Originally Posted by
Ty Williams
This is something I wonder about every time I hear a comment along the lines of "well my grandfather/dad/uncle was a hobby woodworker and he lived to 95". I remember my grand dad's shop. The only power tools in it were a table saw and a drill press. My dad's shop, until recently, only added a planer and a router. A guy working away with a hand plane, table saw, some chisels, and hand sanding is going to have a much different exposure than a guy with a table saw, band saw, jointer, planer, drum sander, spindle sander, multiple routers, and power sanders. Think back to 1st season of New Yankee Workshop. What was an enviable TV dream shop then is pretty basic by today's standards. Norm had, what, a radial arm saw, table saw, lunchbox planer, his router, and some drills in the first couple of seasons. Oh, and a pneumatic brad nailer, can't forget that one! :lol: Now, look at Paul-Marcel's shop (keeping in the theme of woodworking videos I watch), which is just a hobbyist shop. He's got a big bandsaw, big table saw, big planer, multiple drum sanders, multiple routers, a pair of Dominos, jigsaws, a couple of scroll saws, etc. It's a whole different ball game than it was just 15 years ago.
I have to wonder if some of the reason we're arguing about this isn't that the anecdotal experiences that form people's intuitive risk assessment are from a time when the average guy didn't have all the power tools we have today.