I was always impressed with the relative safe design of the biscuit joiner. You turn it on while it's inside the machine, plunge it in while it's safe inside your stock, retract it back inside the machine, turn it off. Well, as I found out while making one of many Christmas gifts this year, any tool can be much more dangerous than you think. It's up to you to learn to be safe in the first place and to learn from your mistakes after you make them.
Here's what happened. I was cutting biscuit slots in a 1"x2"x5' length of white oak to be used as moulding. It was held against stock of the same thickness to keep it straight and to give my fence more area for support. This worked really well -until the second to last slot. I must have made this cut without enough pressure inward against the piece resulting in the immediate launch of the entire piece of oak against the wall to the right of the bench. It happened so fast I barely knew what happened. At first I was amazed at the how fast it took off and dimple it left in the drywall especially for a flat, square end. Then I was mad at myself, thinking how I was really lucky and blessed that someone, especially one of my little boys, wasn't standing there curiously looking on as they tend to do. Taking the extra step of securing that piece onto the workbench or, at the very least, using a planing stop at the right end would have prevented this from happening.
So I have added this into my safety bank along with using a splitter on the table saw, a face shield, a dust mask, a clamp on the drill press...
Here's to a happy and safer New Year!
BTW, I've made a place for my woodworking pictures on Flickr.com if anyone is bored or interested. Comments and questions definitely welcome...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magbanu...7611520940064/