Bandsaw Kickback

[Abe Low]

Yesterday I found a 3" x 6" maple oval 2 1/2" thick and decided it would make a nice bandsaw box. The first step is to cut of the top. I knew I would have to hold it firmly as the part of the oval that first contacts the blade is unsupported. As the blade contacted the oval, it spun it, ripping it from my grasp and catapulting it into my NOSE. Hit me hard enough to give me a bloody nose which is still sore.
After a few choice words aimed at my stupidity, I used a big clamp to hold the oval until the blade was halfway through the top cut, then put some business card shims in the saw kerf and reclamped at the saw kerf.
The box is OK buy my nose is still sore.
Pride is unchanged as it was reset to humble mode many years ago.

[Jude Kingery]

Abe, I sympathise with you; only had one kick back on the bandsaw and have cut literally hundreds of blanks without mishap. But same thing, an unsupported oval and I should've known better. Caught me in the rib, but fingers stayed out of it, so that's a good thing and I have a foot brake. It's always good to have a reminder as I think we get very comfortable sometimes doing something familiar. Hope your nose feels better real soon! Also glad it wasn't worse. Take care, Jude.

[Tony Ward]

Yesterday I found a 3" x 6" maple oval 2 1/2" thick and decided it would make a nice bandsaw box. The first step is to cut of the top. I knew I would have to hold it firmly as the part of the oval that first contacts the blade is unsupported. As the blade contacted the oval, it spun it, ripping it from my grasp and catapulting it into my NOSE. Hit me hard enough to give me a bloody nose which is still sore.
After a few choice words aimed at my stupidity, I used a big clamp to hold the oval until the blade was halfway through the top cut, then put some business card shims in the saw kerf and reclamped at the saw kerf.
The box is OK buy my nose is still sore.
Pride is unchanged as it was reset to humble mode many years ago.

A good lesson with which to begin 2008!

there are two ways of looking at this episode = (1) a lesson well learnt and (2) your DNA is embedded in the bandsawn box.

I look forward to seeing the finish work?

Good Health

[Lee Schierer]

Starting a cut in any round object on a bandsaw can be tricky. The teeth will tend to spin it before they cut unless you have a really good grip on it. Fine teeth blades will also help.

Glad to hear you are basically okay your nose and pride will heal pretty quickly.

[Jim Becker]

Whew! 'Glad it was just a knock on the nose rather than your hands being forcibly pulled into the blade! Many turners have experienced what you did the first time they tried to slice off the end of a log...and BANG...including bent and no longer usable blade...and sometimes bloodshed.

Yea, anything with "round" must be supported so it can't twist. If it's not something you can clamp, then tack glue it to a rectangular block that will ride flat on the saw table as you make your cuts "across the curve".

[Abe Low]

The suggestions are all great but my nose is still sore. I knew when I did it that I was not being very smart - but I had done the same thing several times before.
Two things were different this time. My hands were cold so I may not have been gripping the oval tightly, and perhaps more importantly, the blade was repaired by me and it was not perfectly aligned so it would take a bigger bite once per blade revolution.
The other thing that plays in with safety in general is a sense of complacency when doing something we have been doing for years. This is also a critical factor in doing production work.
I can promise not to make the same mistake at least for as long as it takes for my nose to stop hurting.

[Jim Becker]

Abe, you really cannot depend upon your hands to hold an object like that for safe cutting. Build a jig that you can clamp the workpiece in place to make the cuts.

[Lance Norris]

I am not a fan of Harbor Freight, but I have several of their smallest hand screw clamps that I use for cutting small parts on the bandsaw. I dont mind cutting into them as much as my Jorgies