Thread: Accident on the table saw

Firstly - great news that the injury is more towards superficial than serious, but it could easily have been quite catastrophic.

Good assessment of the cause of injury and advice on how you have learned to recognize your limits.

On the saw guard issue - yes there are many reasons why saw blade guards are not fitted - however we must find the self discipline to resolve those issues to eliminate or at least minimize the potential hazards we face. We tend to focus on how to expedite a task rather than how to make it "safe" and fast. At times the additional "work" may seem a PIA but as you know, at trip to ED is a bigger PIA.

I use cross cut sleds and ramped "donkey's ear" sleds a lot on my sliding table 250 mm "panel" style table saw and by the very nature of their design a "conventional" saw blade guard can not be used. To minimize risk I have,

1. ensure my work area is well lit.
2. fabricated a saw blade guard from pine and MDF that attaches to the blade side of those sleds and covers the blade for all but the actual cutting of the blanks / work piece. It also has a PVC fitting installed for dust pickup.
3. installed saw blade covers to the rear of the sled so that the blade is not exposed.
4. added travel limit stops that give a positive "feel" when the work area is "safe" to access i.e. the saw blade is fully covered. The limit stops are generous to ensure the blade is well covered in the "safe" position.
5. use toggle clamps to hold the work piece & off cut whilst cutting.
6. check the full range of sled movement to ensure there is adequate "safe" clearances between the saw blade and any "non-sacrificial" work holding clamps - i.e. metallic toggle clamps.
7. use work piece stops that are also held firmly in position by toggle clamps.
8. assessed my work flow to reduce unnecessary body movements hence reduce fatigue.
9. assessed the "what ifs" - what may potentially happen if an off cut becomes misaligned, jambs etc.
10. use "visual keys" as a secondary "administrative" safety control in addition to the physical travel limit stops mentioned in 4 above - simple things like a piece of masking tape on the saw table or fence that aligns with the sled fence when it reaches its "safe" position.

The perimeter of a spinning blade is quite difficult to see and more so if the work area is not well lit, and it is only partially exposed. Best to put the odds in your favour.

I'm almost 80 and for the last about 70 years or so I've always visualized the cut before making it. I've let two neighbors use my table saw. She used it only once and it was terrifying. The other can come by any time.

I taught them to visualize. One is clueless and I will make cuts for her. The other it is, "Let me open the garage door for you."

Firstly thank goodness you were not more seriously injured and hope it heals quickly.

Originally Posted by rogerwilco

I can't recall if I was putting the piece on the table before the cut, or picking it up after the cut. It doesn't really matter. The point is I wasn't paying due care that the saw was running. I was reaching for the piece when my finger grazed the top of the blade.

This highlights the important fact that TS accidents don't all happen during actual cutting and the need to be careful around machinery whenever they are on.

Another question to perhaps ask is how tired were you? and then maybe this story is worth repeating to show it can happen to anyone.

A friend of the family had been a cabinet maker all his life, still had all limbs and digits and a relatively illness/injury free life. It was just a few days before his retirement and was tidying up after a long busy day and one of the things he usually did at the end of every day was scout the workshop for offcuts and throw them in a firewood bin. If the bits were too long he would cut them up on their big table saw. He fired up their big table saw, cut a couple of the pieces and turned off the saw. Several of the pieces remained next to the still moving blade and he tried to flick these pieces away from the blade but he underestimated how close they were to the blade and took 3 fingers off and spent the first 3 months of his retirement having various surgeries and treatments.

Thanks for the reminder.
Glad to hear your OK and healing.
I think we all need safety reminders now and then,
especially when were so into our projects that we can possibly lose focus on safety.

A timely reminder that we work with things that bite. My last trip to emergency was a few years ago now and involved nothing more than a 25 mm chisel. Still manages to cut deeply and nick a tendon.
I like the idea of visualizing each process but at the end it comes down to our individual natural tendencies and being aware of those. I am generally a calm methodical bloke but there is a bull in me that is sometimes at the gate, so I have to watch myself very carefully.

Your incident is the main reason I stop watching things on YouTube as soon as I see an unguarded table saw blade.
Whilst you were lucky(?) to not do anything more serious, it was still avoidable in the first place.
Lesson learned hopefully.

Ouch! Glad to hear the resulting injury wasn't too serious. Definitely a scary reminder of what could/can be. Colleague did similar with his thumb pad.

Hope the recovery isn't too long and your new project can be started in earnest

Scary stuff!

Can’t find a pic of my current cross-cut sled but here’s a pic of an earlier version.

33E61403-84AC-4431-BE43-A73E3B8D8395.jpeg

As you can see I added a 9mm “shield” of polycarb to keep me away from the blade.

My current version has hold-downs and a wider polycarb panel. It would be hard to get your fingers onto rhe blade unless you were trying. I also have a stop so the blade cannot pass right through the fence closest to the operator.

I only make smaller stuff (boxes) but I imagine the same principle could be used on a larger sled.

Regards,

Brian

Originally Posted by BobL

Another question to perhaps ask is how tired were you? and then maybe this story is worth repeating to show it can happen to anyone.

I wasn't tired all. Actually quite fresh feeling on a Sunday morning. But Bruce explained it perfectly...

I am generally a calm methodical bloke but there is a bull in me that is sometimes at the gate, so I have to watch myself very carefully.

This is what happened. I'm usually self aware enough to not work when I'm in that frame of mind. That day, I didn't listen.

Having read this thread a little earlier, I have just been out and upgraded the stop for my cross-cut sled so that it stays on permanently.
When I made my sled, I put a "bridge" on the back of the sled to pass over the blade cover which stays on at all times.

Table saws are like boxing - no guard and you can find yourself in a world of pain.

Did a similar thing a few months ago and managed to drill a 10mm hole through my hand, was rushing as was the end of the day and was running out of time and impatient to finish the job so rather than secure the object I was drilling in a vice hand held it while drilling and the rest is history. Even worse decided it was just a flesh would so didn't bother going to ED and on finally going to my Doctor a few days later on the insistence of my wife got the kind of look from her generally reserved for complete idiots which was repeated on the countless follow up visits with a variety of other doctors. Had left it too long before the initial visit so the wound couldn't be stitched adding many weeks to my recovery. Am very....very fortunate that it has fully healed and no bone or tendon damage so do have the full use of my hand again. Lesson well learned for now but many of us do have rather short memories. Can add Photo's for shock value if anyone thinks that might help reinforce the point and may just hang a copy in my shed as a reminder !.

Originally Posted by rrich

I'm almost 80 and for the last about 70 years or so I've always visualized the cut before making it. I've let two neighbors use my table saw. She used it only once and it was terrifying. The other can come by any time.

I taught them to visualize. One is clueless and I will make cuts for her. The other it is, "Let me open the garage door for you."

In my mind, visualisation is the number one step in primary safety. Before you actually do something with any tool, but especially power tools, visualise what you're going to do. Where will your hands be? If the wood closes up when you're ripping it, what will happen? If you're cutting something thin, could it fall into the gap beside the blade? These and a multitude of other questions become second nature as you visualise what you're about to do.
Also, I try to schedule work on the T/S for mornings when I'm fresh. I know tiredness wasn't the cause in this case, but it seems to be a factor in most of my mistakes.

It's never good to have an injury but thanks for taking the time to remind the rest of us to be more aware around the bitey machines. Hope it heals up soon and without any loss of function.
I think most of us can get complacent about guards at times so you'r reminder really shows they are there for a reason. Currently I am having to force myself to use the Euro type guard on my jointer and it is nowhere as convenient as the pork chop guard on the old machine was. Been a few times lately where I've thought just one edge so a couple of passes at most so not used the guard then afterwards knowing I've been stupid.
Everything has risks and it's up to us to minimize them. Not using the guards is adding to them.
Regards
John