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

[John TenEyck]

The most dangerous tool in my shop is the one I'm using at the moment.

John

[Dave Zellers]

The most dangerous tool in my shop is the one I'm using at the moment.

John

That seems to be the consensus. Great thread. Be careful and fully understand what you are about to do. My worst injury thus far was from a very sharp 1/2" chisel that slipped off the wood and went right through the tip of my index finger. Lots of blood. Even made the nurse go "Oooh!" when I unwrapped my bandage after driving myself to the medical center.

Hope that remains my worst story.

BE CAREFUL.

[Michael Yadfar]

I actually feel like one of my enemies with safety is becoming good at woodworking and more friendly with machinery. When I first started woodworking, every guard was set properly, all safety precautions were met such as rolled up a sleeves and safety glasses, and I was always cautious. Now that I'm comfortable, I'm not so cautious which is a very bad habit. I'll find myself with my full bandsaw blade exposed on occasion and such. I have to start reverting back to my cautious side before I end up getting hurt, I don't want it to take a lost finger to make me more cautious. For some reason it's hard to be so cautious because I use these machines so much it makes me feel like I can't make a "stupid mistake".
Unfortunately that's bound to happen

[Harold Burrell]

Man, I am so going to get crucified for this, but...

IMHO, I'd say that the most dangerous tool is the SS.

Well...OK...not exactly. But, sort of. Let me explain...

I am actually quite fearful of the current trend of technological safety features. Oh, don't get me wrong, I think they're great. But anything that might get us to let down our guard (even for a moment) in the shop is dangerous. The moment that we think that ANY tool in our shop is "safe" is the moment we get hurt.

[ed vitanovec]

A Bandsaw can be dangerous if your hand slips as your pushing. I worry the most when I use my Shaper cutting raised panels.

[Anthony Whitesell]

but as everybody said the table saw is the most popular tool hence more accidents...

You beat me too it. I found two interesting statistics while doing research on another topic. First, the number of reported incidents is directly proportional and corresponds to the prevalence of the tool in the shop. Secondly, the average age of the various levels of table saws (contractor, hybird, and cabinet) is much higher that one would expect (and is stated in the CPSC report).

[Tai Fu]

Sawstop only protects against blade to flesh contact, it does not prevent kickbacks. Obviously you have to fit the riving knife properly.

For bandsaws NEVER have your body part in line with the blade, because sometimes the wood can cut a lot faster than you expect.

[Dave Zellers]

Now that I'm comfortable, I'm not so cautious which is a very bad habit.

IMO, that is the entire focus of this thread. Every tool is dangerous.

But it doesn't have to be.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Ok. Table saws can be dangerous. I knew that when I got my first one so I bought a book, read it and acquired a rather rounded academic understanding of the machine. I'm a flamenco guitarist and I still have all my fingers over 15 years later. I have cut myself on band saws, with hand saws and stabbed myself with chisels twice, but that silly book seems to have protected me from the table saw.

Unfortunately many people are sub-literate or are trained on-the-job in table saw use. I suppose I used the machine before I read a book about how to use it, but I reckon it scared me enough to heed the book.

[Ole Anderson]

Whenever I use the band saw, I can't help but think of it being used in a butcher shop to cut meat and bone. Keeps me careful.

[Mike Henderson]

I guess it's hard to say. Most of the serious accidents I hear about are due to the table saw (loss of fingers) but that may be because the table saw is pretty much in all shops and gets a lot of use.

What I might ask is, "What tool has the highest serious accident rate per hour of use?" I can't answer that but the tools that really scare me are the shaper and probably the jointer. I know that the only really serious accident Sam Maloof had was on a jointer. If you get tangled with either of those, you're probably going to have a serious injury.

Mike

[Earl Rumans]

I think the most dangerous machine to use is the shaper but the TS has the worst statistics. The reason the TS is rated so high is just about every Tom Dick and Harry can afford a cheap TS and then off they go cutting things, without a clue about how dangerous it can be, or how to correctly set up and use one. I think this is why it has such high statistics.

[Rick Fisher]

Only nasty injury I have had from a floor machine is the edge sander..

Why ?

Cause I took it for granted.. no spinning carbide after all.

Injury was a knuckle bumping the belt at 1500 feet per minute.. Result was a terribly painful flat spot .. which bled like a GSW ..

[Tai Fu]

I use the bandsaw to cut bone blanks to size to make nuts or saddles... think about what it would do to YOUR bone.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Same here. Every time I turn mine on I think "Interesting I'm cutting wood on this thing that was originally designed for use in a butcher shop".