Of all the stuff in my shop the machinery doesn’t scare me nearly as much as my carving tools. Whenever I pick one up I can’t help but think of all the ways I could seriously impale myself by tripping, dropping or slipping.
My 5hp shaper used to be pretty intimidating but it’s a kitten compared to a razor sharp carving gouge.
PS- my fear is a healthy one, it ensures I always think safety first. Truth is you can’t be frightened of any tool, that in itself is unsafe.
Replies
My biggest fear is with a router. I'm always afraid to use one especially in a router table. My brother nearly cut his finger off with a slot cutter and some wild grain.
The one that scares me even more is a chainsaw carving blade that you put into an angle grinder. Thankfully I don't use it much but its gives me the hibby jibbies whenever I do.
http://www.mvflaim.com
You should try an Arbortech wheel. I can work with it pretty aggressively and be safe.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I know, I saw that at Woodcraft. I probably pick one up someday.
http://www.mvflaim.com
"The one that scares me even more is a chainsaw carving blade that you put into an angle grinder."
Ah, the Lancelot, aka "Scarriest Tool in the Shop." But when you need it, it sure does the job. Start to work with that thing and it looks like you're runin' a snow blower!Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
I have respect for all my tools, but the only one I'm afraid of is my utility knife... when using it to carve with. I got a nasty deep cut one day carving with said knife. I stopped the bleeding and took the rest of the day. The next day, back at it, same thing. I learned my lesson and have two fading scars to remind me of my stupidity.
Which leads me to... carve away from yourself whenever possible. With two hands on the tool, you can never cut yourself.
I'm more scared for other people using my tools, as they don't know them like I do.
and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
WM,
Risk assessment - it's no easy matter.
There are the two important aspects: what is the liklihood of a nasty event occuring; what is the "cost" of that event if it does occur. With WW-tool accidents it isn''t always easy to quantify either of those things with accuracy. But there are some statistics from hospital emergency rooms, insurance companies and so forth.
Sharp things do get the imagination working overtime. Even now I feel a white mist hovering at the thought of a carved gash in my precious flesh! And I suppose it is possible to give oneself a telling wound with a chisel, especially if a tendon or artery gets in its way.
However, the "costs" of various tool-risks manifesting are surely higher (in general) with powered machinery. It seems unlikely that even a large carving chisel could accidentally remove four fingers or even a hand. As to the whirling blocks of knife-laden planers and shapers......Oh-oh! White mist!!!
Also, accidents with handtools are perhaps inherently less energetic and also slower (relatively speaking)...........?
My TS is guarded, riving-knifed and feather-boarded extensively to avoid typical TS accidents. There have been times when a nipping rip-cut or other wood-dance has tried to overcome these safety devices. Happily the devices do their job but one can feel the three kicking horses of that whistling blade trying to dump their whole effort into chewing and flinging the workpiece; and maybe eating one's hand in the process.
That TS is a lot nastier than any chisel, I suspect, should it get a gremlin in it or see an opportunity provided by the dumb user (me in a daydream).
Lataxe the squeamish.
I don't know that I fear my power tools, but I respect the heck out of them! I know a moment of slip would be a huge mistake. I fear any dull tool. Those are the ones that bite!
...Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off , painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it’s worth – lyrics from the song wear sunscreen
wood,
a scary tool is only so as it is used. when something has "gone south" while in use the attendant trauma sticks in the mind long after any scars have faded. one such repetitious and tenacious memory is of a fly-cutter dancing around a kitchen in a most unpredictable and hap-hazard way till someone saw their way clear to unplugging the thing.
eef
I work with hand power tools all day, every day and I only fear the shaper.
However, my most serious accident has been in the kitchen--trying to pry the seed out of an avocado with a paring knife. The only time I've ever needed to be stitched up.
door-b,
the worst, most frightening, out of the blue, what the freakin' hell just happened "accident", in my repertoire, was whilst operating a very old, huge shaper. i have been known to walk away from a shaper set up in order to think more about it 3 to 5 times prior to turning it on. if i felt about the shaper what i feel about the run away fly cutter, i might never click the shaper on switch again. i have deep, lasting respect for the shaper and trembling fear for the fly cutter.
eef
My shaper gets a lot of respect and more than a few brain cycles before hitting the on switch. It's just a matter of asking yourself a lot of "what if" questions... but the older I get the more I find myself asking that question about everything I work with. They say age makes you wiser, which is certainly true but it also makes you acutely aware of the fragility of the human body and how it only takes a fraction of a second for ordinary activities to go terribly wrong.
DB
You might know this by now with all the cooking shows but.. next time take your chef's knife and chop down on the avacado nut with the center of the knife. With the knife stuck in the nut, turn the nut and it pops out. It works well and your left hand is all clear.
I saw the guy on Good Eats do that and he's no smarter than us.
dan
>tripping, dropping<
One of my greatest fears is that while carrying a stack of freshly sharpened plane blades ( we are talking SHARP beyond your wildest dreams sharp) ( you know . . . my standard fare ) from the kitchen down to the shop that I will drop the stack and they will cut the whole stair case into match sticks before they come to rest.
: )
THAT would be hard to explain to the landlord.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 11/25/2009 1:49 am by roc
I've worked with all sorts of woodworking tools and machines all of my life. The tool I will not have in my shop is a radial arm saw or sliding compound miter saw. I have a shaper i use almost daily, and it is no where near as fearsome as a saw that's rotating at 3400rpms and moving back and forth at the same time. Its the only machine I know of that can remove limbs in the wink of an eye!
Differ'nt strokes, I guess.
I'd rather cross cut on my RAS or chop saw, and feel safer doing it, than cross cut on the TS.
IMO, provided you keep yer mitts outa the "red zone", the RAS is safer than the TS. No danger of having a spear of wood chucked atcha like with a TS. Worst that can happen is that the saw will bite into the workpiece (rarely happens) and spoil the cut -- not the operator.
As for the slider, most use it by pushing it back away from the user.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Hey, I agree with you 100%. I only use the RA in cross cut mode - never to push the wood into the blade. To get injured, one would almost have to intentionally put your arm in front of the blade and pull the blade through it.
I'd rather cross cut on my RAS or chop saw, and feel safer doing it, than cross cut on the TS....
I for one agree.
I just bought my son a sliding chop saw and had it shipped to him. He called me and wanted advice on cross cutting on his table saw. I told him a new saw will be on the way and he should buy a GOOD quality stand for it.
He just bought a older log house in Colorado and the past owner had purchased some solid rosewood to replace all the floors. He said the planks are 7/8 inch thick with tongue and groove. He estimates there is about 3000 square feet of the wood out in the log horse barn. (Up in the loft floor)..
Random length boards that were recycled from a very old house in Nevada that was condemned for some reason. The past owner had the old flooring re-milled for one surface and the tongue and groove. After the wood was delivered he got very sick and could not do the installation himself or afford to hire somebody so the wood sat in the barn.
Anyway, I bought the sliding chop saw because I feel it is the only way to safely cross cut many, many sticks. Yes, a sliding chop saw (to me) it still very much like a RAS but the new chop sliders have pretty well thought out safety guards.
Mike and I have spoken in unison more than once on this subject. One thing that should be learned very well before making the first cut is never cross your arms while making a crosscut. Yes, people do that. That and the fact that you need to keep your eyes open, stay alert as with any tool and you should have safe cutting.
I second that!
I'm left handed but learned to use cutting tools right handed at a young and tender age. My son-in-law is left handed also. Scares the heck out of me watching him use a circular saw.
I'm left handed as well... worm drive saws typically mount the blade to the left of the handle, giving the left hander an advantage.
Most circular saws have the blade on the right side. Mine is on the left. Maybe we should trade saws. Actually I can see where I cut on mine better if I have the board fastened down but it is hard to hold it with two hands and hold the board down at the same time. Yes, mine is a worm drive.
Edited 11/28/2009 5:24 pm ET by Tinkerer3
I'm ambidextrous so I can use my mag 77 or circular saw with equal enthusiasm.
I'm so jealous. My left hand is about worthless. Even with that I hope you keep both hands intact.
Never told my son that. I have to make a call! I never do that, I think? We are both right handed. My left hand is useless! My son can use both hands? A bit strange but he has always used both hands since a small child. Mostly right but many times left. Not sure what makes him change. He always eats (fork/spoon/knife) in the left hand.
Sorry, I'm old and did not grasp what the post about crossing arms ment. I had to think on it a bit....
Off to the shop and try to see if I ever do it on some scrap wood, later...
>rotating at 3400rpms and moving back and forth at the same time<Sounds like the "Tools" that are on the highway talking on the cell phone, on prescription drugs, non prescription drugs, illegal drugs all at the same time and add to that have been up way too long because they live in one town and work in another.Now that is a scary tool. Been known to take off an arm or two.At least the woodworking power tools a guy has some direct control over.rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
My dad gave me a cute little Ryobi radial arm saw before he died. It was just the right size for little jobs. When I needed a part for it, however, Ryobi said it was subject to a recall. It seems the motor mount would fail, allowing the motor and the blade to fall, and then walk across the table and up your chest. That would be scary.
I once designed a double-ended paring chisel, blades at both ends. It didn't go over very well, though. ;-)
Lately the bandsaw has been commanding a little extra respect from me. I think it is a combintion of cutting thick, circular bowl blanks (a little scary at the end of the cut) and the fact that my tablesaw is a SawStop. Ever since I saw the guy at my butcher shop using a bandsaw to cut big hunks of meat and bone like they were butter, I really pay attention when I am using it.
Another contender is that adjustable circle cutter that you use in the drill press. Something about the way the bladed arm whips around in an almost unbalanced fashion just kind of freaks me out a little bit. The bigger the circle, the more out of balance it seems to be.
Woodman,
The most dangerous tool in the workshop is the woodworker's mind.
Tools don't injure people. People injure themselves and others. If those "dangerous" tools are left alone, they tend to be very quiet and peaceful. It is only when people play with them, that they become dangerous. The danger is created by the minds of those who use them in "interesting" ways.
Sic transit Gloria,
Morpheus (Mel, actually)
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled