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No, the sawstop is not designed to prevent that, and the fact that you thought it did and didn't take proper precautions to prevent it probably made it more likely to happen. I would recommended reading through the users manual that came with your saw to see what types of cuts are unsafe to make with it. And also to understand the safety features it has.Originally Posted by Wade Lippman
Universal M-300 (35 Watt CO2)
Universal X-660 (50 Watt CO2)
Hans (35 watt YAG)
Electrox Cobra (40 watt YAG)
Glass With Class, Cameron, Wisconsin
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The utility knife. May not cause the damage as a table saw but a lot more accidents cutting yourself with it.
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I have read very little of this thread but I still have an opinion. The table saw is not dangerous at all. It is the person operating it that determines the level of hazard at any given moment.
Contributor
The SS has safety features to prevent that, but so do all newer saws. In this case (running a dado), you removed those safety features (since you can't use them while cutting a dado). I took one to the gut while cutting a piece of plywood, but, the saw did not have a splitter, riven knife, etc.
That said, the most dangerous things in my shop...
- Me, and the stupid things that I do such as removing the safety equipment or not paying attention.
- Router. I have only had a few incidents with the router. Paranoia (leading to attempts at attention and good technique) avoided injury to myself (a piece of wood might have been harmed). Yesterday, I was routing many pieces of wood with a round-over bit... You get in a pattern and disengage your brain. Two potential incidents. First, a piece of wood fell off something. I instinctively went to grab for it.... and it was right next to that spinning bit. Also, I realized that I was starting to get a little sloppy in my attention. Did not get close to the blade, but, realized that I was not paying sufficient attention to the bit while I was putting up one piece of wood and grabbing another.
- Angle Grinder. Do we really use all the safety gear that we should? Always put on those safety glasses?
- Table Saw. I really should hold that small piece better while cutting it.
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I've hit my thumb with a hammer about 900 times. Never had an issue with a table saw.
Therefore the hammer is the most dangerous tool in the shop.
[OP]
Member
I feel like long hair+ lathe or any spinning tool is just asking for trouble. I've heard of many deaths from lathes catching long hair, and lathes obviously have uses on other purposes too other than woodworking. Like I said, a guy I know saw a girls hair get ripped out of her head on a lathe in high school. That was probably one of the worst pains ever, but she's very fortunate the hair got ripped out rather than her dieing. Even if you have it tied back and tucked in your shirt, the pony tail could probably still sneak out. I guess best option is to tie it up in a messy bun, although it would look pretty gay on guys
Contributor
The most dangerous tool in the shop is the one you don't know how to use properly.
If you're new to tablesaws, buy a book on tablesaws and read it or, even better, take a class.
Member
You're joking about the SS preventing kickback, right?
The three 'more than minor' injuries I've sustained in my shop:
Worst: Years ago, I upgraded to a SS from a cheap contractor's TS. With the old saw, the blade would simply slow down or stop if my workpiece got bound or crooked, so I didn't give it a second thought when I loaded up a 2'x4' piece of 3/4" MDF and began cutting it the 'wrong' way (making the cut on the 2' side). Well, the piece got bound and the SS kicked the piece back so hard and fast that it knocked me down a left a cantaloupe sized bruise on the front of my upper thigh. I walked with crutches for a week. If I hadn't been wearing a thick tool belt, I think it might have broken my leg.
Not Quite As Bad, But...: I keep sheet goods standing on end and I used to fasten the batch to the wall using a bungee. I had 5 sheets of 4'x8' plywood/MDF against the wall and was trying to remove a piece in the rear. The tipping point at which one can no longer continue to hold the entire stack was MUCH less than I anticipated. I realized that the whole stack was coming down and tried to just let it go, but I got trapped by the refrigerator in the garage. I 'helped' lower the stack on top of me, but my ankle ended up wedged between the wood and the refrigerator. In case you're wondering, getting out from under 5 full sized pieces of sheet goods isn't easy. Really bad sprained ankle.
Lastly: I neglected to clamp a large-ish piece of metal to my drill press. The bit caught and spun the piece of metal into my hand. Broken pinky.
I spend about 30 hours per week in my shop. I've slowed my roll quite a bit, and safety is always my first consideration (thought it was before, too). I simply can't afford to get injured, but I'm sure I'll screw something up in the future and bang or break something.
Before anyone chimes in about me being a moron, I knew before each of my accidents that I was attempting something that I knew was advised against. In the moment, I thought I had everything under control. Things go south so fast, though.
Safe wishes to all!
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It's been years since I looked at the accident stats regarding woodworking machinery. If memory serves me correctly Scott wins the prize, TS injuries were reported more than other injuries but TS were present in more shops than any other tools. As others have said the TS gets my full attention every time and it has never tasted my flesh. My handtools have drawn blood, chisels, knives and one errant plane blade all being nasty, and I loved them all! So unfair.
As far as the BS being percieved as friendly, I'd say not in my shop! The bandsaw IIRC was responsible for the most "gross amputations" like I lost my hand or all of my thumb.
Member
A planer is capable of horrible kick back if the conditions are right.
A band saw is often called one of the safest saws in an an average shop but I assume the people who say that are referring to fairly small saws with narrow and fine tooth blades. If a 1 1/4 inch blade with 7/8 tooth spacing breaks in the wrong spot you don't want to be any where near it. (Usually the blade stays in the saw but it can come shooting out)
A lathe is a a fairly safe but you can get tangled in one, the piece you are turning could explode, you could leave the key in the chuck or have a tool grab in the work.
A drill press can become very dangerous if drilling through sheet metal. If the bit grabs the metal can start spinning and most peoples first reaction is to grab the metal to stop it.
The table saw probably is involved in more accidents than any other power tool but is that because it is more dangerous or just more used?
Universal M-300 (35 Watt CO2)
Universal X-660 (50 Watt CO2)
Hans (35 watt YAG)
Electrox Cobra (40 watt YAG)
Glass With Class, Cameron, Wisconsin
[OP]
Member
I've heard about planer kickbacks, but they are extremely rare and I've never seen one.
As far as bandsaws are concerned, back when I was in high school we used a Delta Rockwell 17" bandsaw with atleast a half inch blade. My teacher worked there for 35 years and he said he only saw a broken blade shoot out once, and he said it can only come out the side of the machine. If you did get your finger in their it is dangerous; on our safety lesson every year he would show is how quickly it can cut a pencil, and a finger can be cut just as quickly. I feel that's due to carelessness though, but then again if you aren't paying attention...
Lathes I've heard of peoples hair getting caught, my teacher witnessed a girls hair get ripped out of her head in college on one (ouch). And I can definetely see a drill press as dangerously fine metal.
One I forgot about is the jointer, I know people who have cut their finger pushing the back of the wood, and same can be done with a router
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To me the danger with a BS isn't "Not paying attention" Its paying too much attention to one thing and not enough to another. If you are cutting patterns or curves close to a line for plush trimming, especially curves that change direction, its real easy to be so focused on the work you lose track of the the hands. The BS was the first shop tools I was allowed to use as a kid and it came with a good lesson on where to stand, and how to "look" in a manner that my eyes never come off that giant spinning thing with the hundred or more razor blades attached. I've caught myself a few times headed into the blade with my hands, bad place to lose focus on safety. I've seen a dozen or more blades brakes and never seen one come flying out of the machine. Scary sounding, always makes me jump, but not particularly explosive IME.
Most dangerous tool? The one you fail to understand or under estimate. The table saw has great potential for injury with the double whammy of large exposed cutter and kick back potential. When they quote the statistics on TS injury, its never done as a percentage of cuts resulting in injury, because they don't have that information. Of the possibly millions of TS operations performed weekly across the country, how many result in injury? That information might put the numbers in perspective. I'd say when averaged for volume of use the TS is probably still a bit more dangerous than some tools because its dangers are not always understood by users.
The worst injuries seem to come from shapers and routers. Put your finger in a TS, lose a finger. Come into contact with a shaper, it can take all you fingers and most of your hand. There is a lot more potential for steel hitting wood on a shaper, the injury numbers are probably lower because the units in use are lower and more users are trained professionals (theoretically anyway).
Just a few years back a girl at Yale was killed in a metal shop when here hair became entangled in a metal lathe. Shocking and horrible, but completely avoidable. Still, the danger is every where. I'm not a gambler so I don't play the odds and treat them all with respect.
Member
My stepdad had a planer kick back at him once when doing beams. It kicked back, hit him hard enough to knock him out for a few seconds. When he came to the planner had tipped towards him with the end of the beam preventing it from tipping all the way over but it was still running and pulling the beam in. Had he not been able to shut it off it would have ended up on top of him pinning him down once the beam had run all the way through. Of course this was a large planner, a small lunch box planner won't be able to produce those kinds of forces.
Universal M-300 (35 Watt CO2)
Universal X-660 (50 Watt CO2)
Hans (35 watt YAG)
Electrox Cobra (40 watt YAG)
Glass With Class, Cameron, Wisconsin
Member
I had a lunchbox kickback once. Since I'm always standing to the side of it all that happened was that the relatively short bit of wood was thrown forcefully against the concrete block wall 8 or so feet away. where it shattered. Hasn't happened since. But I know it *can* happen.
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A student here was killed when their hair got caught in a lathe. I have never heard of someone dying from a table saw or router accident, not that it couldn't happen.
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