Guidelines for workshop safety

[Barry Wilson]

I'm going to through in one more thing that is sometimes mentioned in books, but not in this thread - yet. A characteristic of a table saw - and also a band saw, jointer, and sometimes a router or shaper - is that you are actively pushing your workpiece - often with your bare hands - towards that sharp, unforgiving cutter. When planning your cuts, always think about what might happen - on that rare occasion - when that work piece slips, catches, or otherwise suddenly moves out of the way. Where will your hands go now? How might you use pushers, clamps, a sled, or other fixturing to hold that workpiece safely?

If you find you are really pushing usually something is wrong. It may not seem so but it probably is. For example you may have a dull blade or cutters or some form of misalignment. This type of thing results in too much force application to feed the material. Or stated another way more than you should be using. Some of todays equipment is very powerful and will not forgive much. In fact I belive there was an old saying that dull blades cut more people than sharp ones do by a wide margin.

[Chip Lindley]

Comments above deal with the tablesaw more than any other tool. Perhaps rightly so. My best advice is, "If it feels awkward or wrong, DON'T DO IT!" Experience in the shop gives one a 6th Sense. Resist the temptation to perform some operation without thoroughly planning beforehand. I found it mesmerizing, to watch of a cut-off piece jittering around on the saw table just beyond the blade! The "call of the Sirens" would have me reach to pick it off the surface. Use a pushstick if you must remove it.

There are very few comments on drill press safety! Nasty injuries can result from holding a piece of metal by hand for drilling with a large bit. Clamp the piece firmly, or at the least, provide a backstop to prevent it from spinning if the bit catches.

Never wear loose clothing in the shop. Floppy long sleeves, neckties, and long dangling necklaces or loose bracelets are a few items that are an accident waiting to happen. Wearing any finger rings was forbidden in the Army when I went through Combat Engineer training. Ring accidents are very nasty. Many electricians do not wear rings for obvious reasons; especially linemen working with high voltages wearing rubber gloves.

[Lee Ludden]

This Kelly Mehler video was very good for table saw safety.

[Jeff Bratt]

If you find you are really pushing usually something is wrong. It may not seem so but it probably is. For example you may have a dull blade or cutters or some form of misalignment. This type of thing results in too much force application to feed the material. Or stated another way more than you should be using. Some of todays equipment is very powerful and will not forgive much. In fact I belive there was an old saying that dull blades cut more people than sharp ones do by a wide margin.

I'm not talking pushing too hard - that is a symptom of the dull blades you are talking about - just the basic configuration of pushing a workpiece towards a blade with your hands... One of the ways kickback can cause serious injury is when your hand goes right into the tablesaw blade after the workpiece "disappears".