rooroo December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 [Public Service Announement] Please be careful with your power tools. Read all the saftey instructions and install all blade guards and keep them on there! My hubby chewed up the tip of two fingers pretty good on Thursday afternoon after trying to rip too small a piece of wood with his new table saw with no blade guard installed. A trip to the emergency room, 10 stitches and lots of blood later he's doing fine but is a bit humbled and angry that he made a pretty simple mistake. He's lucky and won't loose any of his fingers. So please be safe and cautious and think about the worst case scenario before you turn on the saw. [/Public Service Announcement] Worst part is he was working on a project for my tank! Installing new T5s and he needed a piece of wood to mount the endcaps to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiddly December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 Thanks for the reminder. I hope your husband heals up quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax7774 December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 Gee, That reminds me of the time I took the guard off of a rotary grinder and then installed a 4" circular saw blade so I could cut some wood in a hard to reach place that my regular circular saw wouldn't fit into. It was going great until the thing caught on a nail and shot out of my hand and buried the blade over an inch deep into the muscle above my knee. Got blood all over the kitchen cabinets, the floor, the bathroom, and the car. Ruined several bath towels, and spent the rest of the day over at the Emergency room. It did eventually heal, but It left an interesting scar that sort of looks like what I imagine a shark bite to look like. Needless to say i won't ever try a stunt like that again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooroo December 31, 2006 Author Share December 31, 2006 Wow, that sounds a bit worse than hubbys injury. But I can't help but chuckle a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarsh97 December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 yes, please, please use the guards. My mom about took off 3 fingers on her hand when she used a table saw that someone had removed the gaurd from. She thought no biggie just a quick zip through the wood and be done with it and it probably would have been fine if there wasn't a knot in that piece of wood. I am glad your hubby is okay and thanks for the reminder. Sandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 As someone who uses his finger (playing bass and guitar) I get the hebbie-jebbies every time I hear a story like this. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal December 31, 2006 Share December 31, 2006 Sorry to hear about the hishap but glad to hear it not much worse. Following three simple rules will greatly increase security around power tools: 1) If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it! 2) If the task seems scary to you, you are either doing it wrong or the way you are doing it is unsafe. Don't do it! 3) Be especially carefull when doing routine and repetitive work or when working around power tools for long periods of time. It is easy to let your attention drift and the chances of accidents increase greatly. When making short or narrow cuts on a table saw, I use a GRR-Ripper GR-200. I bought two of them at a woodshow several years ago and consider them to be among the most important tools in my two-car woodshop. Roo, do yourself and your hubby a big favor and buy a couple of these. It's a purchase you won't regret. If you buy them and decide you don't like them, I'll buy them from you. Credentials: 32+ years of woodworking and can still count to ten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooroo January 2, 2007 Author Share January 2, 2007 Actually, the blade guard has grippers that keep the wood from kicking back. so if he had it installed he would have been fine. But I'll tell hubby he should look into a couple of those. He was being quite safe, using a push stick and kept the blade just above the piece of wood he was ripping. Had he not kept the blade low he would have cut his fingers off. But thanks for the suggestions. He's very good with power tools and has had lots of experience with them so after he cut up his fingers he was more mad at himself for making a stupid mistake than anything else. Dave, he plays guitar too and is right now trying to play it upside down. Its not working too well for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS January 4, 2007 Share January 4, 2007 Sorry to hear of the injury - glad the digits remained attached. Ah, America. We have nanny crap for darn near everything & yet we're stuck with out dated power tool safety stuff. The balde guards/pawls on 95% of table saws are crap, junk, garbage - try the Euro style riving knife, much safer. The gap between the blade & the knife never changes, the knife moves with the blade = much less chance of kickbacks. Please, I repeat, please buy the Gripper for him. I've used every safety device known & that ranks in the top three. It's so much safer than any push stick it's not funny. It can be used with a router as well. Your hands NEVER get anywhere near the blade = safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal January 5, 2007 Share January 5, 2007 Please, I repeat, please buy the Gripper for him. I've used every safety device known & that ranks in the top three. It's so much safer than any push stick it's not funny. It can be used with a router as well. Your hands NEVER get anywhere near the blade = safer. I was going to respond again with pretty much the same comment as you but didn't want to seem pushy. I removed the crappy blade guard from my table saw years ago after the third or fourth time that it almost *CAUSED* an accident. The grippers I purchased are fantastic and I plan on purchasing at least one more set when the woodworker convention comes through town again this year. Push sticks? Nah, not for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL January 8, 2007 Share January 8, 2007 One time, I drilled my middle finger while making a nice DIY T-8 reflectors... It was unexpected, didn't know finger was too close to the area of drill till it went through and into 1/2 inch of my finger. However, the table saw isn't something to play with at first place.... Ack!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooroo January 9, 2007 Author Share January 9, 2007 I've told him to investigate it. Knowing my husband, if he doesn't think its his great idea then he won't use it at all. Or he will replicate it. But I will insist that he get one for trial. Actually, the blade guard on this table saw is really nice. It's in general a really nice table saw. It's a Rigid jobsite saw. I looked at a Craftsman that's a similar style and none of the accessories were as good as the Rigid. Still, the blade guard gets in the way of certain cuts he'll need to make so the gripper is a good idea to have around. Anyway, he got his stitches out today. His fingers are returning to normal. One nasty scab on his index finger but otherwise they look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS January 9, 2007 Share January 9, 2007 Knowing my husband, if he doesn't think its his great idea then he won't use it at all. True that - the only good safety device is the one that gets used. Gripper is nice though - versitile & easy to use.....hopefully it'll get used. They are also sold through Woodcrafters which has a location in Springfield = he could test drive it. Or at the woodworkers show (in March I think) - you'll see lots of people using them. I looked at a Craftsman that's a similar style and none of the accessories were as good as the Rigid. Still, the blade guard gets in the way of certain cuts he'll need to make Yep, it's not a question of quality. Pretty much all "American sytle" saws use the same guard system. The guard isn't mounted to the blade assembly. In Euro style saws the blade & guard are mounted together = the space between the guard & the blade never changes = few if any kickbacks. Not quality, just the Euros are a bit more advanced in this area Anyway, he got his stitches out today. His fingers are returning to normal. One nasty scab on his index finger but otherwise they look good That's good to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooroo January 10, 2007 Author Share January 10, 2007 Ah, I see. I didn't know that about blade guards. Well if the woodworkers show is in March, I'm sure we'll be going. Thanks for the recommendation though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS January 10, 2007 Share January 10, 2007 (edited) March 16 - 18th @ the Dulles Expo Center Leave the wallet @ home Edited January 10, 2007 by ErikS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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