Everyone, be safe in the shop...

[Dan Karachio]

Yikes, it looks like one of those pictures where a tornado embeds things into trees. I have made a few dumb moves in my time and got lucky. In each case there was that moment where I knew something wasn't right, but pushed on. That's why I have found the best advice from The Wood Whisper. I can't find the link to his exact video, but he basically said this. When something is going wrong, we all notice it. Very often we push through or continue. That is the mistake. Learn to just STOP.

For example, on the table saw, if a piece isn't moving well in some way, don't just bear down on it, STOP moving the piece, shut down the saw (all the more reason for those shop made large off switch levers). I have taken this advice to heart. It is is a bit of a mindset change, but I have done just this on many occasions. Did I avoid some injury or mistake? I'll never know, but that's good enough!

[Bill White]

See, you shoulda used the guard. Sorry!! Just couldn't resist. Glad it wasn't too serious.
Bill

[Brian D Anderson]

I know what you're going through. Trust me.



After deciding not to give up woodworking, I ordered the sharkguard splitter and guard.

I'm still careful, but I feel much better ripping boards now.

-Brian

[Mike Cruz]

Yup, Brian, that looks a little too familiar... Mine was...is...a little more horizontal, just under the rib cage.

How did your ribs do? Any cracked or broken? How many HP is your saw?

I can only imagine that my 3 hp motor would have done bone damage if the piece had hit my ribs. Heck, I was watching out for signs of internal injury for the rest of the day! Of course, by 5 pm or so, with no signs and a housefull of family (to celebrate my birthday...happy birthday to me...) I partook in some imbibing.

[Brian D Anderson]

Yup, Brian, that looks a little too familiar... Mine was...is...a little more horizontal, just under the rib cage.

How did your ribs do? Any cracked or broken? How many HP is your saw?

I can only imagine that my 3 hp motor would have done bone damage if the piece had hit my ribs. Heck, I was watching out for signs of internal injury for the rest of the day! Of course, by 5 pm or so, with no signs and a housefull of family (to celebrate my birthday...happy birthday to me...) I partook in some imbibing.

Mine was from a 3HP Grizzly 1023. You can guess the size of the board that hit me.

No internal or rib breakage occurred. As you can see, I had a little bit of padding. That happened right before Christmas, and due to some nice scab picking I have been left with a lovely scar.

I too was using eye protection and I was also using a Grripper, so no other injuries occurred.

I have to tell you . . . the Sharkguard (or something similar) is the way to go.

I left the board that hit me up on the shelf as a reminder to always put the guard and/or splitter in place.

-Brian

[Chuck Werts]

I am new to woodworking and all I have to work with is my dad's old shopsmith. I have been saving for a good table saw but threads like this really make me consider a track saw system. I seems like they would be kind of a hassle to work with but I can't afford to have my hobby put me out of work.

[Gene Waara]

I agree with Ken - "a reminder to be safe is never out of place". One thing that this forum has driven into my pea brain is safety. I've been a ww hobbyist for 30 years and I too have had a few close calls and caught a few pieces of wood in the 'ole breadbasket. I'm moving up to a 3 hp cabinet saw from a CM contractors saw after all these years and the repeated experiences of others convinced me to lay off the Uni's and PM's that I have been watching for on CL and buy a new G690 with a riving knife. Yes, I know about ****s and other after market devices, but decided it was worth the few extra bucks to do it right the first time. (It's been a long time since I bought a major tool new and shiney so that DID figure into the equation). The saw has been ordered and now I patiently await the truck!

Thanks again for the reminder!

[BOB OLINGER]

Mike,

Glad to hear you're doing OK. Never too many reminders on safety. As I posted a few months ago, I had my first encounter with my table saw after like 40+ years. As a result, I visited the Woodsmith store weekend before last and now planning on purchasing a Sawstop from them.

[Peter Luch]

Good reminder for my day in the shop today!

As always when I turn on the sharp powered tools my mind is only in one place.

It is funny that most of my cuts and scrapes come from hand saws and chisels..............

Aloha, Pete

[Kevin Gregoire]

back in high school shop class our instructor told us about safety once and it did the trick....
along with the daily reminder of seeing two fingers sitting in a jar of formaldehyde hanging by a
string from a rafter in the middle of the shop was also a good reminder of what not to do!

[Tom Hammond]

back in high school shop class our instructor told us about safety once and it did the trick....
along with the daily reminder of seeing two fingers sitting in a jar of formaldehyde hanging by a
string from a rafter in the middle of the shop was also a good reminder of what not to do!

"Billy, how did you cut your fingers off in shop class?"
"Well, I was looking at this jar hanging in the middle of the room, and..."