Un Safest Tool In a Woodworking Shop

[Coop]

A recent thread got me to thinking, what is the power tool in your shop that give you the Willies when you use it? Mine will have you questioning my Woodworking abilities. 

[B1rdhunter]

Routers are not my friend.

[RichardA]

I have a finger that says table saw, but I think a router tightens my butt more than any tool and I have 5 or 6 of the damn things.

[Chet]

The router and for some reason its the one in the table more then the hand held.  

[Coop]

There are definately some meat grinding capabilities with a router, giving the speed and close contact, especially on the table. 

[wdwerker]

My grandfather taught me to remember that bandsaws are used to cut up frozen carcasses in butcher shops every time you turn it on. Frozen meat and bone don't even slow it down so give it the care and respect needed to run it safely. 

Tablesaws and router tables can take a board away from you in a split second but we all tend to have fingers pretty damn close to that bandsaw blade don't we ?

[bleedinblue]

My gut says the table saw, cause I still sweat while using it.  I still visualize the blood splatter aftermath of a mistake. 

BUT. 

The only time I've had an "oh crap" moment, especially one that I didn't see coming, has been on the router table when the bit catches the grain just wrong. 

[Pondhockey]

I'm still getting more comfortable with the band saw.  Like Werker, I inherited (for me maybe an irrational) fear of the bandsaw from meat cutting days.

On the other hand, I've already flung enough wood from the table saw and even the router table, to have enormous respect for them.

And since the jointer has an exposed cutter, I'm always keeping track of finger location and direction of applied pressure (even when using a push stick) with that tool.

I haven't yet hurt myself with a finish foam brush (knock on...)

[wdwerker]

My dad was explaining the jointer to my brother and took the tip off of one finger. Maybe that's why my brother got interested in electronics?

[Pondhockey]

1 minute ago, wdwerker said:

My dad was explaining the jointer to my brother and took the tip off of one finger. Maybe that's why my brother got interested in electronics?

That's exactly what I imagine, when using the jointer.  You gave me the chills!

[lewisc]

I'm gonna say the router. There's a lot of power in a small unit. The table saw makes me think twice when ripping pine. Usually the pine has a lot of tension and who knows what might happen.

I was watching this video this morning.  Listen to what he says at 8.35 about the Sawstop. As much as I love watching some of what he makes, he does some dodgy stuff. Even if I had a Sawstop, I think making poor decisions about how to cut something is the biggest risk.

 

 

[krtwood]

There aren't any tools that give me the willies, but there are operations that give me the willies.  And those operations tend to happen most at the table saw, because I use the table saw for the widest variety of tasks.  But it's the sanders that draw the most blood.

[Woodenskye]

The operator is the most dangerous.  Whether we are tired, over estimate our own abilities or whatever it still comes back to the 1 person that pushes the power button.

[wtnhighlander]

For me, its a close tie between my corded circular saw, and my angle grinders. The stationary machines aren't going to jump out and get me, and best practice for controlling the stock is well defined. With the circular saw and grinder, both the material AND the tool tend to jump during a kick-back event.

One reason I am shopping for a cordless circular saw is that many of them have the same or greater depth of cut as my corded saw, but with an inch less blade diameter, therefore less leverage to work with in a kick-back.

And no cord to cut into....

[Mark J]

And no cord to snag distracting you from that blade.

[pkinneb]

11 hours ago, Chet said:

The router and for some reason its the one in the table more then the hand held.  

I'm right there with you Chet! Table mounted router by far.

[PPBart]

For me, the scariest tool for me is my Craftsman 10" Radial Saw!

 

[gee-dub]

I've tried to answer this a couple of times but, I keep coming off like a sanctimonious ass .  What it boils down to is that as I have learned more, I have found that the acts that used to cause me a major pucker-factor  have been replaced by safe ways of doing those things.  Safe operational practices are a learned behavior that replaced my guns-a-blazin-get-'er-done approach of the past. 

If I am approaching an operation and I do not feel good about it, I back off and figure out why.  Often a clamped-on auxiliary fence, guide, a feather board, some additional stock or tool support is the answer.  In the grand scheme of getting from material selection to placing a new piece in its new home, the time spent to make sure you do those one or two operations safely is small potatoes.

[Pondhockey]

Maybe off topic, but have you ever left a loose part or tool in a cabinet?  After I get a power tool adjusted and buttoned up (say a planer,) there's a little question in my mind what's going to happen when I power it up.

[Tom King]

A dull brain.   When I feel myself getting tired, or feel the need to push harder to get something finished, we put the tools up, and go home.

[Just Bob]

1 minute ago, Tom King said:

A dull brain.   When I feel myself getting tired, or feel the need to push harder to get something finished, we put the tools up, and go home.

Hard lesson to learn.   One Christmas Eve many years ago, I came home from a long days work and had to finish a jewelry box for my 12yr old daughter.  I was cutting a piece of spalted maple on my underpowered Ryobi table saw.  I pushed to hard, wood slipped, ripped cut my left thumb.  Spent all of the 24th and most of the 25th in the ER (it is always a busy time of year for those folks).  Daughter didn't get her jewelry box, I missed Christmas dinner, wife was extremely pissed.  This could have easily cost me my real job, need two good hands for police work, but I did heal up.   Left the blood on the ceiling as a reminder of "stupid is as stupid does"

To answer Coop's question, table saw.

[difalkner]

They aren't unsafe if used properly with proper guards in place.  Do I do that all the time?  Nope...

Case in point is the PSA video I made in May 2017.  I didn't start out to make a PSA video, rather I was going to start a project and video start to finish.  This one never got past 'start'.

David

[Tpt life]

Hands down the chisel. It’s too light to stay in place when bumped. It is the sharpest tool I frequently use. I use it for all manner of honey-do and emergency home repairs when alertness is at a low point. It pairs with Tom’s dull mind. I don’t feel a need to be alert more than the need to complete those projects. 

[Keggers]

In my shop the machine that gives me the most concern is the jointer. Running the board across the cutters time after time draws me into a false sense of security. I've even caught myself looking out the widow as I'm making a pass across the blades with a board.

You all are going to laugh, but the tool in my shop that has caused me the most damage is the cardboard box cutter. I box and ship wood almost daily and use a box cutter when boxing up wood for shipment. I've cut fingers more times than I can count and have stabbed myself in the stomach twice when the blade slipped. It's another case of having done something so many times that my mind wanders and isn't always concentrating on what I'm doing.

[Chet]

3 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

For me, its a close tie between my corded circular saw, and my angle grinders. The stationary machines aren't going to jump out and get me, and best practice for controlling the stock is well defined. With the circular saw and grinder, both the material AND the tool tend to jump during a kick-back event.

One reason I am shopping for a cordless circular saw is that many of them have the same or greater depth of cut as my corded saw, but with an inch less blade diameter, therefore less leverage to work with in a kick-back.

And no cord to cut into....

Jeez' Ross I expected you to say your "hand held bench top jointer".