Originally Posted by
Floyd Mah
I once emailed an engineer whose work occasionally get linked here about his poorly designed table saw sled which could curtail the ability of the user to text with his thumbs. He is otherwise an inspired engineer who has many good ideas (including homemade bandsaws and geared machines). Most good designs will have a large obstruction, whether a guard or a large block of wood to prevent the operator's thumb from accidentally entering the path of the saw blade. My sled has that feature as well, but I concluded that the better solution was to encourage the operator to place his hands, and thumbs, elsewhere on the sled. If you look at the typical tenon jig, there is usually a couple of large handles that encourage you to place your hands in a safe location. Table saw sled designers on the other hand seem to be satisfied that the sled fence at the rear of the jig is a good location for the operator to place his hands and push. My own sled simply has two large black plastic knobs attached to the top of the fence which safely, and comfortably, locate the hands clear of the path of the blade. Total cost is a few dollars from Rockler or almost any good hardware store. It can be retrofitted to any sled. I would encourage everyone to consider doing that to their sled. Just a couple of screw inserts embedded to the fence will make the handles easy to attach or remove as needed.