i cringed as i saw your hand getting pulled toward the blade! please don't do that again... we need those product reviews
i cringed as i saw your hand getting pulled toward the blade! please don't do that again... we need those product reviews
My 8th grade woodshop teacher used to take the guard off the table saw and gather a new class around the safe(?) sides of the saw and cause a kick back about 8 feet into a old french door(rather dramatic effect). Even for stupid 8th graders it made a point.
Couple days later you'd notice he fixed the door for the next bunch.
Thanks Tom. It's so easy to get complacent and skip the safety gear. It's time for me to make some ZCIs with splitters and 1 without for the times I use a sled. Paul
LOL....Yeah, that WAS pretty dumb, Tom!
I did a rough calculation one time of the potential force of a kickback. I can't find it anymore but I think I remember it being on the order of hundreds of lbs....Arnold himself couldn't hold that back. Great demonstration and glad you're safe.
Tom, thanks for risking life and limb to remind everyone just how dangerous a 3 hp cutting machine really is. But, what am I missing? Where in the link do you click to view the video? I guess I am the idiot as everyone else has it figured out. Edit: my wife found it: hover over the camera at the bottom and you will see the start/pause button.
I also had an epiphany when I got hit in the gut by a square block I was ripping years ago. Now I always use a guard unless the strip is too narrow for my SharkGuard. But just hearing of your near disaster, I am going into my shop and resurrect an old splitter for my ZC insert for those situations. My old Grizz doesn't have a riving knife, wish it did.
And on my router, I am beginning to use more frequently a standard miter gauge to push shorter material thru the router. Makes it almost impossible for the material to twist and get pulled into the bit.
I would never use a rubber hold down block on my TS for pushing, it puts your fingers way to close to the table top and the blade as you found out, and you depend on friction to push the wood instead of a positive push you get with a notched push block. Not that it would have prevented the kickback, but your fingers would have been further from the blade with a different push block. Rubber hold down is ok for holding it down, but not pushing your stock, on a TS or router. I don't even like using them on my jointer, I may use one to hold it down but definitely a notched push block to push the stock for face jointing.
Last edited by Ole Anderson; 02-17-2012 at 2:37 PM. Reason: Found it
I bookmarked the site to show everyone I know and am looking online to find a splitter for my saw.
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
Tom - WOW! Not sure what to say about you making the video without getting my post deleted Unfortuantely though, some have to see something like that to get the point across...so my hat's off to ya' for making it.
Just outta curiosity though, how long did it take you to get the nerve up to do it?
I have an older '80's model Craftsman. Been running it for years without the blade guard/splitter. Over the past few months, I've seen alot of folks post pics of the accidents because they DIDN'T have one on. Ordered myself one and been running with it now for a few months.
Thanks again for the video!
OK, Now I AM A BELIEVER, just one dumb question. Could anyone reccomend a suitable splitter for a jet left tilt xacta ??
Thanks
An absolutely incredible video in many ways.
Incredibly scarey. Really glad you were not hurt.
Tom
I'm a Creeker, yes I m.
I fries my bacon in a wooden pan.
Hi Tom, well done on a highly educational video. No need to my mind for the ceremonial self flagellation - you set out to do something helpful to others, and as luck would have it it worked out. The fact that a wild card got in the mix actually makes it all the more powerful and genuine - it's precisely the sort of thing that seems to happen in most accidents.
It's typically not usually idiots that have accidents either - just ordinary dudes who let their guard down or get distracted, or who get caught by an unforeseen set of circumstances...
ian
Jeez Tom,
Talk about learning the hard way. I'm sure you've watched the video frame-by-frame.
Here is a snip from the vid for those who didn't stop it.
close.JPG
I will think about your experience before I consider demonstrating kickback to students here.
It also got me looking for more stupid demo videos.
I think that's enough for one day.
-kg
Really really really really really stupid. I'm glad you were not hurt.
But I'm glad someone had enough of a lapse in judgment to make this video because the video demos of styrofoam kicking back and gruesome photos of injuries aren't effective enough to drive the point home. I'm glad you had the filming capabilities available to take maximum advantage of the [really big and dumb] risk you took. I hope that every single woodworker that ever visits an internet woodworking forum, currently or in the future, will see it. I have no doubts that hundreds, maybe even thousands, of woodworkers are already making adjustments to their saws based on this video.
A groundbreaking moment in woodworking history? I won't go quite that far, but with the power of the internet, this is a really nice contribution to the woodworking community and one I will remember.
Thank you for having a huge set of ....(courage?).....to make that video. NOW DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!
In my eyes it takes a bigger set to put the video up!
Thanks for posting, I am certainly glad you didn't get hurt. It does make me wonder how many close calls I have had over the years in the shop that I didn't realize were even remotely close.
I for one will not use a TS without an installed riving knife that is the one reason a TS is the only machine I won't consider old iron.
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.