digits intact and plan to keep them that way

[David Walser]

There is no gap in which to stick your finger or anything else. My little saw has an identical setup and the blade is totally encapsulated and is designed to accept even the widest blade for that saw.
Also not a fan of the bean bag but it seems to be in line with the level of safety he's comfortable with.
To each their own.
I have all my digits intact and plan to keep them that way

Edward -- You're being unfair to Alan Stratton, who was courageous enough to post a video that did not show himself in the best light. He did that only to alert our community to a possible safety issue -- knowing that many would take shots at him for being careless and/or showing disregard for safety rules. Perhaps, based on this video alone, you might feel justified in lodging such a charge against him. However, if you were more acquainted with his body of work, you would realize that Alan stresses following safe practices in his videos.

Two additional comments: First, if your bandsaw fully encloses the blade on the left-hand side of the blade, great! Alan's video does not apply to your saw. However, the riser block kit you linked to on Rockler's website does NOT fully enclose the blade. The blade guard is a U-shaped channel that protects access to the blade from the sides, not the front. (The front has to be open to allow the blade to be removed from or installed on the saw.) As John said, the front gap is narrow so that most fingers cannot reach deep enough into the slot to contact the blade. Newer bandsaws deal with this issue differently. Some, cover the slot with the door that opens to reveal the top wheel. Others have a deeper and more narrow slot than does the older Delta design. These newer designs make what happened to Alan all-but impossible.

Second, in a prior life I worked at a furniture mill. Part of my job was to teach crew-members how to use a 14" Delta bandsaw. None of the OSHA approved training materials addressed this issue. However, beanbags WERE an OSHA approved tool for preventing items being cut from rolling.

[Frederick Skelly]

Alan Stratton has a popular woodturning channel on YouTube. Today, he posted a video explaining how he recently injured himself on his bandsaw. It's a method of injury that I had never dreamt could occur. It's also a method that cannot happen on many modern bandsaws. However, if you have a old Delta 14" bandsaw (or one of the many clones) you should look at this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-CEZX98T4

Thank you for posting this David! A heads up on a possible way to get hurt is always a good thing in my book.

My small bandsaw is a JET with a similar configuration. I think it would be hard to get my fingers into that slot. But I think there is an easy, worthwhile fix that's worth $10 to me as a way to protect against this kind of injury - install a 1" strip of magnetic tape over the slot. Or just attach a thin wooden strip with a couple magnets to hold it in place.

I appreciate you bringing this up for discussion!
Fred

[Edward Weber]

Edward -- You're being unfair to Alan Stratton, who was courageous enough to post a video that did not show himself in the best light. He did that only to alert our community to a possible safety issue -- knowing that many would take shots at him for being careless and/or showing disregard for safety rules. Perhaps, based on this video alone, you might feel justified in lodging such a charge against him. However, if you were more acquainted with his body of work, you would realize that Alan stresses following safe practices in his videos.

Two additional comments: First, if your bandsaw fully encloses the blade on the left-hand side of the blade, great! Alan's video does not apply to your saw. However, the riser block kit you linked to on Rockler's website does NOT fully enclose the blade. The blade guard is a U-shaped channel that protects access to the blade from the sides, not the front. (The front has to be open to allow the blade to be removed from or installed on the saw.) As John said, the front gap is narrow so that most fingers cannot reach deep enough into the slot to contact the blade. Newer bandsaws deal with this issue differently. Some, cover the slot with the door that opens to reveal the top wheel. Others have a deeper and more narrow slot than does the older Delta design. These newer designs make what happened to Alan all-but impossible.

Second, in a prior life I worked at a furniture mill. Part of my job was to teach crew-members how to use a 14" Delta bandsaw. None of the OSHA approved training materials addressed this issue. However, beanbags WERE an OSHA approved tool for preventing items being cut from rolling.

The guard I linked to can only be attached in one way and will then enclosed the blade from all sides, see photo
Whether you think I'm being unfair or mean spirited towards the man is the video is irrelevant, to me it's all about safety. You post a video for public consumption, you get all the comments.
Yes it may be a good thing he pointed out his mistake but it should have never happened in the first place.
Whether it's lack of knowledge, negligence or some other reason, it's unnecessarily dangerous.
IMO you should not be operating a power tool of this nature if your acceptable level of safety puts you that close to injury every time you use the tool.
463427463428463429

[David Walser]

Dude -- You are operating from the false(!) premise that the guard on your machine is identical to the one on Alan's. In your first post, you wrote: "I think someone didn't install the plastic guard." Alan's machine did NOT come with a guard that fully encloses the blade on the left-hand side of the saw. My saw, an original Delta, also with an original Delta riser block, does NOT have such a guard. The saw -- as designed -- is dangerous in this respect. That was the entire point of Alan's video! It was an alert to those of us who have this type of saw that we should do something to protect ourselves from this design 'defect'.

It does not help anyone to turn this into a moral failing on Alan's part. The guard you suggest he neglected to install did not come with his saw. The part does NOT come with the riser kit sold by Rockler. Take a look at this picture from Rockler's website:

463431

The picture shows the riser block and the blade guard installed on the saw. The slot through which the blade runs is completely open to the front. The blade guard on my saw is virtually identical, except, being a Delta that dates back to the 1970's, the guard is made out of metal. But, like the Jet version, the slot is uncovered. I currently have a 1/2" blade installed on my saw. The blade is properly centered on the wheels. The tips of the blade's teeth are below the sides of the blade guard. Yet, I can feel the tips of the teeth with the pads of my fingers. If the saw were running, I'd get cut. I wouldn't lose a finger, but it would be a nasty cut. Allow me to stress: This is with a properly installed 1/2" blade on a saw that has ALL of its safety guards in place.

Nor does it help to suggest that Alan was somehow lax in his attention to safety. Allow me to reiterate that I used to run one of these saws in a furniture mill and was responsible for teaching others how to use the saw safely. Until Alan posted this video, I had no idea such an accident was even possible. I've used a Delta 14" bandsaw for hundreds of hours. I know the saws very well. Yet, I had no idea I could be cut on the left-hand side of the saw! It's hard to follow a safety rule if you don't know it exists. It's also hard to avoid a danger you don't know is there. This is why safety rules are taught. We cannot rely on 'common sense' or 'being aware' to avoid accidents in the workshop. Instead, we need to rely on safety rules that were learned by analyzing the injuries suffered by the thousands of woodworkers who passed before us.

Lastly, allow me to address why I'm harping on this: Saying, as you did, that Alan's injury was the result of a combination of laziness (not installing the guard), laxness in safety, and stupidity, does no one any favors. It tells those of us with similar machines we need not worry -- because none of us are similarly lazy, lax, nor stupid. Worse, it tells the rest of us that we risk being run down on the internet as lazy, lax, and stupid, if we alert anyone to a potential safety issue. Laying this at Alan's feet discourages us from learning from his accident and it discourages the free flow of safety related information.

[Edward Weber]

I simply disagree and the guard in not installed correctly IMO.
If you're not aware that running a saw without a guard is a safety issue, I don't know what to say.
I offer my opinion and pootos only to help others avoid injury.
Turn the blade guard around and completely cover the blade.
please be safe

[Robert Hayward]

Here is another picture, this time from page 17 of the Jet bandsaw manual.
Also a picture taken from the Grizzly site of their 14" classic bandsaw.

[Edward Weber]

It's your safety, take control over it. In this case, the manual is simply wrong.
Take the guard off, flip it end over end, re-attach so that the channel covers the teeth. Anyone who see's this design and thinks ,"i'll install it like the diagram or picture" needs to stop and think about what they're doing. Cover the teeth

I know many think I'm being harsh or a jerk or whatever but if one person doesn't chop off a finger I'm okay with that.

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

In my opinion, the video is simply a reminder of a potential hazard of a common bandsaw design element. (Disregarding the beanbag.)
When we use these tools day in and day out, we often lose sight of hazards.
We cannot eliminate all hazards and cannot realistically expect tool manufacturers to do so either.
We are soft-skinned animals using power tools to cut up hard objects.
As long as we stay aware of and mindful of these hazards, we are a step ahead.
I still feel safer in my wood shop than I do in traffic. Even poorly designed machines are more predictable than drivers around here.

My bandsaw is a Grizzly G0555LX that I bought new less than two years ago. It is basically another copy of the Delta 14" that most of us are familiar with.
This one has a plastic guide channel for the blade but does not have a cover over the blade. I suppose the guide could be modified and turned over to cover the blade but I don't see too many folks going to that trouble. I don't see myself doing this.

The power switch is mounted against the blade guide and the buttons are adjacent to the guide slot.
I have not installed a riser kit yet so I don't know how that affects the situation.
I have only used a 3/8 blade on this saw. With a properly adjusted 3/8 blade, the teeth are about 1/2" deep in the narrow guide channel. It should be extremely difficult to touch the moving teeth. However, with a wider blade it may be easier. I can also think of multiple conditions or errors that could cause the blade to run closer to the front of the guide channel.

The locknut on my top wheel adjustment screw has vibrated loose in the past. Had I not noticed it, this might have allowed the blade to run forward on the wheel.
Pulling a work piece forward may pull the blade forward on the wheel.
I had a blade snap a couple weeks ago. (It was at least a year old and had been sharpened a couple times.) A fatigued and stress-cracked blade could run off the wheel.
As it happened, when my blade snapped, the blade stopped immediately and was safely contained under the wheel cover. If the blade had separated in a different point in its path, I can see how it could have shot around guide, directly at the power switch.

When the blade broke, I heard a couple seconds of tick-tick-tick and had enough time to wonder what the sound was and reach for the switch as it snapped with a loud Whack!

These are just hazards to remember. If we discourage or chastise those who give us these reminders, we lose the advantage of the reminders.
These discussions are good. They make us think about things we normally overlook or accept.
This as long as we keep it as discussion and not argument.