Tablesaw Injuries

[Igor Petrenko]

Yet another SawStop thread in disguise?
I'd like them to do their sousage test but to have that sousage launched into the blade with kickback.

[Josh Reet]

Yet another SawStop thread in disguise?
I'd like them to do their sousage test but to have that sousage launched into the blade with kickback.

Thank goodness someone mentioned it. I was worried we'd have a tablesaw injury thread without someone claiming "Sawstop Advertising!".

Still, I would like to see the hot-dog test done to simulate a hand being pulled into the blade with some force. Though if the system works as advertised, I would think the injury would be worse than the standard video that they show, but not terrible.

[Blake-Kagen]

I've got $25,000.00 invested in a table saw injury, one stiff finger less a knuckle with a steal plate in it and about 1/4 inch shorter. My advise is to get a BIG insurance policy, ( and maybe that other saw too) ...accidents WILL happen. I've been pushing boards through saws for 40 years as a profession and it got me a year ago. The plastic surgeon that did the surgery and saved the finger for me said table saws and chain saws were about 40% of the serious injuries he has to try and repair. When I was in the emergency room there was also a chainsaw injury near me...and a guy that had just had his wife beat the slop outa him with a beer bottle. lol

[glenn bradley]

Yet another SawStop thread in disguise?

You mean EZ Smart, don't you. Seriously though, the improper use of most dangerous items will yield injury. I am sure, just like car wrecks, that if you remove the numbers of problems that resulted from improper activity, the numbers would drop severely.

I always get a kick out of the guys who say things like "I've been runnin a saw for 40 years without a splitter and never had a problem". Its right up there with "Seat belts are dangerous" .

[Dino Makropoulos]

I've been running table saws for over 25 years without a single kickback or injury. I've used a splitter or riving knife as far back as I can remember. I've never used an over blade guard because it blocks my view of the blade. I agree with the poster that said kickbacks actually pull the hand into the blade; if folks understood this concept there wouk be fewer accidents IMO. BTW, the closest I've come to serious injury was on my CMS: I was foolishly holding a small piece of cornice trim close to the blade. Before I had time to realize what happened, the blade caught the wood and pulled it into the fence gap along with my hand. To this day I don't know how I avoided losing fingers...not even a cut. I was lucky.

If you follow some basic rules of common sense, your chances of injury are minimal:

1) never place your body directly behind the stock you are cutting; always assume the wood will be kicked back and stand off to the side.

2) always check to make sure your saw fence is tuned properly and not biased in toward the blade at the rear of the cut

3) always take the time to set up featherboards. I use the earth magnet type which are quick and easy to set up

4) always use push sticks/paddles when working close to the blade

5) use a splitter or riving knife

6) never run small stock with the throat plate removed

7) always maintain a clean floor that is clear of debris

8) never lean over the blade

9) always pause and ask yourself if the cut you are about to make is safe BEFORE you turn on the power. If it doesn't feel right, it isn't. stop and take the time to come up with a better/safer method.

10) never be in a hurry

11) never work when stressed or fatigued.

12) don't ever forget that power saws are mean, nasty meat eaters. they don't have feelings and don't give a darn about your fingers. keep this in mind everytime you flip on the power.

I'm sure you can add other safety tips of your own.

A tool that requires perfect coordination and the above "partial" list to avoid an accident....is a faulty designed tool.
A smart guard can eliminate 100% of all the accidents, BUT
the lawyers of the power tool companies are against the idea
of safe and smart tablesaws.

[Michael MacDonald]

I would like to see the hot-dog test done to simulate a hand being pulled into the blade with some force

I think the sawstop folks say that there will be 1/16 depth of a cut for every 1 mph that the finger is moving toward the blade... (or maybe numbers not quite right...?) so assuming the kickback pulls the hand quickly, some depth of cut can't be avoided... but hey, if you move fast enough from back to front, you can just ride the gullet...

[Dino Makropoulos]

You mean EZ Smart, don't you. Seriously though, the improper use of most dangerous items will yield injury. I am sure, just like car wrecks, that if you remove the numbers of problems that resulted from improper activity, the numbers would drop severely.

I always get a kick out of the guys who say things like "I've been runnin a saw for 40 years without a splitter and never had a problem". Its right up there with "Seat belts are dangerous" .

Glen,
I just saw your post after posting mine. ( look at the timing)
Why ez smart? This thread is all about tablesaw accidents.
thanks

[Rob Wright]

Like everyone - or most of us here - one of the first things I did when I setup my Grizzly 1023S Table saw (10 years ago) was to remove/ not install the factory guard. It was junk in my mind and I was safe and cautious all the time/ verytime. About 4 years ago I had a kickback accident, hit me just above the groin, I quickly yanked my hand back, somehow not dragging it over the blade and twisted my body counter clockwise, then 2 seconds later the off-cut on the left side caught the edge of the blade and came and hit me in the hip. I literally open my pants in my garage to make sure everything was there. It was turning black and blue immediately, abdomen hurt but no puncture thank goodness. I found my religion that day. It happened so fast

When I got enough nerve to actually go out and turn on the saw again -the guard went on the machine for the first time and hasn't come off since. I decided right there and then that if I can't make the cut with the guard on - it doesn't get made on the saw. This includes dado and non through cuts. I have a router that I can do them on. Just my experience and I am glad it turned out OK. I don't know what I would have done if I would have lost some fingers off of my right hand.

[Igor Petrenko]

I think the sawstop folks say that there will be 1/16 depth of a cut for every 1 mph that the finger is moving toward the blade... (or maybe numbers not quite right...?) so assuming the kickback pulls the hand quickly, some depth of cut can't be avoided... but hey, if you move fast enough from back to front, you can just ride the gullet...

1 mph is about 0.6 feet per second. So to cut average finger off it has to be moved about 8-10 ft per second which is not that fast, it's just like waving your hand.

[David Helm]

I just want to add 1 item to Scott's list of safety techniques. It has helped me stay safe over a 30 year building career. Always! Always engage brain prior to engaging motor switch!

[Tom Godley]

One thing to note when reading over these reports is that many come from emergency room reporting and the accuracy of the particular type of tool doing the injury is often rather low.


Table saw - chain saw -- circular saw -- to a lot of people - like a hospital nurse they are the same thing. It has always been my understanding that the hand held circular saw is responsible for the most injuries -- children are very often victims as a very young child can quickly injure themselves. While it is certainly possible for a six your old to hurt themselves on a table saw -- more than likely it was a circular saw doing the injury.

[Van Huskey]

Glen,
I just saw your post after posting mine. ( look at the timing)
Why ez smart? This thread is all about tablesaw accidents.
thanks

I assume the point was EZ Smart lets you replace to table saw pretty much completly if you fully embrace it and further tracksaws are probably much safer than a SS, especially if you use a plunge saw like the Festool or Dewalt et al.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Still, I would like to see the hot-dog test done to simulate a hand being pulled into the blade with some force.

Good idea... Someone with a SawStop go take a rack of ribs and slam it into the blade as hard as you can along the bone line.. I wanna see what will happen..

Not a snide comment at all.. Really, what would happen?

At any rate, like has been said, if you take precautions to minimize the chance kickbacks the bulk of any issue on a table saw is taken care of.

[Jeff Bratt]

One thing to note when reading over these reports is that many come from emergency room reporting and the accuracy of the particular type of tool doing the injury is often rather low.

Table saw - chain saw -- circular saw -- to a lot of people - like a hospital nurse they are the same thing. It has always been my understanding that the hand held circular saw is responsible for the most injuries -- children are very often victims as a very young child can quickly injure themselves. While it is certainly possible for a six your old to hurt themselves on a table saw -- more than likely it was a circular saw doing the injury.

This is a common argument - the numbers are inaccurate because of...
The report I referenced earlier did a lot of follow-up of these injury reports for a period during 2001. Sure, there is some misreporting, as in any system involving people. But overall, the numbers are pretty accurate. A NEISS query (for 2008) shows that the number of injuries from table saws is more than twice the number from handheld circular saws.

I think that people sometimes do not really consider an inherent danger with table saws - normal operation requires the operator to push the workpiece towards that spinning blade. Most other kinds of power saws, including handheld circular saws, do not have this particular design characteristic. When using the tablesaw, remember to think, if that workpiece suddenly disappears, "Where will my hand(s) go?"

[Mike Henderson]

Good idea... Someone with a SawStop go take a rack of ribs and slam it into the blade as hard as you can along the bone line.. I wanna see what will happen..

Not a snide comment at all.. Really, what would happen?

At any rate, like has been said, if you take precautions to minimize the chance kickbacks the bulk of any issue on a table saw is taken care of.

I've not heard of any serious injury with a SawStop and there's a bunch of them installed. If you could cut your finger off on a SS by moving your hand quickly, someone would have done it by now and you can be sure we'd all hear about it.

But in any case, this thread is not about the SawStop but about injuries related to a table saw.

Mike