Freehand curve cut on a tablesaw?

[Marc Burt]

I've seen far more pros do far more dangerous things than I've seen amateurs. Things that make my skin crawl.

[Wayne Lomman]

Marc, I agree that many pros do dangerous things. I have thrown I don't know how many tradesmen off site for blatant safety breaches.

Martin, as far as the electric planer is concerned, they get used for edge work more than anything else. As with any other tool, use it correctly and there is no safety issue. I always set the piece up so that the plane operates flat. Cheers

[Robert Engel]

Haven't watched the video, but what's particularly worrisome are amateurs or newbies going to try doing things the tool wasn't intended for, like this (and hings like John Heinz's recent video on prepping rough stock).

A pro might get away with it, but that doesn't make it right.

Binding up a saw blade is one thing on a contractor saw, something else on a cabinet saw.

[Roy Harding]

Personally, on the job site, I cut the waste with a jig saw, and bring it to the scribe line with a belt sander. I suppose a powered planer would work too, but I don't have one.

If I'm working in my own home, with the shop handy - it'd be the bandsaw.

[Pat Barry]

Relax folks. I think Tom knows exactly what he is doing. Yeah, I do think there should have been a statement though "professional sawyer on a closed course, don't attempt this at home"

[Justin Ludwig]

I use the method in the video. I also use power hand planers, block planes, belt sanders, etc. depends on the scribe and how much material I'm removing. It's never bothered me to freehand stuff. I won't let my help attempt it, but they have the dexterity of a pregnant yak. One of these days I may get hit. I'll be the first to call myself the appropriate adjective.

[Jeff Duncan]

Sometimes in life you have to understand that there are people who know more than you do. Of course it could be dangerous trying that cut if you don't know what your doing, then again many of the things we do everyday are dangerous if you don't know what your doing. Tom can make that cut safely as can many of us, doesn't mean everyone should try it. There are plenty of things I do in the shop that I don't let the help do, simply because they're too dangerous. Some people just have a "feel" for how things work and can perform things that the average person cannot. I don't think I could just hop into an Indy car and drive 180 mph, and I'm smart enough to know it without them having to put warnings on the TV telling me not to try it. Personally I'm not a fan of the "nanny state", where we try to protect everyone from everything that could possibly be dangerous. If you find something too dangerous, don't try it! If your not smart enough to know you can't do it then that's natures way of "thinning the herd" Just don't assume because it scares you, that the rest of us shouldn't get to see it.

that's my vent, and I feel better now
JeffD

[Dan Hahr]

I'm gonna go try that just for the fun of it.
Dan

[Brian W Smith]

Don't need to watch the vid.Free handing and TS's show a serious lapse in either judgment or best practices WRT equipment.

I reckon if a tradesman never has to play by OSHA rules it's OK?If your shop isn't insured,then anything goes?

[Simon MacGowen]

Some of you use the label "pro." May I suggest that these more well-known figures are not pros, but just amateurs wrapped in a pro label. I hang around with some full-time furniture makers using both power and hand tools and none of them risk their safety (not all of them own the SawStop). The real pros are woodworkers who do their craft without cutting corners. Using a tablesaw to make that kind of cut is like a surgeon operating on a patient with a kitchen knife rather than a surgical blade. That's no professional behavior.

Simon

[sebastian phillips]

The most important "safety device" is your brain. Don't do anything you don't understand, and plan ahead.
That being said, there are plenty of installers who cut freehand on job-site saws every day. I do, been doing it 30 years, and I can count to ten.
I've even coped chair rail in a pinch with a tablesaw-gives a perfect backcut, quick.
Before you label these practices "dangerous", let me ask you, "who runs a guard on a chainsaw"???
Nobody, that's who. Safety with a chain saw depends on the skill and forethought of the operator. Same with any tool.
I also remove guards on circular saws. Why, because inevitably they hang up when cutting compound bevels like jack rafters or mitered stringers.
I can focus on the cut, and not worry about holding the guard open with the free hand-safer.
The only 3 accidents I know about with circular saws all were on machines with guards. Two had guards that failed when the running saw was set on the floor, and the saw ran up a foot. The other incident involved a carpenter trying to hold the guard open while cutting a small jack rafter-he didn't have a good grip on the saw, and sawed across his off hand.
Think for yourself, think ahead, understand what you are doing, don't imitate anyone without completely understanding.

[Allan Speers]

Some of you use the label "pro." May I suggest that these more well-known figures are not pros, but just amateurs wrapped in a pro label. I hang around with some full-time furniture makers using both power and hand tools and none of them risk their safety (not all of them own the SawStop). The real pros are woodworkers who do their craft without cutting corners. Using a tablesaw to make that kind of cut is like a surgeon operating on a patient with a kitchen knife rather than a surgical blade. That's no professional behavior.

Simon

Well said.

At a minimum, this guy should have mentioned at the beginning of the video how dangerous this can be, and to make very clear that he was cutting thin plywood. Imagine someone trying to replicate that cut on 2" hardwood with internal stresses? OMG....

[peter gagliardi]

Sometimes in life you have to understand that there are people who know more than you do. Of course it could be dangerous trying that cut if you don't know what your doing, then again many of the things we do everyday are dangerous if you don't know what your doing. Tom can make that cut safely as can many of us, doesn't mean everyone should try it. There are plenty of things I do in the shop that I don't let the help do, simply because they're too dangerous. Some people just have a "feel" for how things work and can perform things that the average person cannot. I don't think I could just hop into an Indy car and drive 180 mph, and I'm smart enough to know it without them having to put warnings on the TV telling me not to try it. Personally I'm not a fan of the "nanny state", where we try to protect everyone from everything that could possibly be dangerous. If you find something too dangerous, don't try it! If your not smart enough to know you can't do it then that's natures way of "thinning the herd" Just don't assume because it scares you, that the rest of us shouldn't get to see it.

that's my vent, and I feel better now
JeffD

Jeff, I don't see that as a vent at all. One of the best posts I've read. Pretty much how I see it. I haven't watched the video, but from the description, I have probably done literally miles of the same thing.
Just like Martin said- standard operating procedure.
I also rough cope most of my hardwood crown and other moldings onsite freehand with a jobsite tablesaw. It is simply using a tool to a fuller extent than most are comfortable with, or know how to.
Yes, there is another level of danger AND skill to do these right.

[Ben Rivel]

Some of you use the label "pro." May I suggest that these more well-known figures are not pros, but just amateurs wrapped in a pro label. I hang around with some full-time furniture makers using both power and hand tools and none of them risk their safety (not all of them own the SawStop). The real pros are woodworkers who do their craft without cutting corners. Using a tablesaw to make that kind of cut is like a surgeon operating on a patient with a kitchen knife rather than a surgical blade. That's no professional behavior.

Simon

Exactly! I always get a kick out of seeing the term "Pro" used in various industries. Worse than that people will believe and accept anything they see on TV. What I find even more funny is when companies try to promote what are obviously far from "Pros" and claim they are such because they use their product. Sawstop is one in particular that is terrible at this. They take any yahoo with a camera and a Youtube channel using a Sawstop and call them a Pro or Master on their Facebook page.

[Pete Janke]

I saw Tom do it and yelled out loud to my wife how unsafe (for me) it was. I'm a fan of Today's Homeowner. On one show I saw a film clip of a homeowner, an average guy with a low cost contractor table saw, who was featured in that week's show. He was cross cutting a thin long board with the cutoff piece wedged between the blade and fence, inviting kick back. The hosts were complimenting him for his DIY skills. The show was using this clip in promos. I'm no Norm, but I sent an email to the show's website explaining what I saw. To their credit, the producer replied the next day. He acknowledged the problem, admitted it was very unsafe, and stopped using it the clip. This guy was no Tom Silva.