Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
In most cases, tool accidents are mental mistakes (including being tired or distracted or rushed), so it can happen to anybody at any time. But risk does increase when folks either don't know and understand the risk or don't know and understand how to best mitigate it when working with their tools.
I agree with this completely. I've had one injury when using a TS and that was many years ago. I needed to make four cuts and I felt a problem on the first one. Instead of stopping and thinking about what I was doing. I was in a hurry and I ignored the warning in my head and got bit on the second cut. It was several weeks bofore I could make a new piece and complete the last three cuts.

I know lots of folks do free hand cuts on table saws and many claim they have never been injured. I will state categorically that free hand cutting on a TS is Dangerous and eventually you will get injured. Before making any cut you need to walk through the process with the saw turned on and see where your hands will be in relation to the blade and where teh cut off will go once your hand isn't controlling it.

Here are some guidelines I try to follow:

If you aren't 100% comfortable making a cut, find another way to do it.
Quit working if you are tired or distracted by other things in life.
Never work when you are angry.
If you make more than one mistake in a session, it is time to quit.
Always make sure your push sticks are handy before starting a cut.
When using feather boards, make sure you can complete the cut.