Relative danger of woodworking

[Dan Friedrichs]

Hello all,

I’ve been lurking here for awhile, but wanted to introduce myself, share a story, and ask for some insight from those more experienced than I.

So let me introduce myself – I’m a graduate student in Colorado, an electrical engineer, and something of an amateur woodworker my whole life. I’ve recently started taking the hobby a little more seriously, and been acquiring some more tools.

The story I want to share is one that seems all too common – a table saw mishap. I was cutting a grove in a small piece of stock, and probably should have been employing several featherboards and pushsticks, but was just holding the stock with my bare hand and using the fence to guide it. As others have said, I “saw, heard, and felt” the kickback all at the same time. Thankfully, I didn’t touch the blade, but the piece smacked me in the hand hard enough to take a sizable chunk out of my thumb. No serious permanent injury (thankfully), but it sure hurt and scared the heck out of me.

I realize that no one has extra fingers that they can part with, but I feel especially concerned for mine because my livelihood is provided by spending all day typing. I want to insure than I’m doing absolutely everything to be as safe as possible.

So the question I would like to hear some insight from the experts on is, “How dangerous (relatively) is woodworking, really?”, and also, “Where does the danger come from?”. Allow me to elaborate.

There are several major tools that I think we can all agree are tremendously unlikely to ever cause serious injury. A thickness planar, a scroll saw, drill press, jig saw, mortiser, sanding station, etc, are all unlikely to hurt you (unless you do something really dumb). Other tools, such as a band saw, lathe, or router, may be slightly more dangerous, but again, would require a fairly major mistake for you to seriously permanently injure yourself on them. I would think a jointer would fall into that same category, although I did read a story of someone who had a piece of stock kick back out of their jointer, causing his hand to fall into the cutterhead. I can think of no other injury that might be caused by a jointer, though, and this injury could have been avoided through the use of push blocks.

The only major “group” of tools that remain, then, are table saws, radial arm saws, and miter saws. The two major accidents with these tools would be 1) touching the blade, and 2) kickback. The use of a blade guard with splitter whenever possible should help reduce both. Extremely careful attention to what you are doing would also contribute significantly to safety.

I realize there are also “freak” accidents which we have very limited control over. For instance, I read the story here about the gentleman whose arbor nut came loose on his miter saw, causing the blade to come out at him. While this is absolutely tragic, the same thing could have happened with my food processor in the kitchen (perhaps not as tragically, but my point is that such mechanical failures are hardly unique to woodworking). Proper maintenance of our tools can go a long ways towards preventing these accidents, as well.

So my question for the experts is: What sorts of dangers exist in a shop that I haven’t addressed? Would it be fair to say that anyone who could consistently keep their fingers at least 6” from any moving tool would be absolutely safe in the shop (aside from “freak” accidents)?

Also, what would the experts feel is the relative danger from hobbyist woodworking? Even the most careful person is not immune from accidentally getting distracted and touching the blade just once. What do people feel is the likelihood of this? I should also point out that I don’t pretend woodworking (or anything) can be made perfectly safe. I could get distracted just once while driving my car and cause far more injury than I could ever cause with my table saw (and I drive my car far more often than my table saw…). Enjoying life is inherently dangerous – perfectly sane people scale mountains and jump out of airplanes. But how do people feel the danger from woodworking ranks in comparison to the rest of life’s dangers?

Thank you in advance for the insight!
Dan Friedrichs

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dan,

Welcome to the Creek.

Woodworking IMHO is not as dangerous as some occupations and other hobbies and yet it is and can be very dangerous.

Using any power tool or even a hand tool can be hazardous. I know of a lady who was quite experienceed who in a minute of rushing managed to cut her femoral artery with a circular saw. One of the worst injuries I have received was drilling metal on drill press. Dummy was holding it in his hand when the metal was caught by the bit, removed from my hand and came around and cut my hnad several times as it was whipped around by the drill bit and drill press. I know of folks who have cut themselves seriously when using a scary sharp chisel.

The long and short of it is:

1. Read the manuals and other pertinent books. Know the safety measures for a given tool and follow them.

2. Don't use tools under the influence of alcohol, drugs or when tired or distracted.

3. If that little voice in the back of your mind raises some concern that something you are about to do is dangerous....listen to it. Find a safer method of accomplishing what you want.

4. As Bruce Page's avitar states: This tool has no brain..use yours

[Ellen Benkin]

I think you have answered your own question --- "all unlikely to hurt you (unless you do something really dumb)." Yes, I've even seen someone seriously injured with a sanding station -- lots of skin removed, weeks of bandages and it REALLY hurt. Any power tool and lots of hand tools can cause damage unless you say alert and think about what you are doing. In my experience, I am most likely to get hurt on the "last cut" when I'm tired and thinking about quitting and doing something else and it doesn't matter which tool I'm using.

Stay alert and don't get hurt!

[juan christian]

Ah, yes . . . the famous "last cut of the day" can be a cruel one. While it's true that the occasional accident can be beyond your control and utterly unavoidable, I think the number one cause of mishaps is simple inattention. I imagine many injuries are quickly followed by the nearly immediate thought, "What the hell was I thinking!!?"
Irony is interesting stuff, so here's what happened to me: My buddy wanted me to find a safe saw for him to buy for his son. I did my homework and invited him over to look at the SawStop video touting the machine's safety features. We watched and talked it over for at least 20 minutes. He was convinced, but somewhat concerned about the cost of the saw. "Well," I told him, "you can always just be very safety conscious and use good practices". Then I added the observation, "I've been working wood for 30 years and never suffered a serious accident". By now it was about 9:30 pm, so he excused himself to drive home. "Before you go, would you mind giving me a hand with the last cut on that face frame?" I asked. So we go into my shop and set up a 45-degree angle on my saw, moving the fence to the left of the blade because the blade leans right. About half-way through the cut, with the blade protruding less than 1/2" above the wood, the face frame begins to lean slightly away from the fence and I quickly reached over just a bit with my left hand to steady the stile against the fence. Zap! That's all it took to dado the tip of my middle finger. While I was busy bleeding on my shop floor, I just kept thinking over and over about my famous last words: "I've been working wood for 30 years and never suffered a serious accident". A late-night trip to the emergency room and $1200 later, plus about 3 weeks of recovery provided me plenty of time to contemplate my carelessness. In the end, the SawStop was purchased all right -- by me. I sold my trusty Unisaw and paid the big bucks for the SawStop. Every time I fire up that saw I've really got safety on my mind. And every time I think about my mishap, the words come unbidden: "What the hell was I thinking!!?.

[Joe Jensen]

Welcome Dan,
I'm a EE and a lifelong WW. Wish I was just graduating

You outlined the obvious injuries, but there are many more potential injuries.
1) Drill press. It's easy to become lazy and not secure the part you are drilling. It's easy for the bit to grab as it exits the back of the piece and then it swings round and round with lots of force. I am pretty lazy here. But, never drill metal without securing the part.
2) Guards. Use the TS, RAS, and CMS guards. If the tool has a crappy guard, buy a new tool, or buy new guards. I worked for almost 30 years without guards. This was really stupid given that I was injured on a TS over 30 years ago (I was 14 at the time).
3) Don't overlook hand tools. Some of the worst injuries I've had came from very very sharp hand tools not used with care.
4) Messy cluttered shop. This is another key area. If the shop floor is cluttered, you can easily trip and bad things can happen.
5) Eyewear and hearing projection. Always wear safety glasses, or a face shield. I use a hard hat with a built in face shield and built in ear muffs.

I'm fortunate in that I could afford a SawStop, and when they arrived, my wife insisted that I buy one. Many will say that all the tools in the shop can injur you, but the data saws the TS is the most common injury. The local butcher amputated his arm with a bandsaw after 45 years on the job. He had the blade guild set for a maximum depth of cut and slipped on the floor and whipped his arm through the saw. He is lucky he didn't bleed to death. So, even bandsaws can be dangerous if not used properly.

If you are diligent and always use guards, never get your hand past the front edge of the blade, and always use safe proceedures, you will be safe. When you don't, look out...joe

[Per Swenson]

Real simple,

Just like mushroom hunting and hawk watching.
Both have their pitfalls if you don't know what your doing or where your going.
And never do the two at the same time.

Per

[Paul Greathouse]

Real simple,

Just like mushroom hunting and hawk watching.
Both have their pitfalls if you don't know what your doing or where your going.
And never do the two at the same time.

Per

Per, is it possible that bagging too many mushrooms on said mushroom hunt may put you in the right state of mind for an extended episode of hawk watching?

[Per Swenson]

Same concept but I was considering, ya know eating poisonous ones by being misinformed and then strolling off a cliff because your head is in the clouds.

Per

[David DeCristoforo]

"...several major tools that I think we can all agree are tremendously unlikely to ever cause serious injury..."

This is exactly where you get into trouble. Never assume that any machine is "safe" or even "relatively safe". There are more ways to get injured than all of us combined could ever count and most of them have not been discovered yet. By making the above assumption, you are setting yourself up to discover at least one new way to get hurt in the shop. A planer? How about pinching your fingers between the stock and the table? Or having a piece of wood shatter in the machine so that sharp shards come shooting out? A knife coming loose? Loose clothing getting caught in the feed mechanism? I have heard of all of these happening.

[Will Blick]

Dan.... you ask all the right questions....

Risk is inherent with most ww tools. You have identified the ones that often will provide the greatest risk. Good advise above, I fully concur.

But I would also like to add a few things....

Sometimes, build quality of the tools is important, as even when you are doing everything right, the tool itself can fail, causing an injury or shock.

Safe habits.... as you mention, never let your hands get near moving blades, then if a freak accident happens, such as a lightening strike, or a loud noise etc, that might startle you....keep a safe distance.

Use the safest tool for the job. Sometimes this requires buying new tools...but instead, most of us make-do with what we have. This is a good example of how added funds can decrease risk. This includes a Saw Stop. Although a Saw Stop won't change the kickback risk, it will great reduce the contact risk... in this case, more money = more safety.

Also, don't discount other injuries that occur.... such as a good slip and fall..... working in cramped working spaces and being jerked back, your hip whacks the work bench or table saw, since its stationary, your back gets whiplashed, fingers caught between heavy objects.... Lifting heavy objects, moving heavy tools around the shop...

I am in your position..... I make my living at the keyboard, so I too am cautious and yet, still don't own a SS. :-( But I do exercise extreme caution, and most injuries so far have only been minor, but none the less, the occur on a regular basis.... I am always thinking of what can go wrong with this cut....

I recently bought a Festool circular saw, as I find cutting down sheet goods is safer with a circ. saw vs. a TS. Now this would not be true if I had a massive TS set up and a helper always available, but that is not the case, so I work around this by using a different tool.

[John Keeton]

Dan, you have already heard some very wise observations and to say more probably doesn't add anything. But, I couldn't let the opportunity pass.

Ever walk into a room and suddenly think - why did I come in here? Or, turn around in your shop, head toward your bench, stop and say, what was I going after?

If you answered yes - and we all do - then you have experienced the same moment that occurs right before you lose a finger. The point is, there is no such thing as "anyone who could consistently keep their fingers at least 6” from any moving tool". For many reasons, most of us can not consistently do that. And, all accidents are "freak" accidents by definition. None of them were predicted or they wouldn't be accidents.

The point is, every tool in your shop is capable of injurying you - all it takes is one of those moments. The best preventative advice is to adopt a bunch of A&N rules. ALWAYS do these things - and NEVER do these things. With those in place, and listening to that "little voice" Ken spoke of, and watching out for the crazy stuff David spoke of, remaining alert as Ellen said - you still stand a chance of getting hurt. But, you will have minimized the odds, and hopefully limited the damage.

[Peter Quinn]

Welcome Dan.

Man, your list of relatively safe tools unlikely to cause injury scares the pants off of me. Every tool on that list has the serious potential to cripple and maim you if not used properly. Thickness planer, jig saw, drill press, scroll saw, all dangerous if used improperly. I have seen a guy get smashed in the face at work when the drill bound up and his hold downs didn't hold. I have seen a planer blow out chunks that could have skewered the user had luck not prevailed. Not the highest incidence rate of accidents maybe, but it only takes one incident to do harm.

Slightly more dangerous are router, jointer, bandsaw, and lathe? i know well trained pros that are missing digits lost to each of these tools. A momentary lapse of reason under the wrong circumstances are all it takes. Seriously, you think a router, spinning a razor sharp piece of carbide at 20K RMP, capable of shaving the hardest of woods with ease, often used freehand with the bit projecting is in some way safe? Search the web for "Router Accidents" and be prepared to see some very ugly pictures and lots of stitches. My first cabinet making instructor was missing most of two fingers and some of another from a moment of distraction at the jointer!

Your list of truly dangerous tools are only the most obvious offenders with big blades that are hard to ignore. Truth is if a tool cuts wood, it can cut you. And if a big motor is spinning at high RPM's there is danger involved.

There is a human factor involved in both safety and danger. You need to learn the rules and procedures involved with each machine and follow them. Safety protocols are not silly schemes, they are to train you to work safe and avoid worst case scenarios. I'm luck none of my initial lapses of good judgement cost me any serious injury when I got into wood working. I had lots of "Holly Crap" moments where wood went flying from a jointer, planer, table saw, router table, band saw, shaper, radial arm saw drill press and SCMS. Yes, I have screwed up with each and every single machine at some point, just a matter of luck that I can still count to ten with my shoes on. At this point, before I turn any machine on I pause and ask myself "Are you doing this right, is every thing tight, are proper hold downs in place, are the blades on tight, did I check everything twice? Is my head in the right place?"

It was never a case of the machines being at fault. They are inanimate without a user. I even BROKE a set of shaper cutters with an improper cope set up, sent shards of steel flying around the shop and me diving to the floor. I still haven't found all those shards. I keep the ones I do have in a jar in my shaper cutter cabinet to remind me visually not to be a moron when I set up that tool as luck may not prevail again.

Presently I work in a professional millwork shop with seven guys the least of which has 25 years experience. At 8-10 hours per day, 5-6 days a week over 25 days, that's a lot of chances to get hurt, yet not one guy in the shop has sustained a serious injury at work. Why? The right training, the right mind set, the right safety devices. And maybe a little luck. When any one of those guys sees me doing something less than safe, they step up, correct me and set me straight. Sometimes its less than friendly, but I'll take those lessons gladly over one that separates me from a finger. Much easier to mend my pride than my hands.

My point here finally is that sitting alone in your new shop with new tools is not the best place to get experience with safety. Sharp tools teach hard lessons. Books help but they are no substitute for a mentor or teacher showing you first hand. If you think any tool that cuts wood is safe then I worry you have not been properly trained. The most valuable tool a new wood worker can purchase is knowledge in the form of professional education. Take some classes, learn first hand how to use each shop machine and hand tool properly. If you feel fatigue, stop. If you find your self rushing or pushing, stop. If something feels dangerous, stop. Learning to take your time, step back and evaluate your set ups for a moment before pushing that green button is important. You are the only one that is going to keep YOU safe.

Here's an anecdote for you. The week after my son was born I returned to work having slept about 15 hours over the previous 6 days. I was scheduled to run parts for large passage doors through a shaper. My boss took one look at me setting up the shaper and sent me to sort lumber for the next job, which took almost a week. He laughed out loud at me and said. "Welcome back, and do you really think I'm going to let you near a power tool in that state?" Then he told me having 5 kids he'd been there and instructed me not to operate machines until i was rested, alert and ready. So for several weeks I was put on sorting lumber, detail sanding (hand and ROS) and glue ups.

In your own shop you don't have a professional forman to keep you safe so you will have to rely on your own judgement. Hone that judgement and listen to it when it speaks to you. Then you stand a chance at safety.

[Brent Smith]

Hi Dan,

I'm going to reiterate Ken's third point...If it feels wrong, don't do it. I think more accidents, mistakes and generally avoidable things happen when we don't listen to that little voice. Every machine, or hand tool for that matter, can be dangerous. It's all in how we approach the task at hand. A beginner may find certain procedures more difficult or even daunting. Experience allows us to do more difficult tasks and to use a tool to a fuller potential. With that experience comes a knowledge of the possible problems to be encountered in a procedure and the steps to take beforehand to avoid them. In the meantime there is usually another, if not as quick but safer, method to achieve our goals.

I use these three steps to try to have a safe work environment:

1) Keep your tools properly adjusted and cleaned. If you don't know how to properly adjust something, find out before using it. If you're not sure how to use it, don't until you find out!!

2) Keep your shop organized. Know where everything is and don't leave anything lying around where it might get in your way or the way of the lumber you are working.

3) Use common sense, not as common as it should be sometimes when we are hurrying or tired.

[Judy Kingery]

Hi Dan,

I think everyone gave very valid pointers and you brought up a good discussion. Only thing I didn't see mentioned was using/sharpening on the grinder. I've never had a problem, but did hear tell - by the gentleman himself - of a situation where the stone came apart and those are some high RPM's to have something flying around the shop or at you as shrapnel.

His suggestion, and I do it all the time at the lathe anyway, was/is to pay attention to sound as well as sight and feel. If it doesn't sound solid, may not be.

Anyway, that might be a very minor detail, but yet an important safety tip.

Take care,

Jude

[Rick Fisher]

Well... Shapers, Table saws and nailing guns can be a hazzard. Having said that, I skinned myself on a disc sander once and found it quite unpleasant.

Injuries are too often associated with cutting yourself. You can easily get a splinter in your eye from a drill press.

You can slash yourself pretty good with an exacto knife without much effort and requrie stiches.

You can damage your hearing when running a planer, jointer, router... the opportunities are endless.

So safety is a culture. Be as safe as possible, all the time. If your lucky, you will only ever shoot a pin into your thumb and requre a few band aids from time to time.