Bonus Video: Table Saw Accident
Added 2018-02-15 18:36:13 +0000 UTCFriends:
It's been a week. On Monday, I sliced my thumb wide-open on my table-saw. I had to go the emergency room, stitches, x-rays, the whole nine yards. I'm out of the shop for a week while I heal up. It's been a huge drag.
But, in the world of the small businessperson, you gotta turn crisis into opportunity. I also really wanted to make and release a video about this as soon as possible. I think there's some valuable safety information in here and I wanted it out there to help people right away.
So, just this once, I'm releasing this extra video on Patreon and YouTube at the same time. I hope no one minds.
In the near future, I hope to do some Patreon-exclusive video.
Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe today. Take care!
--Rex
Comments
Wow. those are good questions. When I make a rip cut and either a cut line or the edge of the board is near the blade, I tend to watch the blade because it tells me if the wood is really parallel. There's no question that the blade is doing it's job; you're totally right about that. But if the blade appears to wander back and forth over the line, then something is wrong with the edge against the fence. It might not be straight enough. Or, if I'm ripping just the edge off a board, then I watch the offcut to make sure it stays a consistent thickness throughout the cut. If the offcut gets thicker or thinner as I'm cutting, then the edges of the board weren't parallel when I started. That could be very important information. I think your way of doing things is totally legitimate, but I also think watching the blade might be a good idea because then you're totally sure where the blade is and less likely to hit it. I think one of the things were coming up with here is that we (woodworkers) don't have a set of best practices for the table saw. We don't know what the safest approach is. We end up falling back on what seems like a good idea or what we've seen other people do. That's probably not good enough.
Rex Krueger
2018-02-28 15:37:42 +0000 UTCYou know, I was cutting some wood today without the guard on because I usually use the Gripper, but it was a wide pass on the wood and I was too lazy to reach for and adjust the Gripper. Nothing bad happened, but as I pushed it through, I found myself focusing only on two things 1) the wood’s edge against the fence, 2) where my left hand was because my right hand was seen at the fence. I didn’t allow myself to look at the blade per se doing its job because that was a given, in my mind, if I kept the wood properly against the fence. I remember being tempted to look at the cut happening, but felt it was “false” Information that could get me into trouble. I focused on the contact at the fence and my left hand. Now, I am not an experienced woodworker. I have cut my share of wood, but that was years ago. I woke up tonight and suddenly remembered something that you said in this video. You didn’t like the guard because you “couldn’t see the cut” happening. I wondered if you could tell me what you’re looking for by looking at the cut? Am I missing something? Also, I’ve decided I’m going to engineer a couple of push block/sticks that I can reach for when I’m lazy like that again. I’ve watched too many YouTube videos of cavalier behavior at the saw and I am unconsciously imitating that, forgetting that a cutting catastrophe happens because the blade forces and velocity exceed human reflex capabilities. I have to sacrifice the block, not me. I make a living with these hands and I am not a seasoned sawyer.
Barbara Schulz
2018-02-28 08:31:21 +0000 UTCYes, I have seen her channel, by the way. She’s good.
Barbara Schulz
2018-02-16 12:01:44 +0000 UTCNo, it’s not really, today, because of YouTube. In the 90’s I learned everything I need to know from Nick Engler’s woodworking books. I swooped into Barnes and Noble every week waiting for his next edition. He was just like you. He demystified tools and showed you how to make them. Your plane looks like a scraper plane he demonstrated how to make. I’m an anesthetist. I don’t make a living with the craft and never even considered it. I also sew. I always used to say that woodworking was like sewing with wood. I went to a seminar once. I was the only woman. It was on making joints with hand tools. Not one of those men had picked up a damn book before they got there. The instructor spent so much time answering questions that were so ridiculously fundamental, that I left after the first break. I’m sure he could have taught a lot of really good things that were nuance, but the men in the class wanted to be fed like children and not take responsibility for learning. I picked up right away that if the guys who paid to go to that seminar had been more like you, we could have picked up some really nifty stuff from that guy. But he was swamped by childish questions. It taught me a lot about what I knew. I realized that very few “woodworkers” knew anything that their buddies hadn’t taught them. I was no longer intimidated.
Barbara Schulz
2018-02-16 12:00:16 +0000 UTCI bet it can also be difficult being a woman in a craft so dominated by men. Maybe your niece feels the same way. I highly recommend April Wilkerson's channel. She's the most successful woman content-creator on youtube and she's also an articulate young lady with a lot teach. I bet you'll like her a lot. (But please keep watching my videos!)
Rex Krueger
2018-02-16 11:32:16 +0000 UTCWhen you edit, it removes the stuff you had written before. I didn’t know that. What I said was that I am a woman in my late sixties and I am getting back into woodworking after not having done it for about ten years. I like your practical approach and you are a lucid teacher. My niece is wanting to get into it, too. You can imagine how many woodworking YouTube channels one can find. I found yours about 3 days ago and have seen almost all of your videos. I really like your channel.
Barbara Schulz
2018-02-16 02:52:36 +0000 UTCSo, I had to stop for a minute with a distraction— to continue — so, my niece is interested in learning hand woodworking, too. I’m kind of like you, I want to do the craft skills with hand tools, but, for me, I do not have the strength or will to try to power through a board with a hand held rip saw. I’ve been showing my niece how to use a table saw and impress upon her how freaking dangerous a table saw is if you make a safety error with it. I appreciate your candor. This is more instructional than all the theory one can preach or read. But if you didn’t have the intellectual honesty and personal integrity to be real on this channel, this opportunity to teach would not be possible. I have not done Patreon before, but this video on this channel has inspired me to support you. Thanks for doing it.
Barbara Schulz
2018-02-16 02:30:16 +0000 UTC
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