Is the table saw (non sawstop) the most dangerous tool in the shop?

[Michael Yadfar]

I've been thinking to myself about what the safest and most dangerous tools are in the shop. Someone told me bandsaw was the most dangerous once, but I think that may be the safest saw in the shop. It's hard to determine the safest because all power tools are dangerous, but I think the most dangerous is the table saw, eapecially without sawstop. There's so much that could go wrong. Obviously, it's relatively easy to cut your finger off, and in many ways. You also have the risk of kickback which creates safety issues. The is also a high risk of long clothing or hair getting caught in the blade.

As for safest, talking power tools only, I think planer is because no blade is actually exposed. If you stick your hand in the machine, you are in for a bad day, but that's not something done by accident

[Dan Keeling]

Any tool can be dangerous if the operator is careless or distracted. My worst injury came from a simple handsaw. Table saw always gets my full attention.

[Michael Yadfar]

Any tool can be dangerous if the operator is careless or distracted. My worst injury came from a simple handsaw. Table saw always gets my full attention.

Thats a good point, the most dangerous may be the least expected. I've never been injured or witnessed an injury, but the closest I've seen was on a drill press, where a guy didn't have his wood clamped and it hit him

[Kent A Bathurst]

..........but the closest I've seen was on a drill press, where a guy didn't have his wood clamped and it hit him

Or where the fool looked away, and his hand on top of a block of wood slipped into the business end of a brad point bit. Which drug the hand forward as the spurs dug in.

I would generally consider the BS or the DP as the safest. Only the RAS scares me - and that is why I don't have one.

My point - every machine is safe. Every machine is unsafe. All depends on operator's attention to correct operating procedures.




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[Bradley Potts]

Only the RAS scares me - and that is why I don't have one.

My point - every machine is safe. Every machine is unsafe. All depends on operator's attention to correct operating procedures.

Well, it's good to respect one's gut fears as long as the phobias don't lead us to continue in a more unsafe direction. I have owned a couple of TS's and they always scared me a bit. Now, I have gotten rid of the TS's and instead have both a 14" and a 12" Delta turret arm RAS, and have used them enough to have nicked myself one time -- I figure that was my one and only "get outta jail free card" in the realm of vicious spinning saw blades -- yes, I am VERY careful, deliberate, and aware when I cut now.

I see the TS and RAS as pretty comparable in the danger department, however, I consider the TS the more dangerous of the 2 tools. Why? Because the TS' blade is always mostly hidden from view, whereas the RAS' blade is almost entirely in plain sight and sound; I find the obvious danger-maker does a better job of getting and holding my attention.

Another clear benefit of the RAS over the TS is that the workpiece is always forced down into the table and forced rearward against the fence when crosscutting. Because the workpiece is held stationary during crosscuts and it is the blade that is moved along a locked track (the anti-corollary to the sliding table TS), there is no reason for the workpiece to become bound and thereby cause things to start flying around.

When it comes to ripping on the RAS, here again it has a distinct safety advantage over the TS in that the workpiece is always forced down into the table. If the workpiece binds up, it can only kickback straight to the rear, which implies that the operator is out of harm's way as long as s/he stands slightly off to one side or the other for the feed. On the TS, the workpiece can get lifted as well as launched straight backwards, so it's hard to predict where the safest place to stand is with a TS.

I've heard really icky stories RE the shaper and how it can really draw people in toward the spinning head. And as someone else pointed out, those darned bandsaws are used for carving up sides-o-beef and for cutting really large steel beams too.

Here's another vote for that tool which is the most oft used.


-- Bradley

[Matt Mattingley]

I personally think the lathe is the most dangerous machine in any shop. They can suck you in, twist a finger off. Grab razor blade tool bit and throw it out at you, blank can explode and you could never know the extent of the damage.

[Erik Loza]

Any tool can be dangerous if the operator is careless or distracted. My worst injury came from a simple handsaw. Table saw always gets my full attention.

+1.

My dad was a contractor and industrial arts teacher for most of his life and used a cabinet saw all time. Never got injured but told me about witnessing folks "joint" the bottom of their hand off or get hair caught in a drill press. "Inattention" is the most dangerous thing in the shop.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[glenn bradley]

Motorcycles aren't dangerous but, the people riding them sometimes are ;-) The bandsaw is dangerous because there is a mindset that it is safe. You do know how they break down sides of beef, right? The tablesaw gets a lot of bad press but, I don't know that anyone has done a 'per instance' sort of comparison as in; there are 10 untrained folks using tablesaws for every untrained shaper user so, if there are 10 tablesaw accidents and 1 shaper accident, they're even . . . that sort of thing.

[Michael Yadfar]

I mean personally I have used all these tools many of times and never had any "close calls" but I'm also trained. I guess I'm speaking on the basis of say a person who's just as careless on every machine or someone who's untrained

[scott spencer]

A table saw is a much more widely used tool than others....just about everyone and their first cousin owns one. Plus a TS sees proportionately more action in my shop. It's logical that it causes more injuries than other tools. Does that make it more dangerous per minute of use? I dunno....the router scares me more than the TS....depending on the cutter in use, it can really mangle flesh, and is less predictable than a TS for me.

[Jay Jolliffe]

The only time I've ever been hurt was using the table saw...From kickback to running my finger into a dado blade....Now I have a saw stop & I'm still careful because I don't want to test it....

[Wade Lippman]

The only time I've ever been hurt was using the table saw...From kickback to running my finger into a dado blade....Now I have a saw stop & I'm still careful because I don't want to test it....

Just yesterday I took the guard off my SS to run a little dado, and then cut a small sheet of plywood without putting it back on. Twisted the darned thing and took it in the gut. Isn't the SS supposed to prevent that?!

Only tool I have hurt myself on was a bandsaw (50/50 chance of losing a fingertip, but got lucky), but the one that scares me the most is the router table. Lots of way that can get you.

[Brian W Smith]

JMO,they aren't the most dangerous....but they are,with out a doubt the most ignorant pce of "convenience",style of equipment ever devised.I'd say big(+20) disc sanders as the most dangerous.Next would be any pce of equipment where there's a "range" of tooling sizes,and you're runnin at the upper end.

[Kevin Jenness]

Just yesterday I took the guard off my SS to run a little dado, and then cut a small sheet of plywood without putting it back on. Twisted the darned thing and took it in the gut. Isn't the SS supposed to prevent that?!

Only tool I have hurt myself on was a bandsaw (50/50 chance of losing a fingertip, but got lucky), but the one that scares me the most is the router table. Lots of way that can get you.

The main safety feature of the Sawstop saws is the electronic brake triggered by flesh contact. It will not prevent kickback due to faulty technique, though the riving knife should help prevent twisting the workpiece into the blade. The guard won't do much to prevent a kickback injury. Was it the riving knife that you failed to reattach? Sawstops are not miraculously injury free and shouldn't be expected to be so.

[Wade Lippman]

The main safety feature of the Sawstop saws is the electronic brake triggered by flesh contact. It will not prevent kickback due to faulty technique, though the riving knife should help prevent twisting the workpiece into the blade. The guard won't do much to prevent a kickback injury. Was it the riving knife that you failed to reattach? Sawstops are not miraculously injury free and shouldn't be expected to be so.

I was joking. Not about the kickback, that was real enough and hurt like crazy, but about expecting SS stopping it.