This lady needs a refresher on tablesaw safety

[Handplanesandmore]

Safety is important. This I understand. I think it's important to understand the actual risks involved with the tools we use and not overstate the risks or dramatize the situation.

Table saw injuries do occur. But with proper technique and equipment - riving knives, splitters, blade guards, push sticks, and so on - they are substantially reduced. This woman was using push sticks and a splitter, though not a blade guard that I saw (even on the through cuts where she could have).



In this case (or any case, really), we cannot expect wood to remain 100% against the fence at all times or 100% in contact with the table at all times.

Judging from her repeated behavior, I don't think this lady understands or is aware of some of the actual risks. She actually shows a pattern of being careless and rushing through to finish a task, a dangerous habit of working with machines like the tablesaw, or miter saw.

All the safety guards won't help if she did not understand that removing offcuts while the blade was still spinning was a common cause of blade injury. SawStop has kept a database of causes for activation, and that has been one of the common causes why people touched the blade with their fingers. This lady does not have the SawStop feature to protect her against her bad habit. She did that mistake more than twice in her 15mins+ video. It is a habit many people have...because many woodworkers are impatient.

Keeping a workpiece against the fence at all times is a basic sawing technique not just for safety, but also for accuracy. If accuracy was not a critical factor in her woodworking, she should not have wasted her time checking her crosscut-sled fence with the 5-cut method which she used in the video. In fact, there is no point of checking whether the fence is parallel to the miter slots/sawblade if you can't keep your stock tight to the fence at all times. Saws are designed and used under the assumption that your stock is fed through the blade with the stock in contact with the fence AT ALL TIMES.

More than one magazine article has been written on how to keep the stock tight to the fence when sawing; those who need accessories to help them, we have featherboards, Jesseem clear-cut guides and similar accessories.

Simon

[Handplanesandmore]

I'm so thankful I can watch a video where someone has a technique that I don't agree with, and I can just let it go and not stress out over it.

I am actually thankful that I can watch a video in which someone injured themselves because of a safety mistake they made, as a reminder that I can never let my guard down. These people do a great public service to the woodworking community by acknowledging that no matter what other people say or what they themselves might have said before their very own injuries, unsafe shop habits and techniques are unsafe. One of the videographers hurt himself just before his SawStop arrived, but he was not shy about sharing his safety mishap.

Woodworking videographers like this lady are particularly at risk because they tend to distract themselves by talking, glancing or looking at the camera, and cutting at the same time. Bad unsafe shop habits only make the situation worse.

Simon

[retrdwoodwkr]

I think she will have some issues getting a very tight miter joints,  I believe you should cut one side with one side of the '45' and the join side with the other.

[daddo]

I guess I'd better not do a video of me using the table saw.  


I lift off the blade, cut free hand at times, even cut angles free hand at times. Do drop cuts and such. However- I never get my fingers close to the blade or into a cut that could slip. Guess I'm a lucky fella.

She did a really good job on that sled!

[Handplanesandmore]

Guess I'm a lucky fella.

Do keep it that way, pal. Not a fun thing to become a statistic that the US CPSC is collecting 24/7.

Simon

[mound]

I cringe at the way she chops the 2nd cut of that rabbet at 5:30, the cutoff gets trapped between the fence and the blade.. I always try to do that so the piece falls off freely.

[Handplanesandmore]

I cringe at the way she chops the 2nd cut of that rabbet at 5:30, the cutoff gets trapped between the fence and the blade.. I always try to do that so the piece falls off freely.

The Comments section contains several safety observations by other viewers about her tablesaw and miter saw cuts. I hope she also pays attention to those insightful comments as her understanding of kickback (and what it can do) appears to be very limited.

Simon

[Steve in Nova Scotia]

I think she's doing fine, I'm pretty sure nobody here can claim to have NEVER let a workpiece inadvertently drift a bit from the fence, or have the edge of a large piece of sheet stock lift a bit off the table, I know I can't. The worst was reaching over the spinning blade as some mentioned, but I saw nothing particularly shocking. I expect I'll receive a public intervention for my blasphemous opinion by the safety police, but whatever...I'm not pretending to be perfect here.

And yes, she did do a good job on that sled!

[Stwood_]

https://youtu.be/LiGT9uJpELY?t=94

1:37ish - stock not pushed tight against fence
1:40 ish - stock not fed flat down on the table
5:35ish - removing off-cut while the blade coasting down
10:57ish - ditto

She really needs a SawStop if she plans to do woodworking and videotaping at the same time!

Simon

pickypickypicky 

[Steve in Nova Scotia]

pickypickypicky