Quote Originally Posted by Mike Ontko View Post
I once read that any dull tool is the most potentially dangerous piece of equipment in a shop.

This thread reminds me of my 9th grade woodworking teacher, who implemented a particularly effective method for helping adolescent boys (not many girls were taking woodshop in the early '70s) remember the safety rules and to pay attention during the safety lectures. If you were caught violiating a safety rule or operating equipment in a non-safe way, you were subjected to a "hot-hand"--a quick slap of a 12" steel rule across your open palm--which you had to offer voluntarily or else drop the class. I had one once, as the result of a near kickback situation I'd created on the tablesaw (through improper use of a miter gauge). There was one kid in class who was famous for getting the ol' hot-hand on a regular basis--once deep enough that you could read the eighth-inch markings--ha ha. He was eventually "voluntarily" dropped from the class. I seriously doubt that today's shop teachers (for those schools that are still fortunate enough to have a shop class) would be applauded for using such a method. But it was definitely effective for its time.
My high school shop teacher never had a method like this, but he told us a story how he taught a kid a lesson who didn't listen to rules. This kid was one of the big football kids, thguht he can do whatever, and always broke safety rules regardless the warnings. One day he decided to free hand a board on the table saw, and the teacher saw it, but decided to let it go because he knew what would happen. Board smacked the kid in the face right in front of the class, and he was supposedly dropped the class right after