most dangerous tool award goes to….
andyfew322
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
either chainsaw or RAS in my book.
tablesaw has a lot of injuries a year, but think, there are more tablesaws out there than RAS, so if there were as many tablesaws as RASs, then the RAS would have the most.
what do you think?
“It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop”
Replies
Good question.
I know the same # of people injured by a RAS as a chain saw- 3.
But for some reason, a chain saw scares me a lot more.
fear generates more respect...
more respect makes you be safer...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
And too much fear is panic where all thinking ceases.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I know... a chain saw is a chisle on steriods.
a dull chisel ...
or ...
utility knife.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
flat tip screw driver....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"flat tip screw driver...."Every time!!! I wanna know who sharpens mine first, though!
Edited 1/30/2008 7:02 pm ET by Spalted
the dude in England that invented that type of screw...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
who ever the guy is that designed or came up with original idea we oughtta go dig 'em up and kill him again...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
That was my vote. Either that or just a plain old hammer.
If u ask shop teachers i think ull find most say the bandsaw has caused most injuries.U spend more time with ur fingers closer to a blade ( thats quieter and not so menacing) than almost any other tool.
bandsaw is one of the safest tools. the only reason it is dangerous in shop class is that we can't use the tablesaw or lathe. BTW how dangerous is a lathe
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
Good point, the worst of the two power tool scars I have is from a bandsaw. The other was a table saw.
I worked with a knuckle head that heard that ins. would pay X amt. of $$$ per joint for amputation. So he decided that he didn't need his pinky tip as bad as the purported 10 grand he had HEARD he could get ( this was one of his buds that worked in machine shop, he and I worked on a framing crew) so , bonehead decided to nip it off accidentally in a jointer at some place he was working at.
Well,it didn't quite go as planned, sucked 3 fingers in..2/3 of pinky,2/3 or ring, 1/2 of middle...clean chewed off.
Turns out the shop he was in had a different type of ins., and all he got was W/C, and gimp hand..serves him right, this guy wasn't right in the head...I think I heard later that it was spilled to the now Ex -boss ( he lost his job anyway) and the ex-boss was hunting him down for causing his W/C premiums to double.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Yes, I'd vote for the band-saw: saw a blade break and cross an entire shop leaving a 6' path of destruction before messing up the cabinets against the wall. Why nobody was hurt will be a mystery forever.
<!----><!----> <!---->
Phill Giles<!----><!---->
The Unionville Woodwright<!----><!---->
We had that happen in shop class in junior high. Monster of a saw, had a 30 or 36 inch throat.Half the class hit the deck, half of us went out windows. Fortunately nobody was in the path of the blade.Repairing the windows was ... interesting.Leon
Grade 9 shop for me. Everyone had to "break" the blade, weld the blade, do an interior cut, and repeat the break and weld. The band-saw had a welder built into it. That blade must have had 300 welds.
<!----><!----> <!---->
Phill Giles<!----><!---->
The Unionville Woodwright<!----><!---->
Ours was an old cast-iron monster, blades were replaced by our instructor. Mostly used to re-saw.No idea where they were welded, as a rule our system didn't offer welding except at one of the tech high schools, which, AAMOF, my dad taught at one time, many many moons before I was even thought of.Leon
a dull mind!!!.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
uhhhh ....
what?
Huh ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I always thought you were dangerous!!.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
in a James Bond kinda way ...
or was it Jerry Lewis?
same difference ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I now have the chance to hurt myself w/ a circular saw. I'm now allowed to use it w/ supervision.
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
All I have to say is when removing an old rusty tub faucet, think twice before sticking a screw driver in the spout to crank it off! ( Like it shows in many diy publications.) The spout broke on the first turn. which released the screwdriver hurling towards my face still in my hands. With a generous amount of momentum I stabbed the corner of my right eye. The screwdriver luckily steered towrds my nasal cavity from there saving my eyesight. Gave me a good scare though as my eye filled with blood and could not see for a few minutes.
Scott
There's not a lot to know, just a lot to remember. - Crouch
Edited 2/3/2008 12:48 am ET by deliamey
Edited 2/3/2008 12:50 am ET by deliamey
My worst power tool experience was with a tool not yet mentioned: belt sander. I was doing some Formica countertop work, and after cutting the front selfedge pieces 1 1/2" wide, I had the belt sander upside down clamped into the Workmate, with the trigger locked, and I was running the rough edges of the laminate over the belt to smooth and flatten them. All of a sudden, my index finger slipped onto the infeed side of the belt and the sander dragged the tip of my finger into the little gap where the belt goes in. The sander was still running but now the belt was stopped by my finger wedged into the gap. I was swinging my arm around trying to get the sander to let loose (it came free from the Workmate) and it took a couple of swings before I managed to pull it free from the wall. Then I was able to remove my finger and see that the fingernail had been sanded away, blood all over.The nail grew back,but it's not smooth like the rest, and that finger doesn't curve like the others do any more. Friend of mine lost a fingertip on a chop saw with disabled guard.Brother in law cut hand with skilsaw, reaching under the cut to hold the board and reaching where the blade was. Stiches and a scar.Co-worker using chainsaw at home had it kick back and nailed him in the forehead, had to wear a hat all summer so the scar wouldn't discolor.And I also vote for the utility knife, dull or sharp. Can't count the scars I have from trying to strip outer jacket from Romex wire with utility knife and having it slip and nail me.
Edited 2/3/2008 3:18 am ET by geoffhazel
The utility knife is the tool I've gotten the most scars from. I've cut myself at least 4-5 times with it, twice needing stitches.
I think because it's such a simple tool, I tend to be a little careless around it. Tho you'd think that I would learn from experience not to. LOL
Any power tool with the switch locked down (and no separate cut switch) is dangerous. My old B&D circ saw had the switch lock positioned so you could hit it accidentally -- had a few near misses due to that.If you use a power tool with the switch locked and the unit "tabled" that way, take the time to build a kill switch and clamp/tack it to the table is a place where you can always reach while you still have one hand on the workpiece.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
You never want to "part your hair" with a chainsaw......I always wear a hardhat when using a chainsaw. Kickback can send the bar and chain into your face very fast. Even if you are careful to keep the lower tip of the bar away from the cutting action, it can come in contact with branch you did not see (like while limbing).Every chainsaw user should also wear chainsaw chaps. I have a nice gash in my chaps that would have been ugly...bound up and killed the saw fast...I still got a nice bruise--much better than a major injury.
I always envision the chain breaking and lashing out and splitting my face open. Chain saws are not for sissys. I think I'd want a suit of armor to use one. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I'd have to vote for the ladder, although I lost a finger to a power plane, and I'm scared to death of my Lancelot every time I use it. Scared usually keeps you safe, though.I've had a couple of close calls with a ladder. I learned to extend them higher than you think you need about 35 years ago, when the feet of the ladder I was climbing dug down into the sand. I could see that the ladder was slipping down off the bottom chord of a pole-barn truss. I was closer to the top than the bottom, and I figured it would slip off even if I started back down, so I kept on going, and caught the chord just as the ladder fell.The latest was a couple of years back, when I was installing crown mold between the frieze and soffit wrapping around a bay. Steep site, scaffolding wouldn't work, so I used a series of extension ladders, including HO's. He set up ladder # 2 for me, but didn't fully engage the rung locks. I stepped from #1 to #2, and it collapsed. I let go as it crashed through the window, inches from my face, and managed to backhand #3. I hung there, one-handed, until the HO came out and set up another ladder for me.My 50-year-old shoulder didn't like that too much-- I was sore for a couple of months, but no permanent damage.
how do you loose your finger to a power planer? I've never seen or hear d it before this thread
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I actually watched my boss do this! I work in a cab shop and he was using his finger as a fence under the left side of the body. I was thinking as i watched him pull the trigger "uhm...isn't that exactly where those blade things spin around?" Too late, he had made about three inches of cut before he realized that it wasn't the wood bleeding.
I was using a Rockwell (now PC) Porta-Plane. It's got an inline motor, kind of like a router with a planer attachment. It's also got an integral fence about 2" tall.When planing a narrow piece of wood (in this case, about 2 1/4" w.), you can't clamp the work in a vise-- the fence would hit it. So, one end of the work on a sawhorse, the other end in my hand, I eased up pressure with my thumb to let the fence slip between the work and my thumb. I'd done it a hundred times. But this time, while my left index finger didn't touch the front shoe, the blade hangs down another 1/16th". It just barely nicked the tip of my finger, but we're all a lot stringier than wood: instead of just nicking off
1/32" or so, 2/3rds of that finger got dragged in, and sprayed on the wall.Could have been a lot worse. Interestingly enough, the back of the finger skin stayed attached, including the fingernail (thrown away from the cutter by centrifugal force). It made a handy flap to fold over the stump and sew shut.Three weeks to the day after the accident, I made a shoestring catch on a hard line drive. I caught it a little to much in the pocket, not enough in the web. But 15 seconds to shake it off, and I was back in the game. My teammates all said, "Awright, Aitch, gimme four-and-a-half!!"
I always pictured you as a shorter version of Matt Helm..
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
I'll accept that!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Anyone else had to ride staging down? Three tiers high loaded with split faced granite.I got dumped on the ground and then it started raining big rocks. How they (almost) all missed me I'll never know.
The trick is to not be any heavier than the rock.But we could use some good fall stories.A year ago in Biloxi the sparky working on this "house" (shell) fell out of the "attic" (a brace on the pull-down stair gave way) and landed on his back on the ground (crawlspace) between two stripped floor joists. Hardly a scratch -- he insisted on going back to work. Luckily about an hour prior I had cleaned up all the trash in the crawl so there was nothing but smooth earth. but needless to say a few inches left or right, or the wrong bit of trash in the wrong location and he could have had serious injuries.I've never fallen from a ladder or whatnot, but almost did once when we were residing our house. Looked down where I would have fallen and it was a pile of old siding, loaded with nails. After that I started tying off the ladder.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
I don't know if this counts as a "good" fall story...
25 years ago, on Feb. 28th, my dad, my brother and I were doing a re-roof. We had torn off the 3 layers of roofing on the house ( 2 asphalt, and 1 cedar), and had just started re- sheathing the front roof. I was 29 years old.
We had set up wood pole pump jacks with a 24' aluminum kicker as staging.
As my brother and I pushed that first sheet of ply on the roof, the pole under me broke, throwing me off the staging. I hit the edge of the porch roof on the way down, and missed a concrete sidewalk by inches.
My brother managed to jump onto the porch roof. My dad was on the ground watching the whole thing.
I ended up breaking my back in 2 places, and was paralyzed from the waist down. I had surgery, which took over 9 hours, to rebuild my spine with bone chips from my hip. I had 2 metal rods installed in my back, approx. 14" long, to stabilize everything while I healed.
I was out of work 11 months. 2 years later, I had a second surgery to remove the rods. I was out 3 weeks that time.
I was extremely lucky, tho. I've got about 90-95% of function back. The docs said that my back muscles were so strong, that they held everything together, and kept the spinal cord from being damaged.
Shortly after my fall, we found about Aluma-Poles, and bought 2 sets of them. We always used new 2x4s for our poles, but there was a big knot hidden in one of the 2xs, which cracked, causing the accident. The insurance adjuster said he'd never seen anything like it.
I really don't like seeing people using wood poles anymore. IMO, the risk isn't worth the savings.
creepy because my neighbor always uses 2X4s nailed together
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
Like I said, IMO it's not worth the risk
especially when you can buy aluminum poles and planks, use them, and sell them for near what you paid for them.
Unfortunately, there's people who are both cheap AND stupid.
I always went to the lumber yard and picked out the best 2 by 4s i could find, I never had any trouble, I have only seen the Alum ones here in the last year , They sure look nice, i would like to have a set . I dont think i was Stupid all these years , Thats all they had.
That's always what we did. Nice, new clean 2x4s for every job that required the pump jacks. My dad really didn't want anyone injured, especially since it was all family.
But the knot was hidden inside the 2x4. Couldn't be seen. NOT AT ALL.
If you still want to use 2xs for pump jacks, go for it. But, IMO, you're being foolish.
And we bought our first set of Alumi-Poles 25 years ago. From our siding supplier. when he heard about my accident, he asked my dad why we hadn't used the aluminum poles. My dad asked what are they.
When he found out, he bought a set within a week. I think he had them before I got released from rehab.
There's too many ways to injure ourselves in this line of work. Why take the chance?
howmuch do the poles cost?
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
More than 2x4s; less than a visit to the hospital. <G>
Actually, I don't remember. I'll try to find out.
that much aluminum must cost an arm and a leg, and that is what turns people away because they don't think about injuries.
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
howmuch do the poles cost?
They're not that expensive. The jacks are more expensive than the jacks for 2x4's, but the real expense is the walkboards. http://grantlogan.net/
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete (I am so in love with myself) Draganic
Got a new one for you.
Using a 28' ladder to clean out my gutters. Had the spreader on the top of the ladder, had that resting on the roof.
Went to move the ladder, got away from me. As it swung down I tossed it away, one side of the spreader hit the ground, the bottom half hopped up and cut halfway through my right ear.
Lots of blood, lots of stitches
Ouch.... but better that than an accident from 28' up...Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
A distracted or inattentive MIND.
And I have seen more Jointer injuries than Rad saws, and more Table saw injuries than Jointers, in the shops I have worked in and the sites I have been on.
But all were caused by the mind not being on a leash.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I think you hit it. You must know about the old 'shop fatigue' where you're standing over the large table equipment for most of the day and towards the end you keep hearing that high whine and you suddenly jerk yourself awake and realize that you don't really remember the last 10 minutes.
Turn off the switch, and call it a day.
I've seen some terrible things happen with a shaper.
'zactly!I think some actions and sounds are hypnotic. when you run out of wood to feed in, you just add a finger to the line so the blade won't go hungry
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I don't have any finger prints on the last two fingers of my right hand...
how's that witness protection program deal working out for you?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Painfully. The hands are finished, but we're still working on the face by arc-welder w/o face shield...
And I have seen more Jointer injuries than Rad saws
You've never seen one of those have ya????
<GD&R>
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.†—Albert Einstein
Yeah, I saw that.
Maybe Sphere and I can compare scars.
i have a little chain saw type blade that goes on a little grinder, lancealot????? im scared of that but it works great
One of the carps on "extreme makeover home edition" did a number to his hand with that chain on a grinder thing."No doubt exists that all women are crazy; it's only a question of degree." - W.C. Fields
not one seen often by us wood guys and not really a large # of injures incurred in use , but for sheer "freak" value-
large swing metal lathe...
I know of one machinist who was hamstrung by metal shavings on the floor ( deep cuts and metal spiraled about all over the place) and one killed by bar swing out..
when turning a piece of metal about 3/4 - 1" between a chuck and center the tech took too deep a cut with too shallow a center drilling.. bit hung up and the workpiece deformed and bent... came around and struck him dead in the head... killed instantly. Found out later that really is not "all" that uncommon.
james
Yes, this is my only grinder attachment I am afraid of.
I have two RAS and I don't like to use either of them. Those things just want to climb up and eat ya. I'd feel a whole lot better if they worked opposite...pushing the saw into the wood..
I've never had a bad encounter with either one despite using both a lot.
But based on comments I hear and stories I have read, I do think you are on the right track for the two top contenders.
It was a tablesaw and a miter saw that got those two fingers of mine shortened.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I have a pretty long list of injuries involving alot of different tools.
Table saw bound up and I took a laminate floor tile off the coin purse, that put me in the fetal position in the customers garage for 10 minutes, left some huge bruises on my thighs.
Utility knife has caught me sleeping more times than I care to remember. These are the worst, fast cut, lots of blood. Not a HO favorite to see.
I've turned alot of my finger tips into ground beef with my framing hammer.
Miter saw warned me and debarked a finger tip. Could have been worse.
Nail guns another hot topic, Framing nails, trim nails, roofing nails. All of them have woke me up more than once. Had an ardox nail go through my finger when I was 10, they have great fastening power. Even on fingers.
I've got a ton of X scars from phillips tips camming out of screws and then stabbing me in a finger somewhere. Had a square tip spilt my finger tip in two.
I've fallen off alot of ladders too, the short ones get me more than tall ones. Now I like my stilts.
Chainsaw hasn't got me yet, but it's always in the back of my mind. When I use it with my head cutter it makes my hands tremble a little more than usual.
Woods favorite carpenter
The tool that scares me the most (most dangerous in my mind for what I do) is a 15 amp 7" sander with 18 grit disks. Even coasting without power it will cut through insulated carharts and double fronted carhart pants in less time than it takes for you to realize what's happened.
Second is an electric hand planer.
Last summer a carp I know lost a few fingers on the table saw so now I'm extra careful and worry most about it when others are using my saw.
The tool that I'm convinced is the most dangerous for career-ending injuries is the ladder. This summer our plumber fell and broke the ball off his femor and cracked his hip. Doctor says his plumbing days are behind him, which is sad for a 25 year old kid.
Good building!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
"The tool that I'm convinced is the most dangerous for career-ending injuries is the ladder."Amen! I had to replace a 20' section of 2x12 belly band at a condo complex. The owner did not want to pay for me to bring a helper, so he said that he would help lift the thing in place, using his own ladder. I set up my sturdy 7-foot Werner fiberglass, he brought out a flimsy 6' aluminum thing that a painting crew had left behind. We placed the board across the tops of the two ladders, then climbed up ahigh enough to reach and lifted the board. When he hoisted his end that ladder started to rock back and forth and walk, then one leg collapsed and we were both going down. I yelled to him to jump clear and he did, but he didn't have sense enough to toss the board free as he went. He fell from just the third rung onto pavement, but with the weight of that 2x12 on top of him the result was hip replacement surgery.Needless to say, I work only with my own helper on a rated ladder nowadays.
BruceT
"The tool that I'm convinced is the most dangerous for career-ending injuries is the ladder."
Even worse is using a chain saw while on a ladder.
That is often life ending.
Another vote for ladders,
View Image
BruceT
are they serious?!?!?!?
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I went in for a regular visit with the dermatologist yesterday. Keeping current with sun damaged skin, checking for skin cancers and precancerous stuff.
During the exam she asked about some minor scars on my hands from chisels and knives. When I explained that I'm a carpenter, she told me a couple of stories about her time working the ER of a large hospital.
She said that she'd seen more serious hand injuries from table saws than any other power tool.
I asked about how effective micorsurgery is at re-attaching fingers. She replied that often the nerve damage is the limiting factor. There just isn't enough nerve tissue left to operate the muscles in the severed part of the finger.
That pretty much sums up what I've always thought. In my thirty years, I might have a total of forty hours on the table saw but that figure might be half of that. I guess you could say I'm not a big shop tool kinda guy. That might explain why my fingers are scarless. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Hey Jim,
I am giving your above post about stopping the blade alot of thought because I think you make some good points. Don't get me wrong , I will still not allow an unguarded circ saw on my jobsite. I think what is most important about what you are saying is situational awareness.
That being said in my 30 years I have never had a scratch from a tablesaw ~ Knock on wood.
On a hill by the harbour
Speaking about unguarded circular saws... I was watching a show about British property speculators who build in Eastern Europe and noticed the guys forming up the foundations were using unguarded grinders with 71/4" circular saw blades to make their cuts!
I'll fess up to that one.
My only excuse is sometimes I need to cut that whatever it is and nothing else on gods green earth will do. plus I like the ridiculousness of it.
"The tool that I'm convinced is the most dangerous for career-ending injuries is the ladder."
Grandpa died from a ladder fall.
have had some close calls
Personal experience:
NEVER have gotten a RAS injury, many hundred hours of use, even ripping.
NEVER a bandsaw Injury
Never a planar injury.
Never fell off a ladder (but once was left hanging by the harness<G>, but htat does not count as a fall, just 'slipping off)
NEVER shot myself with a nail gun.
Bad parts?
- 157 stitches from chainsaw
- 2 day unconsious and 2 weeks in hospital after getting head caught between dozer and a tree; DW said " it was good it wuz my head or I'da really been hurt".
- 1/2" slice into end of thumb from table saw, stuck a 1/4" sq piece of oak thru my hand shot out of a misajusted fence/blade
- ran a chisel thru the same part of left had 3 different times over the course of about 5 years till I finally learned how not to do that
- tore rotator cuff clear thru when big crowbar slipped out.
- couple of nails thru foot stepping on nails during teardown
Edited 2/2/2008 10:10 am ET by junkhound
I don't like being in a hole with a backhoe bucket. Scares the #$%^ out of me.
I was in the hole with my older brother driving the backhoe. I was waiting for him to do something and spacing out. He brought the bucket up to the hieght of my head and flicked the arm in my direction. I look up and he is just grinning. GRRRRR!!! Older brothers. Always right. Always a step ahead.
Yeah - having been knocked over by a backhoe, I dislike that kind of situation very much.
I worked in the construction-equipment business as a student/teen: some of that stuff can be pretty scary. We used to plow local parking-lots of snow with the really big front-end loaders, some you could park a car in the bucket, and people used to line the windows to see the "monsters".I loved operating them, but absolutely hated it when it was my turn to be the rod-man looking for curbs, hydrants, etc. - the guy in the cab can't seeing anything in front of the bucket.
<!----><!----> <!---->
Phill Giles<!----><!---->
The Unionville Woodwright<!----><!---->
I haven't operated big equipment very much. But I've gotten to the point where I don't want to. You don't get good training or hands on experience before they throw you in the fray. I don't want to knock something over or hurt anyone.
A lot of the time you are put in a situation where there is little room and they are in hurry because of $$$$$.
To me, that is a sure fire way to have an accident.
One factory I worked at they hired me and from the get go I was in the dog house. A week into the job and they told me I was going to be operating a grove crane lifting units off semi trucks and setting them in the yard shored up with wood blocks. All in a nice row. The old guy I was replacing said once a guy let one unit fall over and it pushed the next couple of them over too. It got to the point where I couldn't do anything right at that job. I think I lasted a couple of months. Never did have to operate that Grove.
Edited 2/15/2008 11:43 am ET by popawheelie
I have no idea what happens now, but in the '60s, you needed a provincial hoisting engineer's "ticket" to operate crane equipment - I got mine by serving an apprenticeship for 6 months.
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Phill Giles<!----><!---->
The Unionville Woodwright<!----><!---->
Just to throw it in there. The guard is there to PREVENT accidents, not stop them kinda like water RESISTANT to water PROOF
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
I'm so used to working off a gorilla ladder for most things, since they are so stable, that it almost killed me to borrow a normal step ladder on a recent job. *chuckle*
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Kinda goes with what Spehere said about the mind....... being in a hurry (for whatever reason, with any tool) is how I've hurt myself and seen a lot of others get hurt.
-D
". being in a hurry (for whatever reason, with any tool) is how I've hurt myself and seen a lot of others get hurt."That's exactly what happened to me about 6 years ago on the table saw. I was in a hurry, tired and not thinking about the forces that be. Eighteen stitches right up my fingers. I was lucky because the feeling eventually returned (took about 2 years to fully get it back), and the flesh grew back ok. Somehow it didn't hit a bone. Holy Schmitt did it hurt though.
RAS....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Chainsaw gets my vote. I've never heard of anybody juggling RAS's. :)
4 inch side grinder with a thin metal blade cutting sheetmetal.two ways to screw up concrete 1) concrete driver 2) concrete finisher
I am 100% with brucet9 on the ladder tip. Granted angle grinders and worm drives with dado blades are a little sketchy, I just got 8 bolts a 3x6 inch metal plate and a piece of cadaver bone on my right tibia(shin) from a "short ladder fall.(By short I mean 12 feet or so, which isn't nearly as far as it could have been).
no bosy mentioned hot glue guns. they really burn, and for a long time. Just did it today.
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
And bandaidsThey REALLY hurt when ya pull 'em off.;)Andy, never get hot glue or solder on your thumbnail.owwww!!!.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
When I was a kid my dad needed to remove a bumper from an old car we had. Big azz machine bolts with carriage heads.
Out comes his oxy/acy. torch and the rosebud. He gets it all nice and red, puts his wrench on the nut and starts a turning it.Asks me if the head is turning on the outside of the bumper. Try turning it again I say as I place my left thumb on the head of the bolt. I have a very unique left thumb print.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
why wouldn't you stick your thumb on a red bolt. ;)
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
He thought it was the stupid button!.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
Well if it wasn't before I touched it I knew for sure it was after I did!
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Because I couldn't tell if it was turning under the chrome cap on it. And more importantly I acted before thinking!
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Saw a good tagline on the astronomy forum.Duct tape is like The Force, it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together....
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
i would ALWAYS have pants on when working with a hot glue gun.
I put 4 cracks/breaks in my thumb when a piece of brass I was drilling came out of the vice and nailed me. (large industrial drill press when I took machine shop classes at night)
Hand doctor said I was one of the 10% of carpenters that came in with a hand injury from other than a table saw.
Bowz
A few weeks ago I went through OSHA 40hr class and this subject was brought up. According to the instructor the angle grinder is the most dangerous tool. He said this tool caused the most job site injuries.
Right about that. Put a new cup brush on a AG, and do a few passes, and if yer wearing anything but Kevlar, you got lettle wires stickin' out of yer chest...
Don't mind dadoing or cross-cutting with a RAS, but ripping scares the pookie outta me...
the tool i own that i consider dangerous,even though i haven't been hurt with it is my cordless circular saw. my attitude is it's a toy,even though i know if it will cut a 2x pc of oak it won't even slow down on flesh.it just turns so slow compared to a electric i just fear i'm going to fall asleep with it. now plug in my milwaukee and i have total respect.one reason i don't use my cordless alot.
that grinder deal that loks like a chain saw gets my vote for the most grewsom tool, it woudn't even cut clean,just throw pc's everywhere. larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Yah, I don't have the same respect for my cordless circ as I do for the the plugin. Gotten a little too comfortable with it; hope I don't get nipped bad.
Wearing a tie to work.
My father was in the tool and die industry and he would wear clip on ties just for that purpose
On the lathe.
lol. but true
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I know of two adults that spent time in the hospital for surgery to insert a metal pin, as well as physical therapy, not to mention the loss of time at work and around the house.
Both men had been using one of those short work area 10" benchtop table saws. The key to the accidents came down to not having an extended outfeed table or support roller. Both reached over the blade to grab the 3"x 36" piece.
One of the fellows said, "I could have bought 3 SawStop Table Saws for what this one accident cost."
Use Outfeed support on those small saws.
Bill
Wedding bands on your hand can do untold damage including death when you're working with electrics. I only wear mine when I clean myself up and look presentable. In other words, I don't wear it that often.
Yep, got a 360 degree burn on that learning curve. We use to have signs that pictured rings, watches, gold chains, and ear rings on them,. Caption said "Take it Off, Take It All Off."
Any circular saw with a small wedge inserted to pin the guard in the up position.
Worked with a bonehead framing crew in TX that thought that was the only way to go. Had the gall to cuss ME out for setting the saw down in the regular fashion not realizing that these idiots had he guard disabled.
Was kinda funny to watch that model 77 skate across the slab with a brand-new blade spitting concrete and sparks.
At least it didn't dance across my foot.
The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
wait till blue catches this....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Ahyep.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Most definitely the utility knife or X-Acto. Almost everyone I know has gotten a pretty serious gash from either one.
Award for Most serious: Chain saw Award for Most likely and common : Utility Knife/Chisels Award for Most fingers (or parts thereof) taken : Table Saw (Jointer and Shaper running a close second) Award for Most body cuts: Skil saws Award for Most hair pulled out : Drill presses Award for Most broken bones : Ladders Award for Most broken wrists: Hole hogs Award for Most Finger nails lost: Hammer Award for Most deaths : Our vehicles.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Most ER visits requiring an orthopaedist (personal experience): Nail gun.Close second: Table saw.Most frequent cause of severe injuries: falls (scaffolding, ladder, roof, etc. combined).Other assorted interesting causes of injuries I've seen (not necessarily carpentry related):
- electrocution (nothing visible, referred out for management of expected delayed necrosis of nerves and blood vessels)
- hydraulic fluid injection into the thumb (required open flexor tendon sheath decompression and debridement, continuous irrigation post-op, and lots of prophylactic antibiotics)
- hair caught in a belt of a combine (I didn't actually see that one, but I heard about it. I think she died - got pulled in.)
- arm stuck in a swimming pool pump intake (took FD almost an hour to get him un-stuck, ended up with compartment syndrome = severe pressure within the muscle compartments due to internal swelling, requiring a general surgeon to filet his arm open to relieve the pressure).Rebeccah
Really boils down to person using the tool. I would say most dangerous tool is us. If we took all the saftey precautions injurys would be almost zero.
That is the Truth.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
That compartment syndrome is a bear, my son got that when he broke his leg, now he looks like Frankenstein, and his leg don't look too good, either. :)
Always wondered what the treatment would be for hydraulic injection, don't sound like fun.
Explain?The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
you must have missed his postings on the subject...
so let's try this....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Try what? You're killing me here.
What, is he Mr. ultra-pro-choice-wood-wedge-in-the-safety-guard-guy?
Probably will say, "it's in the way". blah, blah, blah
To each his own.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
Uhm (clearing throat here) Jim is a solid advocate of removing the guards and cutting the blade side off the saw table. Swears that is the way it is best handled. How he was trained by his Union mentors in Mi. back in the day .
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Well, that explains it. If it's got Union approval and all...
To think, I've been wrong all these years.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
sorry... link didn't go....
tried to hook ya with what he had to say about gards...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Thanks IMERC, but I'd about guarantee that I've heard all that argument before.
All I could stand anyway <G>.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
ROAR!!!!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Blue AKA Jim Allen smashes his gaurds the day he buys a new saw.Maybe that's why he moved to texas...LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You know, I really like reading Jim's posts. Informative and occasionally entertaining. Maybe when that saw eventually bites him, he'll learn to type with his nose.
In all fairness, the guys that engage in the VERY questionable practice of guard removal are probably the last ones to suffer injury because of it. It's the poor SOB like myself that first day on the TX crew, that usually spills blood.
I was simply told, "that's how we do it". Next day, and every day after, I brought my own saw.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
A friend of mine who worked construction years ago picked up a circ. saw and not realizing the gourd had been tied back, ended up with the blade splitting between a couple fingers into his hand.
That's my point. It's the person who doesn't know that always ends up with "stumpy" for a nickname.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
I had an old Millers falls saw with a sticky gaurd thirty years ago.
It worked most of the time, but I was in the habit of laying it upside down as I finished a cut just in case. But when I started working with a crew, I wrote with my Sharpie all over it, "GAURD STICKS" Sso nobody else would get hurt.A plumber comes along and whacks off a 2x4 when I am not looking. Recognizing the sound of my own saw the way a mother recognizes her babies cry in a nursery full of young'uns, I turn my head just in time to see him set it down with an ungaurded blade still spining to beat the band. I yelled as it did a hopscotch dance across his foot. He was lucky it bounced up just at the right time and came down again on the floor for another three feet of scars to the wood.Si I was reaming him out for #1 using my saw, and #2 not paying attention to the warning.
He says, "Oh, is that what that says, I thought it was somebodies name"
Which left me feeling bad that he couldn't read.
That night I dismanteled the saw, polished and cleaned and lubed it.You know - closed the barrn door after the horse got out!;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
1st. Carp job I ever had was in N.Y. Boss had a scar starting at his right thigh just missing the femoral artery and ending inside his right ankle. Two mistakes: Not paying attention as He stood on the valley rafter tail he cut off . And he refused to keep a guard on his saw. He was out of work for 18 months while things healed.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I agree. There should be no guards to pin back. I find it amusing that someone who sets a saw down with the blade spinning wants to point their fingers at others and tell them that they don't work safe. The most dangerous thing about saws is the guard, which will occasionally hang up for whatever reason. The guys with the guards normally work very unsafely, setting their saws down with the blade spinning, walking around with the blade spinning, etc. Then, they are "surprised" when an accident occurs. Ironically, we currently have one guy with his thumb in a splint from a saw blade right now. He's got the guard, the extended table and the cut up thumb. Working safely with tools is a priority at all times. Relying on the "guards" is pure idiocy and it's only a matter of time when the users will hurt themselves because it's not the guards that make a tool safe. The government has decided that guards make a saw safe. The saw hasn't gotten that memo yet. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I'm no framer, so I'm not using my circ saw all day or anything (and not, I should add, with a high degree of skill). I see the guard as extra insurance. I was taught not to rely on it, though, by my Dad's sidewinder which stuck, oh, 1 out of 10 times. Just enough to get you complacent, and then BAM! Saw goes for a drive on its own. Kind of like my plunge router that had a habit of retracting almost all the way, just leaving the bit poking out a bit. These make you develop habits.But yeah, I find myself wanting to lift the circ saw guard a LOT, for a nice plunge into the work (my technique might be flawed here). Trying to operate the saw AND lift the guard creates a more hazardous situation.But I don't use my saw enough to rush a single cut. I think through every one and take my time. If I had to use it for production work, I would definitely have a love/hate relationship with the guard.
"But yeah, I find myself wanting to lift the circ saw guard a LOT, for a nice plunge into the work"Exactly. I need one hand for my material and one hand for the saw too. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Jim, I have purposely stayed out of these discussions about guards on circular saws because I learned years ago I couldn't make people see the light.
How anyone could set down a spinning saw at any time, much less lay one on their leg, and count on a guard to keep bad things from happening has always been beyond me.
Every time someone cuts into their leg, or runs over their foot, or cuts the cord it is likely because the guard failed to function, or was pinned up. But, the problem is not the pinning of the guard, it's the dummy who doesn't control the blade.
I know I am preaching to the choir here with you, but I'm afraid we are in the minority. I also know that you and I will never set a spinning blade into our leg or on the floor.
I don't let anyone else use my saw.
35 years, no scars on my leg or foot. Well, not from a saw, anyway.
1975 Milwaulkee 7 1/4" circular saw, trigger stuck, plugged it in and saw cut toes, hip , leg and hand while standing in a hex shaped shower. Brand new blade put on before I plugged it in. So be it for the days of chocking guards up.
Painful lesson. Glad it wasn't worse.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
that really sucks.
Man, that must've been like waking up in a box full of rattlesnakes.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
First and last Milwalkee tool i ever owned was a 7 1/4" saw. I was cutting plywood on the second floor deck, finished a cut and put the saw down on the floor. The guard failed to deploy, even thought I had dismantled and cleaned it a couple of times not long before.
The sawblade hit the floor and propelled the saw in an arc, hitting my ankle just above my sneakers. It unravelled my heavy wool socks about 1" x 4", but I was left with 2 small punctures from the carbide bits, no real damage.
I chucked that saw off the deck, ran down the ladder grabbed a sledgehammer and made sure that saw would never FU again.
Boy was I lucky! Hit me right where the top of the foot meets the front of the shin. Could have been major tendonitis.
You obviously failed to read the safety warnings in the manual. It says to verify that the guard is working every time you pick up and set the saw down and also stop the blade before setting the saw down.That was a sarcastic comment. Your story demonstrates why I chose to ALWAYS operate without a guard. I ALWAYS knew I had to stop my blade and every cut of mine was finsished in a way that I was physically stopping the blade with several different techniques. I don't expect you to understand the significance of that because you have a lifetime of setting your saw down with the blade running. To me, that IS very dangerous. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I saw this coming, and I agree with you somewhat. I did kind of like the post where the blade is always either in the wood or in the guard, but, really you are correct. It will be hard trying to change the habits of 4 decades or so. What are some of your techniques for stopping the blade?
I might add that the saw I bought to replace the one that bit me had a brake.
Agreeing somewhat is the best I can expect. I would not use a saw that has an automatic brake blade either. I sometimes need a "variable speed blade" for some of the shaving techniques that I use and I accomplish that by briefly pulling the trigger on and off. I can't remember where I use that technique but I know I do it more frequently than you might imagine. I think ice cleaning is one situation: a slowly turning blade does wonders for breaking up ice and a fully spinning blade is too unwieldly. The methods that I use to stop the blade are primarily two three fold. On many cuts, I time the speed of the blade to co-incide with the finish so I'm coming off the cut at a very low speed. That's the primary technique. It's done unconciously of course. The secondary method is to add a right twist to the saw. This puts a bind on the blade at the back of the cut. When you combine the slowing technique with the pressure, it results in an instantaneous stoppage. This same technique works fine for a full speed stop. The other major player in stopping technique is burying the blade in a rip. This technique usually requires me to restart the blade to give it more speed while placeing the front of my plate on the part that I'm burying the blade in. I then plunge cut into the stock and it buries the blade while stopping it. Often, I leave the saw stuck in that position. I do that quite often while working on floor joist framing or roof framing. The say is stuck on the lumber and holds tight till I need it agian. Also, I leave it stuck in my saw horse tops too. The one thing that doesn't work good is to try to stop the saw using the plunge method on a cross cut if the piece of wood is loose. It grabs, binds and rocks the chunk of lumber against the saw while scaring the bejezuzz outa me. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
It's hard to get run over by a street car if you're not standing on the tracks when it goes by! It's hard too to cut off fingers with your RAS if you know where the blade is coming through.
During the 11 years I worked in a tool room the only accidents we had were bandsaw cuts to the bone of the thumb. Two guys cut their thumbs during the same week. OSHA people ran all over the place for a while but thankfully they couldn't come up with a guard.
Sphere got it right. You gotta keep alert.
Ironically, OSHA then had us put a guard on the 12" RAS. This turned out to be a totally useless piece of plastic hanging on each side of the blade. A worker put it on while I hadn't noticed and shortly I made a cut and this just at the time when I was having big problems getting used to bifocals I mistook the plastic for a spinning blade and where my thumb was came the whirring real blade. I still have the thumb but it was really close. What I lost was my respect for OSHA. Mesic
What's a RAS - Radial Arm Saw? Why would it be dangerous?
You're kidding, right?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I use a RAS for crosscutting, and a TS for ripping. IMHO, the TS is way more dangerous. Of course, that equation flips around if you use the RAS for anything but crosscuts.
For me, the thing that always bites ya is trying to hurry too much. The worst injury I've had in years I got from a freakin' saber saw! Doing some plunge cutting on an ipe deck, I reached around the front of the saw to grip it better and crushed the tip of the index finger on my left hand between the blade lock and the saw body. Man, that hurt. Instant purple, blood akimbo.
Of course, being in a hurry and all, I continued the job, and proceeded to crush the tip of the index finger on my right hand the same way, but worser. DOH! It's been 8 months and it's just now getting back to normal.
The Scarriest Tool In My Shop is a Lancelot on an angle grinder. That thing could make hamburger out of any part of you in a millisecond. That said, it scares me so much that I'm ultra-overly-cautious when I use it, so I've never had any problems with it.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I learned that lesson about hurrying too much my first year roofing. My boss was always pushing and running and hurrying. I watched him walk right off the end of a toe board on a 28/12. He fetched up before going over the edge at the bottom but not before he'd broken ribs bouncing off a couple more lower toeboards on the way down.The other one is working too many hours and getting too punchdrunk to pay attention.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
amen to working too many hours - had my TS accident after two 70 hr workweeks back to back. I might have actually been sleeping at the time of the accident. not sure."it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latinihttp://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
It can be hard to believe a person can function on some low level while the mind is asleep, but it happens.
When I was about 19YO, I was hitching home one night and had to walk the last seven miles after midnight. I found thatI had walked the last twoo miles unconscious of any of it, becoming aware again as I stumbled over stones in the driveway on the way in. No booze involved.
Another time, I was driving long hours and there I was dreaming that I was enjoying a wonderful fireworks display and thinking "Wow! That's Cool, Man".
What my open eyes were seeing was a tail of sparks as I was riding the fender along the gaurdrail on Interstate 10 in Texas
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
LOL.
Reminds me of waking up when my F250 mirror slammed into a No Parking sign in Bethlehm Pa..Wyandotte Hill for those in the know...NOT a good place to be nodding off.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I had one really stupid night that I regret so much. Lucilly I wasn't hurt. I was at a friend's house working on our 28' treehouse. we converted a playset to this. we were working and having a great time. I was working on the top floor. His mom comes out of the house and asks us what time it was it that you know you've done something wrong tone. we guessed 10:00 or at the latest 11:00. we weren't tired. She told us...
1:45 am
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
Edited 2/9/2008 2:37 pm ET by andyfew322
"I found thatI had walked the last two miles unconscious of any of it,
I read an article once about one of those ultra marathon runners -- guys that run like 100 miles non-stop. This guy said he would often sleep while running. (He also ate -- he'd order a pizza delivery for an upcoming intersection, grab it from the delivery guy and keep on keepin' on.)
Boggles my mind -- I have enough trouble jogging a mile, let alone running 100.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
The blade turns with the teeth coming up from the bottom. A ripping action can cause a bind and throw the workpiece back at you. I got a buddy that lost his left nad that way.
And that's just the beginning. It can be a good tool, as long as it's being fed material via robot.
I've used all the power tools mentioned. I also grew up around farming equipment before all those safety guards were around.
Any tool is dangerous if used improperly, while not paying attention, without proper training (experience doesn't count as you might have started out using wrong).
That being said I've also had close calls with all those tools. Fortunately I still have all my parts.
A dull mind is the most dangerous tool out there.
I have not read the other posts yet but before I opened the thread I knew my answer.
Yes, I have seen fluke accidents and unpreventable stuff but I would say that 90% of the accidents I have seen are the ultimate result of a dull, distracted, complacent or tired mind.
Andy, I know you are young so take this to heart. People get used to the safety features of their tools and push them, get tired after working 90 hours in a week, try to talk to someone or answer a cell phone in the middle of a task, or don't listen to or have that little voice in their head that says "This is wrong, you are going to get hurt if you continue.".
got to go...more later
I learned some good stuff about working with sharp tools way back in Boy Scouts. Probably saved me from chopping off a toe. Still had to learn the hard way about how to whittle safely. One of those "I know what he said but it doesn't apply to me because..." moments.
I was taught self awareness by an old timer on my first job. The lesson was partly to help conserve energy but mostly about working safely.
Another old timer reinforced those lessons for me a few years later with hints about keeping a clear and steady mind at all times. He was an excellent example too, always quietly focused and self contained, working at his own smooth pace.
One thing I've been through twice that could've been avoided, visits to an eye doctor. I've been fortunate that no permanent damage occured. Other men I've known have not. Just driving home with a temporary eye patch is enough to appreciate how important it is to wear eye protection.
All tools are potentially dangerous, and should be respected as that. One moment of inattentiveness is all it takes. My hands are covered with small and medium sized scars from years of nicks and cuts which happened in just such moments.
Fortunately my respect for what the old timers taught me has saved me from more serious injuries. That and other forms of grace I've received.
Often it's been that small inner voice, more of an impression really, that moves me out of harm's way. Intuition is a good name for it. That's part of quiet self awareness too.
I also am very thankful for the lessons given me by old timers, even though some of them "stung" at the time. Here are some things I might add, as I am getting towards the time someone might refer to me as an old timer, and I have a few lessons I have learned the hard way.
Each tool has its own highly dangerous aspect. It probably isn't an obvious aspect. Spend time looking at the tool to figure out what they might be.
With RAS it is pretty obvious when you first orient the blade parallel with the grain of the wood and try an operation like ripping. Shaping with a RAS is extra frightening. Cross cutting a small wood block that projects too high above the fence is less obvious, but the block will launch towards the back of the saw as it were a bullet, ricochet off the wall behind the saw, then continue flying about the shop with subsequent ricochets. I improved the safety of my RAS by building my own table. It is of hardwood, waxed slick, with a replaceable fence, and easy to adjust. One of the "fences" I use is hardwood with a piece of tempered hardboard mortised in, such that the hardboard protects the table top from the saw. I use this for cross cutting. The high, zero-clearance fence shows clearly where the blade is. Other special "fences" are used for mitering crown, for example. Only issue is you must lift the blade to turn the arm--not a bad trade off, in my opinion. Keep the lift mechanism clean and well greased. The waxed table makes ripping or shaping more enjoyable.
Other tools aren't quite as obvious.
The blade guard on a circular saw will stick in the open position if the right combination of dust gets in the hinge. This happens while sawing. Removing the saw from this cut and assuming the now stuck or sluggish guard is covering the blade caused one old carpenter of my acquaintance to cut 3 inches deep into his thigh, as he had the habit of resting the saw on his leg between cuts. But putting the spinning carbide-tipped blade down on a concrete driveway is, at least, spectacular.
Cutting a thin, flexible material on the TS, running against a fence, is stupid, but not obvious until done. Unfortunately, this is likely the last thing you will do. If thin enough, the edge of the material can slip under the fence, of course, and disaster will occur. But more surprising is what happens with 1/4 inch thick polycarbonate. This does not cut like 1/4 inch plywood, even though it does not slip under the fence. While cutting, this wonderful material will start vibrating uncontrolably. At this point you have no time to cut the power. A 12-inch, 3600-RPM, 4-horse, direct-drive TS will regurgitate the material into your belly with staggering force. Enough force to make deep bruises and cuts even through a ballistic nylon back-brace belt. Without the belt, which was several layers thick, I would have been cut in half. This happened in full view of my sons, causing them to fear the TS beyond all other tools. Grown now, they still recall this incident as evidence their father is imperfect. Even they could see that using a router to cut polycarbonate makes sense.
Routing an edge on a small board, holding the router with one hand and the board with the other is another not-quite-so-obvious danger. Done the wrong way, the router will suck the board, and the hand that is holding it, into its 18,000 RPM clutches. If you don't think this is fast, touch a full speed router running, say, an ogee bit to a small board that is just lying on a table. Be certain not to be in the path of this board when it is launched to carrom about your shop.
Carving with a utility knife is also an activity that takes just a little consideration to understand its danger. Buy carving tools and keep them sharp. They are much less expensive than the trip to the ER to sew up a 3-inch long gash on the back of your thumb. And if you want reasons: a utility blade is sharp, but not reliable. It dulls quickly, then breaks when a little too much force is applied. After all, it is made for cutting cardboard boxes, drywall paper, and like materials. Of course, if your wife is balking about spending money on tools, she won't be quite as likely if you drop the comment, "If I had only been able to buy the correct tool...", as she drives you to the ER with blood all over the car.
So, working in the shop requires a healthy fear of tools. Routine is dangerous. Check guards often. Wear protection--ballistic nylon and kevlar are wonderful materials when you are wearing them. Assume something might go wrong, and be prepared for it. And when working with unfamiliar materials, try the safest way first. That means you have to think about safety first before doing something.
I have a wonderful TS. It cost me a lot when I bought it 40-plus years ago, and I have made excellent modifications to it over the years to increase its accuracy, safety, reliability, etc. It runs perfectly. Why is it I have such a strong desire to purchase a SawStop?
Walt Kelly of Pogo fame had it right: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Edited 1/31/2008 12:14 pm ET by JustAbout
dang nice first post there JustAbout View Image
yur right..
put him in the lineup, rez
The blade guard on a circular saw will stick in the open position if the right combination of dust gets in the hinge. This happens while sawing.
I've had that happen once, cutting wet wood with a left blade worm gear saw (union job, contractor's saw). I didn't know it but the sluggish guard wasn't closed as I was bending over to set the saw down.
The saw being heavy, I was letting my arm hang close to my body as I set it down. The blade caught my pant's leg and gave me a nick to remember. No stictches required but I still remember and think how bad it might've been.
I've been extra careful with left blade circular saws ever since.
An orthopedist once told me that as long as they make chain saws he'll have work.
That and he marveled at the severity of the accidents, asked how can someone could use that dangerous a tool and not learn how to use it or not pay attention.
Edited 1/31/2008 12:31 pm ET by cynwyd
dozer or backhow without rops/fops
My dad lost part of a finger to a planer/jointer.
I've used a chainsaw a moderate amount and never found it that scary, so long as you don't try to cut with the top of the bar.
Have had a drill press throw something across the room on a couple of occasions.
Never had a TS kick back, but I understand people have been killed that way -- ruptured spleen. Never used a RAS, but I can understand how they'd be dangerous.
It seems that accidents come in several categories:
1) Tired/inattentive -- nuff said
2) Stupid -- ditto
3) Novice -- you mean you didn't know that ...
4) Defective equipment -- who needs guards?
5) Surprising -- well, I didn't THINK I was a novice, but ...
6) preocupied.. thought process on something else....
7) disposition... angry...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
disposition... angry...
oh yeah, write that down twice.
Find yerself in a rotten frame of mind then shut 'er down 'cause it ain't worth it.
Peaceful,easy feelin'.
or keep going and throw a temper trantrum because something didn't go right....
then it get's ugly....
qiuck....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
i have 20 stiches on my thigh from pinning up the guard on a skillsaw while i was cutting rafters. I never felt it till i felt blood running down my leg, Then i looked at the hamburger and almost fainted, I was 23 and working to fast.
Be happy you got off lucky. I worked with a carp who had 15 in his 3rd. leg from the same thing. I used him as an example to all the young bucks who insisted they were being safe and the guard was a nuisance. He was willing to do a show and tell just to see them freak out. Usually convinced even the most insistent.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
For me nothing scares me more than a biscuit jointer, the thought of slambing that blade into the end of my thumb makes me cringe thinking about it. I hate looking at that tool now.
A little known thing about biscuit jointer accidents.....
A combination square lying on it's side on the bench puts the blade of the square at exactly the correct height to go into the blade opening of the biscuit jointer.
On a hill by the harbour
Hope it was both a cheap square and a cheap biscuit joiner.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
It did not happen to me, I heard about it somewhere ages ago.
I love my starret combo square ( not cheap ) and hate my freud pos biscuit jointer. It gets used very rarely and the next time I need it I am going to go buy a kreg jig..............
On a hill by the harbour
If yer tossing that joiner, I need the switch for mine..POS? YUP.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
If yer tossing that jointer, I need one ;) lol
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
Tell ya what..whenI get a new DWalt, I'll send ya the Freud..it doen't need a SWITCH as much as it needs a NUB that HOLDS the switch ON..The nub is part of the housing, but I think with enough twiddleing, one of us could fix it, maybe a drop of epoxy or sumptin.
Prrobably be a few weeks..I have a huge amount of need coming up for the joiner.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
since when does dewalt make one?!?!?
BTW, that sounds good, what size?
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
Edited 2/1/2008 6:09 pm ET by andyfew322
Dewalt has had em for years.
Size? it cuts '0'-'10'-'20' size biscuits..not the mini-schmini ones for cab faceframes. 20 yrs old or more, moderate use, new blade , plastic case with tools for swapping the blade.
It works fine if ya hold the switch on..I just want a new one ;)Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
oh, right, forgot.
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I got my Frued BJ when they first got popular and not many brands out there. The box didnt last a month but BJ keps ticking .I wonder if i should sharpen that thing...its been like 12 years ? I dont remember what i did with all extras for doing that altho i think from an old FWW article its a PITA.
Ill probably get around to it when i retire..like cleaning my Plaslode.
The switch in mine went about about a year after I bought it and C. 93 or so and I couldn't source a new one so it has been hardwired ever since. I usually use it on my router table / bench that has a switched plug mounted under the bench for the router.
On a hill by the harbour
i have had some close calls, but luckily still have all my fingers and toes:)the closest call i had was with a 4" angle grinder with a kutzall wood wheel(not the kind with the chainsaw but the kind that is shaped like a metal donut with tiny little metal needle points). it was our last day on the job of a five week log home. i was cutting out some arched windows. we nail up a plywood template, cut out the logs with a chainsaw then clean up the cuts with the grinder. i was just about finished with the second window when i saw a spot in the corner that needed one more swipe with the grinder. it was the top left corner so i was working fairly close to my face. the grinder wheel caught the corner of the plywood and launched at my face. i moved back quickly enough to avoid having it hit my face, but not fast enough to get away unscathed. the grinder hit me in the chest, just below my neck. my shirt was caught in the wheel winding it tighter and tighter. i hit the switch only to discover that it had burnt out. so i pulled the cord up and unplugged it and was able to free up my bloody shirt and investigate my wounds.not bad considering.the grinder ripped my shirt down to the bellybutton and tore out a good hunk of flesh about an inch away from my jugular. the wheel was spinning so fast it actually cauterized the wound. it had stopped bleeding by the time i got my shirt off. all of this happened in about four seconds. pretty scary.respecting tools is something that comes with experience unfortunately. any of us that use tools regularly has probably learned an easy lesson or a hard one. many that learn the hard lesson have missing appendages. every time i have had a close call it has been a result of me not being fully engrossed in what i was doing at the time or hurrying.
Every day is a gift, that's why it's called the present.
that sounds like matrix gone bad. Slow mow dodge of grinder to face, only for it to smack you in the chest
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
friend of mine was cuting 4 x 4 fence posts after tey were set, circ saw caught his shirt and sucked the saw towrds his stomach. He was a brute of a guy and held from diggin in. minor cuts - lucky."it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latinihttp://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
Mine is a POS frued also !!!!!
My honorable mention goes to the hardwired FBJ.
On sale this week at CT :~D
Gord
A drunk co-worker. I was on a job about 10 years ago and 2 guys showed up to install garage doors. They got the first one up and were putting up the second one when the one who was winding the spring suddenly let go of the winding rod and it struck the other guy breaking his arm. Turned out the first guy was drunk. He was also the father-in-law of the injured guy. Maybe there was more to it than alcohol.....
"Maybe there was more to it than alcohol....."
lol
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
The super wanted to get one of the painters "out of site" because the big shots from Winn Dixie were visiting a store we were remodeling. Sent him up on the mezanine to help me hang dw.
The guy was about half polluted, but instead of sitting on a stack of board like I told him, he grapped hold of a 16' board my helper and I were hanging. I was up about 2/3 of the way on a 12' ladder when he lost his balance and grabbed the board. A wrenched back and broken pinkie on my left hand were all I got out of the fall. Helper wasn't so lucky, broke his leg. The drunk walked away w/o a scratch.
Never agian.
A drunk on any construction site is like a roadside bomb.
Our ER and Occupational Med folks see more tablesaw injuries than RAS.
Chainsaw is behind jointers around here, but not by much.
Most of the RAS around here are in mill shops -- the old DeWalts that run forever.
Edit: We don't see too many injuries from sidewinders, the few we do see are either guard stuck (ran over foot, etc.) or no sawhorse (used thigh for sawhorse, now seeing orthopod).
I didn't list ladders, however, we do see a fair number of roofers, mostly falls from roofs, not from ladders, frequently from heat exhaustion, usually toward the end of the day.
Nailgun injuries run about 4th or 5th.
Leon
Edited 2/3/2008 11:05 am ET by lwj2
RAS are pretty scarce anymore. Used to be it was the first power tool a "home craftsman" bought, since it was advertised as the do-all tool. When I was a kid every other garage in the neighborhood had a cheap Sears RAS in it.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Yep, I remember that.Dad got a nine inch Craftsman table saw -- the one with the 20" or so top, exposed vee belt. Told me if I touched it he'd thrash me. As he seldom made that statement, I took it at face value.Funny, how you remember things, when he was using it, I always had to stand well behind him. When my kids were small, I did the same thing.Leon
when i was younger and working on framing jobs sometimes there was a RAS on the job, I never used one much as it was used to cut headers, the oldest carpenter used to get the job of cutting while us young guys climbed around, They did not take kindly to anyone walking up and cutting something, Some crews had them mounted on trailers.
Yeah, we had one, hooked up to 220, was one of the first things we set up on the job.
We had long tables built for both sides, and we placed it by a big tree so we could chain it up, threw a tarp over it at night.
Cut a lotta parts, headers and beams on that thing.
NEVER (well, almost) used it to R.I.P.
Partner got that, I only missed it for a while.
When I first started framing, the boss had two circular saws: a Skil 77 with a sticky guard and a Craftsman sidewinder with no guard and a sticky trigger. You know why they call 'em circular saws? When you set one down with no guard and the trigger stuck, they run in a circular pattern on the subfloor or driveway. Holy ccrap! After a few days of having a couple of green apprentices on the job, he saw the light and retired that old saw, buying a new sidewinder for us weak-arms to use and declaring that only he use the worm drive.I vote for the chainsaw as one of the potentially most dangerous. Know of a friend of a friend who died while cutting up trees alone. Of course, "tools" for other tasks can be darn dangerous, too. Great uncle lost two toes to a push lawnmower. Guy down the block lost three fingers in a snowblower. These illustrations show, as do most of my injuries, that not thinking will get you hurt most often. I've been fortunate that my lapses in judgement have yeilded nothing more severe than knife cuts, bruises and shallow nailgun injuries. It's always worth the time to plan your steps and actions, working to reduce the risk.
I watched my dad almost remove his own leg with a Husky chainsaw.
I was only 6-7 years old, but it was gruesome.
It had a trigger lock and a limb knocked the saw out of his hand and onto his knee. WIth it spinning at full rpm his leg was turned into hamburger.
At 15 he was cutting a tree down, it was bent over by another tree laying on it, instead of removing the first tree, he decided to cut the on that was bent to the ground.
Once he got half way through it snapped and hit him in the forehead. He didn't hit the ground for 15 ft. I woke him up and he was covered in blood.
The old man was as accident proned as anyone I ever met, him and a chainsaw never mixed well. I think he still has that Husky. Woods favorite carpenter
>he was cutting a tree down, it was bent over by another tree laying on it, instead of removing the first tree, he decided to cut the on that was bent to the ground.
I did exactly the same thing about 25 years ago. cutting away, then the next thing I know I'm lying on my back with blood coming out my mouth. Fortunately didn't break any teeth, just chewed up the inside of my lip enough to require a half dozen stitches and no solid food for a few days.
Don
Edited 2/4/2008 10:04 pm ET by DonNH
Interesting stats lwj2!Hmmmm....the first thing that I do is build enough sawhorses on every job for everyone to work comfortably. A typical rough frame of mine has at least four sets...sometimes more. All of them are light and easy to move and set up anywhere. I don't have guards stick.....Please, it would be nice to hear from only those of you who ALWAYS LEAVE THE GUARDS ON THE TABLESAWS AND RADIAL ARM SAWS. I won't accuse anyone of being hypocritical if they preach about guards on sidewinders while taking them off their table saws...but the thought has crossed my mind. I don't work with table saws much. I don't own one and have never had a need for one. I've never worked/owned a radial arm saw either. I can see the danger that they pose and I would suggest avoiding them. I'm also very concerned about chopsaws. Chainsaws are also very dangerous. All of those tools seem much too dangerous for me to use. I'm not too superstitious to say that I have never cut myself because of my sawing practices. I KNOW WHERE MY BLADE IS AT ALL TIMES! That is the most important safety tip that I can offer. Don't count on anything else to save you from your own inattentiveness. Guards, tables, OSHA, Grandpa, Mentors are meaningless! The most critical element about not cutting yourself is not letting the blade touch your skin.Some things are actually pretty simple. When the blade is aimed at the wood: pull the trigger. When the saw blade finished the cut: stop the blade. Anything other than that is nonsense and you will get injured. I know many different ways to stop my blade and I ALWAYS stop it in some way. Its part of my nature. It's part of who I am when I'm working. I also keep my awareness high. I know the wood I'm cutting. I know the support system I'm using. I know how the drops are dropping and take care to know that they have the necessary freedom. I know what is around me, behind he. I don't allow people to work near me. No one has ever walked up behind me without getting a firm explanation of why it can't be tolerated. I don't let non workers wander around our job site. I don't let ANYONE use my saw. I don't use anyone else's saw except in the most limited situations. I don't chat with anyone while working. I don't smoke, joke, goof around, etc. I'm glad I learned how to use the saw safely from my mentors and am glad that I don't know what a saw blade cut feels like. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
very good post on how to work...>>>I'm glad I learned how to use the saw safely from my mentors and am glad that I don't know what a saw blade cut feels like.<<<<i never felt a thing but its one reason to keep a sharp blade on your saw
So far, I've never cut myself on the table saw, in part because, due to seeing the results of TS accidents at work frequently, I'm bloody terrified of the damn thing. Hence quite cautious.I did cut myself with a saw, it was a fairly good one, but I did it with a handsaw, crosscutting 2x stock and hit a hidden knot -- damn thing must have been as hard as a diamond, broke a tooth off and the saw jumped the kerf on the downstroke, running across my thumb (I was starting the cut).Pizzed me good, had to get the saw re-toothed which took years off the life of my already-old, favourite Disston saw.Worst cut was stupidity and haste, instead of walking around a 2x clamped to a sawhorse, I tried to use a chisel left-handed, damn thing slipped, driving it into my right hand. Good, sharp English steel, too. Cut very well. The scar's fairly prominent on my hand, a good reminder.Leon
Apropos of the discussion of TS problems, take a look over in Knots:http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=39979.1
Leon
I KNOW WHERE MY BLADE IS AT ALL TIMES!
Me too Jim, in the wood or in the guard. Pretty simple to keep up with.
Mentors are meaningless!
I'm glad I learned how to use the saw safely from my mentors
I'm confused now (not hard to do), which is it. I know, I'd get frustrated too if I were attempting to defend such an asenine concept as circular saw guard removal.
BTW, what's your workers comp guy think about that?
Good luck keeping all 10, I truly do enjoy your posts Jim.
The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
I'm not defending it because it doesn't need defending.It's my saw, my wood, my fingers, my hands, my body and this is America. I don't need America to save me from myself. If you are truly interested in safety, you wouldn't get in your car and drive to work. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Blue,
I have been listening to your gard rant for years now.
To begin with it is illegal in Canada to not have gards.
Second, it is very dangerous to have young employees who do not have your situational awareness using tools without guards. Enough said.
I have some practices that are not safe for anyone other than me. Don't make me start a thread about cutting mitered panels on the table saw.
I worked in a boatyard in British Columbia back in about 1985 putting teak interiors in aluminum boats. There were no gards on any of the saws in the yard. I needed a hog cut on a panel one day and set the saw down after the cut ................The saw went 360 degrees around the cabin.
I lost the stitching from the front of my topsider and had to go home because I saw the light. I can still feel that saw traversing my toes today.
On a hill by the harbour
I will entertain your teaching if you will solemnly swear that you have never operated a table saw, mitre box, radial arm saw, and power saw without any adjustment to any of the supplied safety equipment. Furthermore, you need to ascertain that you have tossed out every piece of equipment that has become outdated because newer machinery has newer safety features. I suspect that most who preach about using their guards, routinely discard the safety equipment on table saws and other tools. What do you think the percentages are? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
K.
My major point was do not let newbies work without guards on skilsaws.
My table saws all have the required safety guards but untill the dept of labour arrives I keep them out of the way. Awareness is much more important than guards.
No I do not throw away tools because of the latest safety fad.
Percentages of what ?
On a hill by the harbour
I'm guessing that 99% of the people that would criticize me for using a saw without a guard have worked with table saws without the guard. I don't believe they have a right to opine and act like they are Mr Safety man of the Year. I think all table saws should be banned forever. They are far too dangerous in my opinion. Also, the intermittent use of guards is far more dangerous than working all the time without guards. Habits are created in both methods. I have been cited by OSHA for no guard back in the 80's. I told the guy to come back tomorrow, the next day and every day for the rest of his life. I told him that I will be here with the same saw forever until I retire. I can say with certainty that we were running the safest job in the sub. A guy that I fired called OSHA for revenge and complained about unguarded saws. I found that amusing because everyone was required to supply and use their own saws and no one was allowed to use anyone elses saw. I don't mind OSHA making sensible rules. They could make a rule and allow me to jeapordize my own body. They could insist on a ten foot radius. I'll put up yellow tape if that's what it takes. I just want the right to work the way I want. I'll also self insure. I am an artist and I don't believe that the government has the right to dictate my artistic methods. It's a civil rights matter. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Uncle
On a hill by the harbour
Sorry. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
No need for sorry Jim. You have your way and I have mine.............
On a hill by the harbour
Hung over helpers on Monday morn.
I've seen everything from stepping on rakes to walking off peaks.
Can I get a
A-men?!
Good luck wih all that Jim.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
Once, a guy came into the tool store. He had his eye bandaged up and I finally had to ask him what happened.
He said he was hand-nailing at an awkward angle and reaching out. 16d nail was set, and he went to smack it and flunk! Right in his eye! He said that he was scheduled for his 3rd surgery to restore his sight in that eye...
All I gotta say Andy, is don't run with your screwdriver. You could put you eye out with that thing!:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/12843356.html
(I'm surprised no one posted this story when it came out...or maybe they did, and I missed it.)
"He said "Buck up baby, it's okay. The sunlight on the floor will always fall." ~ Sarah Harmer
I've had handpounded 16d spikes bounce off my safety glasses so hard that I know I would have suffered a serious eye injury without them. Maybe I pound the hammer harder, but I doubt it: it's just a freak angle thing. I've also had my lips bloodied from these hand pounded nails too. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
We have all sent nails zinging from an off angle hit. I've been tagged by a few myself.
I like your saw guard rant, though I've seen it before. Your most important contribution came when you said you make sure you know where and what the tool is doing at all times. I do the same thing with the guard still in place on my circ. saws.
Safe work habits are more important than all the safety devices attached to or on them period.
You use to work in the great frozen north country. Ever wear a hooded sweat shirt with the pull strings dangling down each side? Did you know that little knot on the end of the string is a perfect attachment for the rip claws on a 22 oz. hammer. The string works amazzingly well a redirecting the swing and rebound when working over your head. I don't know the whole story, but the guys working for me kept telling about the day the boss knocked hisself out with his Estwing <G>.
Lots of lessons learned on the road to senior citizenship, and the hardest one was the first one,.... "hey, pay attention stupid, ya just gotta be a little smarter than what yer work'n with."
Yep. I've had my fair share of ouchies (okay Jim, I'm a girl, that's what I call them).
Anyway, my thing was while hanging crown climbing down the ladder thinking to myself, 78 and 3/16, 78 and 3/16. 78 and 3/16...lol. Concentrating...
Then...Rats!...thinking the next "ladder step down" is actually the floor, and wind up on my azz looking around to see if anyone else noticed even though I was working all by myself.
All I can add to this is:
Fluke happens.
"He said "Buck up baby, it's okay. The sunlight on the floor will always fall." ~ Sarah Harmer
I hate when that happens, I do it on the stairs everyso often. It's really weird when you do it at the top
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
A friend of mine as a bostich framing nailer that shoots a nail every time you connect the hose. he forgot to tell me the first time. lucky i was pointing it away!
"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."
Bozini Latini
http://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
Brush chippers.
There's a reason you don't hear more about accidents - they can't find enough pieces left to talk much about it.
Jeff
In your posted pic of the wood chipper, it looks like there's a small branch sticking out ready to snag that guy's right arm and drag him into the machine. Perhaps he is auditioning for a part in "Fargo"? :)
BruceT
while i was working tree work a guy threw a cat in the chipper, It just flattened the cat with slice marks. No i do not approve of such things, that was the older model type chipper.
I caught a piece of walnut across my arm and against my chest from a TS. Oldest brother shot a staple either side of his big toe from a taped back trigger. Other older brother smacked himself square between the eyes with a hammer when the nail he was pulling broke. but the biggest was little brother, caught his nail bag on the ladder as he was stepping onto a roof. Fell 20' flat on his back with his right arm under him, lucky to be alive but shattered his wrist. Best thing that ever happened to him. The device on his arm to mend the bones properly prevented him from going back to work, went back to college instead. Now has a very good civilian job with the military troubleshooting computers.
...GW Bush and friends?
Yep, as we all learned in shop, a dull tool is most dangerous.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
They don't qualify as tools because even a bad tool has some useful purpose...
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I have Transcended the need for a Humorous tagline...
I don't think most people have a enough respect for the bandsaw. You're not likely to lose a finger with a bandsaw but you can do some horrific damage pretty fast.
The most common cause of fatality is falling. Poorly constructed scaffolding in my opinion is more dangerous than any tool. At least you don’t die!