A New Way of Injuring Yourself on the Bandsaw!

[David Walser]

Alan Stratton has a popular woodturning channel on YouTube. Today, he posted a video explaining how he recently injured himself on his bandsaw. It's a method of injury that I had never dreamt could occur. It's also a method that cannot happen on many modern bandsaws. However, if you have a old Delta 14" bandsaw (or one of the many clones) you should look at this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-CEZX98T4

[Gary Pennington]

Amazing. Thanks for posting.

g

[Reed Gray]

Both of my bandsaws, a little PM and a big Laguna, both have the up side of the blade totally enclosed so that can't happen. Surprised that that design made it off the design table. Wonder how fast Jet will fix this????

robo hippy

[Tim Elett]

I am assuming that guard comes in the riser block kit for powermatic?

[Edward Weber]

I think someone didn't install the plastic guard.
I have a 14" HF, when I got a riser block kit, it came with a longer guard.
I can honestly say if it didn't, I would have made one. Having a saw like that is simply unnecessarily unsafe.
This is why I have a love/hate issue with youtubers.
He didn't fix his saw because it was the right or safe thing to do, he fixed it because he got hurt. Which, looking at it seemed inevitable, with the blade so close to the power switch.
He may be good at other things but having a tool like that is kind of a deal breaker. I would unsubscribe.
JMHO.

[Robert Hayward]

I also thought the bandsaw was missing a guard. So I went to the Jet site and poked around. Here is a section of one of the pictures Jet uses to sell the machine and a section of a page from the manual. Sure looks to me like the bandsaw is made that way, no cover over the blade on the switch side. Cannot believe that is being sold that way today.

[Edward Weber]

I had to look it up out of curiosity
Here is a basic riser block kit
https://www.rockler.com/jet-band-saw...iABEgJpo_D_BwE
Yes, there is a blade guard included.

[George Heatherly]

I have that riser block installed on my old blue Jet 14" bandsaw. The guard is installed and is visible in the video. It is open in the front as shown in the video. I think it is open to facilitate blade changes. I will probably tape a thin strip of some material to mine to act as a warning device. The openning in the guard is not very wide, I think Mr. Stratton must have beeb VERY unlucky to hit the opening in exactly the wrong place to get his finger cut!

[Gary Pennington]

I have a PM without riser but has the same type of slotted guard. It has a 1/4" blade mounted that tracks in the center of the top wheel which puts the blade almost an inch away from the opening. There's no way any of my fingers will fit into the slot. Maybe with a wide blade tracked to the front of the wheel issues could arise. With a narrow blade its a non-issue IMHO.

g

[John K Jordan]

I had to look it up out of curiosity
Here is a basic riser block kit
https://www.rockler.com/jet-band-saw...iABEgJpo_D_BwE
Yes, there is a blade guard included.

I think the blade guard protects from touching the side of the blade but still has the slot in the edge the guy stuck his finger into.

As I posted on another forum, I have a 14" Delta with riser block which has the opening in the front also. However, with a 1/2" blade there is no way I can stick any finger far enough into the slot to contact the teeth of the blade. I adjust my bandsaws so the blade runs on the center of the crown on both wheels. Perhaps the guy had his saw adjusted so the blade was running on the very front of the tire. Or perhaps he was using a 3/4" or 1" wide blade, in which case it probably wasn't adjusted properly since that saw cannot properly tension a wider blade.

Those with wide blades and improper adjustment and prone to carelessness might want to make a guard for the area near the switch. If the blade is wandering too close to the front of the slot, a piece of tape may not help.

I'm not sure I like the beanbag support either, seems likely to shift during the cut cause a big and dangerous problem.

JKJ

[richard shelby]

Also..a "dead man" switch on a foot pedal is a good idea. I secure my wood with bar clamps.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

I have that saw with the riser installed. Don't remember a blade guard for it. Had it for about 20 years and haven't hurt myself yet. Without the video tomorrow would be the day I stuck my finger in there. Thanks for the tip.

[Edward Weber]

I think the blade guard protects from touching the side of the blade but still has the slot in the edge the guy stuck his finger into.

As I posted on another forum, I have a 14" Delta with riser block which has the opening in the front also. However, with a 1/2" blade there is no way I can stick any finger far enough into the slot to contact the teeth of the blade. I adjust my bandsaws so the blade runs on the center of the crown on both wheels. Perhaps the guy had his saw adjusted so the blade was running on the very front of the tire. Or perhaps he was using a 3/4" or 1" wide blade, in which case it probably wasn't adjusted properly since that saw cannot properly tension a wider blade.

Those with wide blades and improper adjustment and prone to carelessness might want to make a guard for the area near the switch. If the blade is wandering too close to the front of the slot, a piece of tape may not help.

I'm not sure I like the beanbag support either, seems likely to shift during the cut cause a big and dangerous problem.

JKJ

There is no gap in which to stick your finger or anything else. My little saw has an identical setup and the blade is totally encapsulated and is designed to accept even the widest blade for that saw.
Also not a fan of the bean bag but it seems to be in line with the level of safety he's comfortable with.
To each their own.
I have all my digits intact and plan to keep them that way

[David Walser]

There is no gap in which to stick your finger or anything else. My little saw has an identical setup and the blade is totally encapsulated and is designed to accept even the widest blade for that saw.
Also not a fan of the bean bag but it seems to be in line with the level of safety he's comfortable with.
To each their own.
I have all my digits intact and plan to keep them that way

Edward -- You're being unfair to Alan Stratton, who was courageous enough to post a video that did not show himself in the best light. He did that only to alert our community to a possible safety issue -- knowing that many would take shots at him for being careless and/or showing disregard for safety rules. Perhaps, based on this video alone, you might feel justified in lodging such a charge against him. However, if you were more acquainted with his body of work, you would realize that Alan stresses following safe practices in his videos.

Two additional comments: First, if your bandsaw fully encloses the blade on the left-hand side of the blade, great! Alan's video does not apply to your saw. However, the riser block kit you linked to on Rockler's website does NOT fully enclose the blade. The blade guard is a U-shaped channel that protects access to the blade from the sides, not the front. (The front has to be open to allow the blade to be removed from or installed on the saw.) As John said, the front gap is narrow so that most fingers cannot reach deep enough into the slot to contact the blade. Newer bandsaws deal with this issue differently. Some, cover the slot with the door that opens to reveal the top wheel. Others have a deeper and more narrow slot than does the older Delta design. These newer designs make what happened to Alan all-but impossible.

Second, in a prior life I worked at a furniture mill. Part of my job was to teach crew-members how to use a 14" Delta bandsaw. None of the OSHA approved training materials addressed this issue. However, beanbags WERE an OSHA approved tool for preventing items being cut from rolling.

[Frederick Skelly]

Alan Stratton has a popular woodturning channel on YouTube. Today, he posted a video explaining how he recently injured himself on his bandsaw. It's a method of injury that I had never dreamt could occur. It's also a method that cannot happen on many modern bandsaws. However, if you have a old Delta 14" bandsaw (or one of the many clones) you should look at this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-CEZX98T4

Thank you for posting this David! A heads up on a possible way to get hurt is always a good thing in my book.

My small bandsaw is a JET with a similar configuration. I think it would be hard to get my fingers into that slot. But I think there is an easy, worthwhile fix that's worth $10 to me as a way to protect against this kind of injury - install a 1" strip of magnetic tape over the slot. Or just attach a thin wooden strip with a couple magnets to hold it in place.

I appreciate you bringing this up for discussion!
Fred