Adam Savage Gets Nervous Using These Tools
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- What are the various saws (table saw, band saw, chop saw, circular saw, and the like) used for besides the obvious? Has Adam Savage ever struggled with anxiety around scary tools? Adam answers these questions from Tested members Vickie Bligh and David Marden, whom we thank for their support and questions! Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks, like asking Adam questions:
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Love the portable bandsaw. I would recommend Harbor Freights portable bandsaw chopsaw/stand by Hercules.
Well, Did you? Did you use the portable bandsaw to make a sandwich? 😅
Nice fact is now Contractor table saws exist becuse more and more companies people know this is how 99% of work will be done is using a saw in a place where electricity is found or in a Solar generator and needs to be easily moved on a site. However, using portable Battery table saws are a bad Idea as they run though batteries burning them out or are slow.
A healthy fear and respect for any powered tool, no matter the size, is never a bad thing to have.
Our shop (as the Americans say) teacher drummed into us that every bandsaw was a beast patiently waiting to take human limbs. As a class we were more scared of it than we were of the gas-powered forge.
Rotary cutting wheels have taken its place in the pantheon in these latter days.
i bought a plug in grinder to chop up some steel beam i had in my garden and after trying it for 3 seconds it put the fear of god into me and ive neveer touched it since
So far I've hurt myself the worst with the most mundane of power tools. Be extra careful with the ones you don't think will hurt you.
Absolutely... My late father was a contractor/carpenter for over 50yrs. When he passed away, he did so with all ten fingers intact. Growing up, I was allowed to use the woodworking tools in his shop (except the joiner) once he showed me how to use them. He ALWAYS stressed how import it was to pay attention and respect the tools for what they could do to you if you didn't.
Have known many guys over the years that were missing fingers, parts of fingers or terribly disfigured finger tips from not following that simple bit of advice.
Whenever I use my tools, be it metal working or woodworking, I always pay very close attention to where my fingers/hands are before I start doing whatever it is I'm going to do.
@@KevinBrown-lv2fkI have 8-10 corded and cordless grinders, use them all the time. Every time I pick one up I think is this the time it does serious damage, because I am still a bit afraid of them. while I’m working I’m focused on the task at hand and don’t worry, the key is to take control of the tool, if you dont, the tool will and it will eat you up!
Carpenter of a decade+ here: I'm glad to hear someone admit that operating the table saw (and other tools in general) is terrifying. I have never once powered one up and not thought to myself, "How could I lose a finger." A common joke in the industry when asked how long you've been a woodworker, " [X number of years], and I've still got all 9 fingers, and the working spare."
It was a chainsaw for me not terror but definitely fear.
I've never feared my tools, I do however respect their power and capabilities. For the simple truth is, the tool will never cause me harm, *I* will cause myself harm by carelessness, inattention and shoddy practices with that tool.
Hence, my first, second, third and final questions are always, "how can I do this safer?".
My grandpa and two uncles have had their pinkies amputated due to Dupuytren's disease, which is where nodules form on the ligaments in the hand and make the fingers in a hooked shape. It was easier for them to have the fingers removed so they can still use the rest of the hand when working in the shop. Since it is genetic I will probably have to deal with that at some point, but I am sure medical advancements will be better when that time comes. I often joke that my pinkies are spares or a table saw buffer, much to the horror of my mother.
@@stephenlamley541definitely wary of my chainsaw too, if i can avoid using it i will
It's funny, I've been using worm drive Skil saws, tables, metal sheers, radial arms saws, you name it since my teens & at 70 still do.
I respect them, don't fear them & seldom think about the mayhem they can cause to human flesh, but EVERY damn time I see or pick up a pair of limb loppers, I get this visceral image, almost a feeling of getting a finger lopped off.
If there was every a case for believing in past life memories, this would be one. Never told a single person about this; just too strange to admit, given what I do & have done for half a century.
The 2 things in my dad's shop that he always had a healthy respect for were the table saw and the band saw. His table saw, which I still have, is very old and built like a tank, but built with very little in terms of safety in mind. Not like the ones today. The band saw he said was always to be respected because it was developed by butchers, and what do butchers cut? Meat and bone. Guess what you're made of.
He said to me that these are things you should always respect because the day you don't is the day you get hurt. He had all 10 fingers until the day he died, and I think that is down to his healthy fear of the things he worked with daily. I try to carry that forward with me even though I'm working in IT. The tools are powerful and you should respect them or they will show you no mercy.
Just a note: I love using old tools, but please, please add a riving knife / splitter to your dad's table saw if you are using it. You can DIY it from scraps if needed. Obviously a full-on-blade guard is best if you can fit one, but at least add a splitter. After all, you can (at least in theory) plan every cut and make sure you never feed your fingers through the blade in a "controlled" cut. But as long as you are cutting wood, its a natural material and you never know whats inside or what it's going to do. A board that has internal stress and pinches on the back of a table saw blade can cause a kickback and no level of care can prevent it. The kickback makes a projectile that can put a whole in the wall or you, and even if it doesn't you never know how you will react in a surprise situation like that.
I loved reading this comment! I’m currently training to be a butcher at a small store with only 2 other butchers. Our saw was built in the 1950’s and still runs like new, but safety clearly wasn’t the top priority when it was being designed. Long story short: it’s very strange to use a saw everyday, that you know has already taken a life before. Some poor guy decided to ram his whole head into the saw because he couldn’t handle the stress of his divorce. Now I’m standing in his spot where his head used to be, running roughly 200-500lbs of pork through it everyday. It’s very terrifying, but it taught me to respect the equipment very quickly.
Respect is a good attitude. Fear is not. Riding a table saw is a lot less dangerous than riding a bicycle, and I am a happy cyclist, at least up to drivers always being on their phones. We don't have good data on saw dangers. The numbers include people who work with saws 9-5, may be intoxicated, low IQ, etc... Cutting one's fingers off is always a choice we make. Just don't expose your digits to the blade. Never do anything that can cause your fingers to arrive in the spinning blade. It isn't rocket science.
The safety in table saw use is the OPERATOR of the table saw. If used properly, the table is no more dangerous than any other power tool, and in many cases safer.
@@tacticalskiffs8134it's not that people put their hand into the blade. usually its kick back where the blade violently shoots the workpiece out if it gets crooked and then wedged into the fence. It has serious force and can push your hand into the blade. The piece can shoot through drywall that's how powerful it is.
When I was doing sets for Chronicles of Riddick, one guy had a serious accident in the table saw (cut a 45 degree saw angle and did it backwards) Luckily we had another guy that was trained and had a bunch of high end papers over decades in carpentry from the UK and did a free table saw safety course after the accident, there must have been 60 men and women there. The safety tricks and knowledge that was shared was mind blowing. Always ask yourself before cutting "is this right?"
In college I didn't see cutting accidents but there was "this guy" (definitely not me) had a table saw fling (kickback?) wood right into their thigh just a few inches of their jewelies.
I hate the EU, but they have mandated safe saws, and by the way, will not certify Sawstop, the saw more than the technology. I follow the european standards, or at least, understand them. The more popular american saws are based off a dangerous design from the 1930s, that has since been "upgraded" with improvements that to some extent make it more dangerous still. I have a book on safe powertool use from a British source, and it is a very useful book.
Another thing I keep in mind, is Ashley Illes' observation that he never met a pattern maker who had lost a finger. Yet in many respects they are a lot deeper into the weeds than the average woodworker as patterns can involve large wood structures, and deep cuts. He put it down to never using a saw without push sticks. That simple. And he was talking about an earlier era, pre-EU, and when the saws were primitive.
@@tacticalskiffs8134 Just out of curiosity why do you hate the EU?
Asking 'is this right?' is one thing, but another is whether you can answer/understand both the question and an answer. I've seen countless accidents that have arisen from people being clueless about the forces and processes involved, yet going ahead because 'I've seen someone else do it'. Or they assume they understand yet are oblivious. e.g. The owner of a vehicle repair business using a borowed very blunt chainsaw to back-cut diagonally through a large timber joist, above their heads, while standing on a ladder, over a pile of scrap metal; the chain/timber was smoking. 4 people watching and not one aware of anything wrong about it. What can you do with such people?
Excellent advise for treating and using a table saw. When using my table saw I always plan my movements prior to cutting. I do have a SawStop but I treat that as a safety net not an excuse.
Table saw is great , if you need cut sheet material all the time , but in small shop guide rail , with jigsaw is safer option , if you cut big sheet material rarely.
Dado blades are not banned in Europe , you can buy those , but European table saws that have electric brake are build so you cant attach a Dado blade , for one reason Dado blade can unscrew itself , then it can fly off the table saw .
Big table routers have wheels that drag the material past blade, that is big lump of metal spinning 30 000 rpm .
Well, you’re doing it right, Adam isn’t: there’s no excuse for running a table saw without a riving knife in front of six million viewers.
This is the way.
@@semilog643 this is the way.
. Table saws aren't particularly dangerous because they have a spinning blade. It's the fact that you pinned your work between that blade and a fence. That fancy touch lamp installed on your saw isn't going to stop a kickback. But it may leave you spending half your day repairing a saw, and destroy a $250 piece of live edge walnut because of a few rogue raindrops, though. And to think, I spent $1000 on a saw to have that "feature"
My late father the maker (he was an auto mechanic but built houses as well as cars and everything in between). He said "You don't Have to be afraid of a tool, but Always assume the tool will turn around and bite you. Then use the tool but be aware that you have to keep it from biting you." That is just what Adam says. Thanks, Adam! You gave me a good memory.
My dad when I was a teenager was ripping boards for homemade moulding and one board had a hidden knot. He always used an 18" push rod (scrap 2x4). The board jumped and the saw ate the entire 18" push rod in the split second it took my dad to react. The blade ended up nicking his index finger. Observing that right there gave me an extremely healthy respect for the amount of damage a table saw can do faster than you can humanly react.
That kickback is the scariest thing about a table saw.
i dont know if Adam reads these comments, but i want to say i was the girl at comicon today, sunday, that had the Tom Servo puppet and started the convo by saying "sup nerd!" when i wanted to say "sup fellow nerd" but i got over excited and blurted the wrong thing. i want to make sure i clarified i meant it as a most sincere compliment and would never insult you. It was a great pleasure to meet him and will cherish it for the rest of my life and now have a story to tell my friends
I've never met Adam and wanted you to know HOW JEALOUS I AM! :)
Sup nerd!
This is a funny, sincere, vulnerable, and heartfelt comment!
Delightfully and relatably painful ❤🎉😂
Haha.. if i was Adam i would have laughed. Thats a really funny way saying hi to your idol 😂 And im sure he wouldn’t be offended.. he knows he’s a nerd
I told my physician that the other day. I said "I'm a nerd and you're a nerd too, so I trust you". He took it as a compliment, and I think everyone should.
Almost no one thinks of Nerd as a pejorative these days.
Don’t fear the tool so much that you’re afraid to use it, but fear the tool enough to give it the respect and preparation necessary to be able to use it safely and to its potential. As I told my daughter when teaching her to drive ‘When things start to feel easy is when you need to mentally check yourself because complacency in dangerous situations can easily lead to accidents’.
we all have our own risk thresholds. if someone isn’t comfortable with the same level of risk as i am, i feel no need to tell them to adjust that safety threshold. there are enough billions of us that specializing in different things is an asset
I used to be extremely nervous using a plasma cutter. Respect of the tool that you are using is what keeps you safe. Understand what it's meant to do and how it does it.
My shop is so small I started doing only hand tool work due to the limitation of space. Now I enjoy the satisfaction of making without powered tools. And as an added benefit, hand tools stop as soon as you nick yourself haha
Me too. I would love a bandsaw, though.
I have seen plenty of very serious even life threatening injuries with hand tools. The obvious sharp ones that come to mind are axes and wood working chisels.
@@davidholmes3323I was just about to add a comment that s/he CLEARLY has not put a finger in the wrong place while using a chisel.
It is truly amazing just how much a chisel will stick in your finger bone when shoved in from close range with great force.
Hand tools do NOT stop, lol...
Having taken a hand planer to the leg, and almost losing a finger to a router, the tool that scares me the most right now is my hand adze....I'm terrified of it and I'm no stranger to swinging all manner of axes, chainsaws and sharp metel things into wood to cut them.
"Adam's guide to tools" would be an incredible series, I think.
An hour long video going over the types of saws, followed by a video about hammers or sanding tools.
"And this is my 3/8 deep well hammer." ;) ~s
I think you underestimate his ability to expound upon a subject...
Try an Hour long Video PER TYPE OF TOOL...1 hour on hand saws, 1 hour on powered saws, 1 hour on chisels and hand planes etc...
😄😁😆😅😂🤣
@@HappilyHomicidalHooligan Oh.... actually, that would very, very good...
Here's how a chisel works, note that it has to be sharp or it will tend to cut you. Here's how to sharpen and use.
Here's a jigsaw, and it's thinner cousin the coping saw and scroll saw... watch how the blades work and note that cheap ones stink because they don't hold the blade tight enough...
...
My dad lost half a finger back in the 1960's with a circular saw, the blade guard didn't spring back after the cut so when he put the saw down after the cut the still spinning blade hit the ground and flipped the saw over into his hand.
He did manage to get mileage out of the accident over the ensuing years by at various opportune times putting his finger stump under one nostril so it looked like his finger was up his nose to the second knuckle!
Oh, I LIKE HIM!!!
He sounds like My kind of Smart Ass...
😄😁😆😅😂🤣
@@HappilyHomicidalHooligan Thanks! He was super practical, deeply philosophical, heartily humorous, and loved putting on a performance or two. Been gone 18 years now, I was lucky to have him as my Dad!
I lived in Japan as a teenager in the 60s and immediately fell in love with Japanese hand saws. They cut when you pull instead of when you push. When a friend revisited Japan and asked what I wanted them to bring me, I immediately said a Japanese handsaw! 😎
they cut on pull instead of push. So what? mechanical work is needed. It's like paying the bill on the 15th instead of the 1st
Nope, it’s completely different. You can make much more accurate and precise hand cuts when you’re pulling and there’s no possibility of bending or flexing the blade on a power stroke. 😎
@@johnhoslett6732I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss western saws. There are some truly excellent woodworkers who do very complex joinery exclusively with western push saws (see Rob Cosman for example). Neither style of tool is more or less accurate, they're just optimized for different skills and different craftsmen.
@eitantal726 You can do great work with either but cutting on the pull can feel a lot more natural to some people, kind of like push vs pull with sharpening tools on bench stones I guess. And I've definitely had to intentionally install a hacksaw blade backwards a few times to cut through thin materials in awkward places.
@@myrcutioRelax. I’m not dismissing western saws and craftsmen.. I just find Japanese handsaws surprisingly useful and prefer them for most ordinary tasks. And apparently Adam likes them too. 😎
I work in construction from personal homes to commercial buildings... the Porta band is a "problem solver"... everytime I use a tablesaw I hate it (you never have a perfect set up on a jobsite)... I certainly have to do things that are dangerous or not ideal. However, I always go through my "checklist" to make sure I'm not going to loose any fingers or get punched by a kickback...I may or may not have had my table saw on a slope on the sight so gravity helped me feed large sheets of plywood... you gotta use your head and expect all outcomes. The more you use a tool and understand it, the more you start to feel comfortable using. This last statement seems to apply most to my handled circular saw
I feel like that last part is what can get you. "Well this has worked just fine the last 10 times I've done it" and then BAM it gets you. That's how I slit my thumb with one of those super thin saws for rotary tools (great little saws btw, cuts through plastic like butter unlike those thicker brown ones).
It bit into the work and kicked back into my thumb which I was stabilising the work with way too close to the blade. It wasn't a serious injury by any means but it hurt like hell and I felt really stupid afterwards.
@@treborrrrr That's exactly right. It's when you think you really understand something that you forget to ask, "what have I not considered here?"
For a future video:
One of my favorite videos was the video where you had talked about the lathe injury on your hand. I loved it because of the honesty of how easy it was that you could have hurt yourself.
The Essential Craftsman has had similar videos, where he shares how he injured, or almost injured himself severely, on tools.
I would love one or many videos where you walk us from one tool to the next, explaining how you injured yourself on that tool, and what we need to be aware of. Too often craftsman give tips on how to do things, without explain the dangers. I believe its not often enough that you share the lessons you learned because you almost hurt yourself; which is why I valued that video on your lathe so heavily.
It was humbling to you, which made it valuable to us.
One tool that I hadn't considered being particularly dangerous, until having a few incidents of my own, is the drill press. I've been bitten a few times, trying to put holes in small or irregular pieces, and holding them by hand. The worst of these incidents was drilling a hole in a small scrap of sheet metal, and having the drill catch and spin the piece in my hands, cutting a four-inch gash along the palm of my hand. Luckily, no permanent damage was done. It took a few bashed and gouged fingers to realize that drilling any thin or small objects without clamping them was a rather fundamentally hazardous operation, especially with larger spade/forstner bits.
This parallels "my" world so well. In the kitchen you treat every pan like it's hot and every knife like it's razor sharp. The moment you lose the respect for your equipment is when more accidents happen.
The old adage "A falling knife is like a falling Boeing b52"
Spot on. I heard a seasoned woodworker explain both of those important lessons: 1. The moment you feel comfortable around a saw is the moment you should be most afraid, and 2. The novice rarely hurts themselves, it is the skilled worker on their hundredth cut of the day who is most likely to have an accident.
You confuse comfort with complacency.
The first injury I was present for with my table saw wasn't even caused by the saw. I was ripping down a big piece of stock into a manageable board and had someone to catch the other side of the wood as I pushed it through, and apparently I didn't prep her or communicate enough because right as we got to the end the boards finished passing through and what I could best call a rough 4x4 of hardwood slid off one end of the table, causing her to drop the other end on her ankle, scraping up half her shin. I think she still has a scar today from that. Always make sure everyone knows what's going on at every step of the process, even if it feels unnecessary!
You are absolutely correct about repetitive work, especially on a table saw. You can make a hundred cuts back-to-back, and then you get that one piece that has a totally different grain, maybe has a knot that you didn't see, or even a piece of small foreign object you were unaware of. My grandfather's nickname was Stumpy for a reason... saws demand the utmost respect and 100% attention, which is why seeing woodworkers wearing their ear buds listening to jams while working power tools drive me up a wall.
In defense of some of us that need music to focus, I have a tendency for my mind to wander when there's not enough stimulation. Having music going gives just enough additional stimulation that I can properly focus on what I'm doing, and get into a good flow with it, which is very hard to achieve without something consistent to fill the extra space in my perception. Without it, I tend to look around a lot, get bored quickly, and miss simple things I should notice because I'm distracted. There are a great many people in the same boat. At the same time though, having the reduced awareness of surroundings and reduced ability to hear the nuance in the noises our tools make adds a significant risk, so its a catch 22 for sure.
I agree, repetitive work has a tendency to cause complacency. Complacency has a tendency to cause inattention, inattention has a tendency to cause carelessness, and carelessness may cause unwanted damage. It is always important to stay focused.
i love, love, love the 'scared of tools' segment!!! i almost ran out of the room the first time i pulled the trigger on my first miter saw and felt it spin up in my hand. not being scared of power tools is the best way to get injured
I really appreciate your comment about repetitive work. A very good friend of mine essentially cut off his arm while cutting house siding on a miter saw. Upper arm, just below bicep, 98% through. He got complacent. Luckily, experimental surgery and very quick emergency response allowed him to keep his arm, and almost fully functional.
I will definitely be adding planning/going through a mock cut before turning on the saw to the tool safety training we do with our FIRST robotics team. Great advice!
Also tell the team to never run a table saw that doesn’t have a riving knife. Unlike Lord Elpus here, who seems to think standing in a certain way will save him from the kickback that is waiting to happen.
Awesome to see that FIRST is still going; I was in the i think either 2010 or 2011 tournament; it was a fantastic experience!
Best safety advice you have ever posted. 3 experiences where I've been very lucky. Table saw: piece of wood kicking back and knocking my baseball cap off. Band saw: drawing my thumb in and causing stitches. Bungee cords: tying down branches on a cart, bungee hit me in the face and could have knocked an eye out. There are horror stories of all of these. Stay safe.
I have two of those portabans and have worn out three through the years. If you work with metal one of those is a absolute must.
I have a stout old, original condition Porter Cable I bought w/ about 40 blades, but despite being in like new condition, it kicks the blade off after 2 revolutions.
I've disassembled it twice trying to find the problem & taken at least 5-6 runs at it when I'm feeling lucky, but cannot figure out why it dumps the blade in the same spot, every time.
Since you've worn out a few, do you have any clues?
Thanks,
GeoD
Fantastically explains what you need to pay attention to when working with a table saw. Only a long-time, experienced and true maker speaks like that. ❤
Great topic. My son and I were building a boat together and had to push a large laminated piece of transom through a portable contractors table saw to bevel one edge. The piece was much larger than the small table so we each took an end to feed it through. I was stepping around to the side of the saw to get a better grip on the piece when I twisted it by accident. The blade grabbed the offcut and fired it like a missle through the space where my midsection had been 5 seconds before, embedding the sharp slice of wood in the back wall of the garage. Whack!!. It all happened in the blink of an eye and I sweat just thinking about it these years later.
I had a kickback while trimming a tapered edge off of a broken pallet board. I got a purple rectangle bruised onto my belly! Luckily I had set the fence with the narrow end of the board, so the wicked pointy end was away from me. I think of that often, 35 years later…
You are right to consider a table saw as the most dangerous tool....because it IS! That said, once you know how to use one safely, there's no problem with it. It took me a good 6 months to become comfortable with one when I first started working in carpentry. You can always tell a "newbie" using one, because they're not in control. They act like IT'S in control. It is NOT. First lesson: YOU'RE in control. (as long as you know how the bloody thing works and that it's properly put together and safely tuned/maintained)
Years ago I was taking a graphic arts class and one of the things they had for us to use was a big old Heidelberg press. As the instructor was introducing this monster to us he took a pencil out of his pocket. A number 2 Ticonderoga. He handed it around and asked each of us to use our finger nails to make marks on it. We all did our best and it was covered with shallow crescent shaped nail marks. He then started up the press and when it was going along at a good clip he dropped the pencil into it. Instantly it was reduced to shards and toothpicks. He turned off the press and looked at us, "any questions?" he asked.
Yes...
Is it too late to drop this Class?
😄😁😆😅😂🤣
You just haven't really lived until you are dropping blank sheets into that gaping maw with one hand and pulling the printed pages out with the other at the rate of 15 per minute. or 900 pieces per hour. Total focus.@@HappilyHomicidalHooligan
Scary moment in high school wood shop, band saw blade just SNAPPED while I was using it loud enough for the teacher at the far end of the shop to hear it. He jumped on the emergency power cut as fast as he could, but I’d already hit the off switch and backed away from the machine faster than him. Just “noped” it out of there and let it run to a stop on its own. Healthy respect for the saws.
Fear and loathing for the lathe meant I was using the band saw to taper my table’s legs instead of turning them. One student was careless in tying his apron, spinning lathe just ate it right off of him! Thankfully the part of the apron around his neck ripped instead of resisting, because he could have face-planted into the spinning piece of wood.
Woodworkers wear aprons around lathes? May as well throw on a tie and some long sleeves while you're at it...
Go in any metal shop and you won't see the guys working on a lathe even wearing gloves. Their hands will probably have a few cuts and scratches, but that's better than what a glove or any loose clothing pulled into a lathe will do.
@@dwaynesykes694 Generally a canvas or leather apron, plus a face shield. A thick shirt where you can close the collar works too. Wood chips and splinters can fly hard and fast, and most of the time they're flying in your direction.
Wood lathes don't have the speed and torque that a metal lathe has, and they generally stop much quicker, but basic safety for rotating machines still applies. No gloves, loose sleeves, or hanging bits on clothes, etc.
I was told, “Every tool in the shop is uniquely engineered to kill you efficiently and it will hurt the entire time. You are the softest material in the shop. Act accordingly.”
I agree completely about the dangers of repetitive work, repetition promotes complacency and encourages the mind to wander. One of the advantages of a bandsaw over a circular saw is that there’s little possibility of kick-back (unless you try to cut round stock without proper holding). One of my most used tools before I retired was a twenty inch disc sander for making patterns. I had a healthy and cautious respect for it and never sustained any major injury but my Boss was terrified of it and wouldn’t go near it.
Big lathes are my favorite tool, but oh my gods are they actually fucking terrifying. Really anything that spins real fast and hard is terrifying.
band saws are a close second, but again it's still a big spinny thing, but _sharp!_
Being a Machinist myself I have to agree. I'm one of an elite group of machinists still in possession of all ten fingers.
When we did metal work and wood work at school. We were taught to always stand to the side or off centre to the tool that was spinning up when the switch was thrown. Google footage of a damaged grinding wheel disintegration on a bench grinder on start up.
It will make you think about using a full face shield every time.
Yea maybe there should be 3 major thoughts when using any power tool:
1, what does it cut?
2, are you softer than that thing?
3, does it have trouble cutting that thing?
@davidholmes3323 I worked with a company that mandated safety glasses at all times, safety glasses + face shield when doing any cutting, and safety glasses + goggles + face shield specifically when using abrasive grinder disks. Every induction they showed off a photo of a fragment of a shattered disk that went through a face shield, the glasses behind it, and was about 2mm from embedding itself in one blokes eyeball, and that was enough for them to say 3 layers are now necessary.
I did woodworking at school in year 10. It was a sobering experience, giving a bunch of rowdy teenagers with not-yet-fully-formed brains sanders that could sand your skin down to the bone or spinning blades that mean you could never give your mates the middle finger ever again. Even the most chaotic class clowns stopped and paid attention when the teacher gave instructions on how to be safe around these tools.
I dunno where my jigsaw puzzle is now, but I still remember being really bloody nervous having to use the jigsaw to cut out the pieces. My hat always goes off to people who do woodworking.
Another important thing with table saws is to avoid removing the blade shield and associated anti kickback devices such as riving knives whenever possible. Anyone who has ever had a piece of material kick back at them will tell you it’s a terrifying experience you will never forget and never want to repeat. Myself included. Also the possibility of maiming a hand is dramatically increased with a kickback. Like my dad told me when I first started using power tools all parts and pieces are there for a reason, use them.
Decades ago, when I was a teenager, I nipped off the end of my thumb on a table saw, cutting, of all things, Styrofoam sheets. It was just the very end and the skin grew back but I didn't even realize it happened until I saw red on the sheet of white Styrofoam. Looking back, I realized it happened because there was no riving knife on the saw and there was kickback. I learned a lot about setup and situational awareness. Now, I have a somewhat fearful respect for all my "kill and maim" tools-table saw, band saw, drill press, thickness planer, jointer and miter saw. I have done other injuries to my hands over the years resulting in scars but none on the big tools. I just went through some repetitive cutting, breaking down cedar fence pickets to build some large planters for my wife. You speak wisely, Adam. The more you make the same cut on that table saw, the more laser focused you need to be with all of your movements. I am not retired yet, still working as a field service engineer, maintaining and repairing digital imaging and bio-metric solutions and I need my hands intact.
I actually find a lot of use in watching accident videos - you get a healthy respect for how quickly things can go awry even when you think everything looks safe going into it. There are some accidents where I've thought "Oh wow I would have never expected that to happen" and so now it becomes yet another thing to keep in mind. The more risks you become aware of, the more informed the setups become.
"Repetitive cuts are when you have to be on high alert" so true! Say that over and over again! Oh that would be repetitive too.
My mantras in these situations is always: “it only takes once” and “no job is worth a finger.”
“Only takes once” (in case it wasn’t clear) means even if you do something a million times, it still can only take one mistake to be a disaster. Like using the table saw, or forgetting to look twice when making that left turn on the way to work.
Adam, I love the Japanese pull saw as well, and had the same problem of never remembering which side was for which cut. So I simply took a sharpie and made a plus side near the cross-cut side, and an equals sign near the rip side.
Excellent advice to practise and think through the entirely of the process from lighting and space (two that are often overlooked) to the next part of the build.
Table saws need respect, but so too so most tools and workshop work. Never do it quickly, when tired or when distracted.
Back when I was in wood shop class in junior high school, the radial arm saw was a scary piece of equipment. Since the blade is spinning toward you, when cutting through a piece of wood the saw is actually pushing toward you!
When I was a very young high schooler the woodshop teacher put the fear of the dying universe into me. It took almost the whole quarter before I would even turn one on again. For some reason though I was comfortable with the bandsaw and learned to make bandsaw boxes from scrap laurel that I sold to other students. I still take it slow with a table saw. Thanks, Mr Green!
If you put away your fear & respect of powertools you might as well put away your fingers.
Your explanation of the 90 / 10 relationship around a saw or tool, was very well articulated. Both with words, and your hands. Things I know I mostly(?) do, but a great description, and a good reminder.
Yeah, great tips Adam. I always treat my table saw with respect. Plan my moves, make sure the floor is clear and I'm not going to step on anything that might make me lose my balance. Good lighting, hearing protection, eye protection etc. Anything with spinning elements can be dangerous, angle grinders, table saws, even a simple drill can hurt you if you are not focused on what you are doing. I have a scary table saw with a 7hp motor that is used to cut down larger pieces of wood. It goes through brazilian rosewood like it's butter. That thing is always operated by two people.
The good thing about casual woodworking is: You don't necessarily need powertools. And the good thing about paper: Safety checklists. Reading them every morning you start may be boring but it keeps your fingers attached. Planes have checklists for a reason. Why almost all other things people do eventually get winged, running on almost blind autopilot...well...
This is great! I've been getting better with using power tools, but I am still terrifed of a lot of them, and prefer spending way longer with a hand tool. It's awkward working with other people who have got no qualms about any of these tools, but hearing people talk openly about the fact that operatign a moving blade close to your body does indeed take workign up some courage is a great relief. And the more I see and pay attention to how some of my friends who have got no concerns about power tools end up using them, the less I am ashamed of my reservations. Making free-hand diagonal cuts on a table saw without a guide rail, no pushers whatsoever, on an uneven floor, in a farm shed lit by a single lightbulb on the far side of the room, and of course the blade is always fully up, because it's too annoying to adjust it for every job and more blade is more better...yeah just give me a hand saw if that is the setup you expect me to work with
The repetitive thing on a table saw is so true. I learned that lesson early at about 21 years old, was cutting up cardboard into some small pieces and it was so easy my mind wandered and it kicked over and my hand got way too close to the blade. Much later on when I was teaching people to use a table saw I always said "the second you feel completely comfortable on this saw stop what you are doing immediately and walk away. This thing should always always always scare you, at least a bit"
Number one for me is DO NOT lean into the work piece to push it through.
I also love my portable band saw. One of my favorite things is that I have a stand for it that turns it into more of a traditional band saw allowing me to set it up wherever I am working. It is one of my all time favorite tools and I cant recommend them enough.
Amateur maker and professional emergency worker here. His statement about repetitive work being the most dangerous is absolutely correct. Just wanted to add that most people who lose a finger do so when they are ALMOST DONE with the project. So slow down and stay safe.
Yes. So agree on issue of repetitive work. I think the mind starts to delegate to muscle memory tasks that are repetitive leaving it free to become distracted by some other thought or nearby motion. Just be aware all. Thanks Adam for the reminder.
Hands down first saw you need that does everything on no money is the jigsaw.
One of my most important advice to myself when woodworking is: "if something doesn't feel right, stop whatever you're doing and reassess". Gut feelings have proved successful to keep all of us alive for a long time now, and if my Spidey sense tells me "I'm not comfortable with how we're this right now", I always find it useful to check what I'm doing and see if i can do it in a safer way.
during a shop class in high school, my instructor explained the table saw is responsible for the most injuries in the shop, and it wasn't a joke. That thing is terrifying, and it demands a healthy respect when using it. There is nothing wrong with being anxious about using it, but you 100% need to know what you're doing to be safe with it
A good rule of thumb is: If I slip / if my work slips off the tool, am I in harms way? If the answer is ever yes, then you should reconsider how you are holding the tool / work. This advice is especially true for knifes.
Speaking of the terror of powered saws, I recently saw a short that had a guy accidentally trigger the blade stop system on his table saw when he wasn't being careful. It was very interesting seeing one of those systems actually deploy on a person rather than the classic hot dog test.
Safety is of the utmost importance. I was assigned as safety engineer on highway mega projects and I started researching and researching how to be safe. I was in a panic about knowing what OSHA safety was inside and out. A risk management engineer I worked with took me aside and told me to calm down… that safety is nothing more than common sense APPLIED. Those words served me well as I was inspecting sites the rest of my 20 year career as a safety engineer. Simply consider what will kill me next and reduce it as much as reasonable is enough… and, remember, it’s turtles all the way down.
The biggest thing to note in my opinion, is not to be scared of the tool. But to respect the tool. Be aware of what it is capable of, respect that, be aware and be alert. Don’t be afraid though.
Definitely true for just about every aspect of building, making, repairing, renovating, you name it. The setup and prep work are absolutely 90% of it.
Hearing Adam talk about how terrifying a router is was so validating. Sometimes it’s just the right too for the job but god to I hate taking it out
I went to a trauma surgeon for an unrelated injury, and we got talking about woodworking. He said that the AMA estimates that about half of all power tool injuries requiring an emergency room visit are due to table saws. I'm not sure if that is related to table saws being used a lot more, if they are just inherently more dangerous, or some of both. Since I have a pretty small work room, I chose to use a circular (or jig) saw with a 6 ft. piece of thick aluminum as a straight edge instead of a table saw. It's not perfect, but I still have all my fingers.
Great video. The advancement in table saw safety tech is crazy now the saw blades can detect when you touch them use a small electric current and drop the blade below the table and shut off in micro seconds. Still good to keep up safety practices since there are plenty of old table saws and common sense. Besides the obvious cutting off or horrible wound from the saw that scares us the thought of something flying off and hitting you or someone else is also worrisome. All of the horror stories or scary thoughts are good to acknowledge but do not let them cripple you from being able to use these tools.
Years ago, I watch a co-worker put his finger into a large spindle. They don’t discriminate. Most tools are scary and demand respect. I have worked with power tools as part of my employment in many trades for over 45 years and the worst damage I ever did to myself is chopping the end of my thumb off cutting salad for lunch. Respect and be constantly wary of any tool you use. Powered or not. Love your program.
As a beginner woodworker I can testify to how terrifying power tools can be.
Last year I bought my first one. it was a Titan Mitre Saw. I read all the safety instructions to the later (even the boring ones) but one thing I disregarded was protective soundproof headwear.
After I worked up the courage to turn it on after extensive safety preparation the sound was soo loud I honestly thought I was going to have a heart-attack.
I had to back off from it, turned it off, unplugged it, gave myself a nervous giggle and walked away.
My adrenaline was pumping soo hard I didn't come back to it until just over an hour later and bought the appropriate sound proofed ear protectors. Even THEN it was still loud but damn I learnt a valuable lesson.
*BEST tip I can give:*
Don't think you know better than the designers. Just do what they tell you!
*ALSO:* Make sure you have safety goggles and a respirator/mask ( I at least had those).
Thank you so much for not just teaching and demonstrating safety around power tools, bug for being so open about your own anxieties.
A healthy respect for any powered tool is a good starting point to using it properly. I’m coming to end of a 30 year career in safety and sadly I’ve seen some serious injuries over the years. Anything that cuts wood and metal will cut skin, soft tissues and bone too. General advice is to make sure guards are fitted and used correctly, keep power cords clear, always use a residual current trip device to cut the current if cords are cut or faults develop. Any rotating machine can catch clothing and wind it in dragging you with it, avoid baggy clothing, dangling jewellery etc… especially finger rings. If in doubt go ask someone who knows, this is a good channel but there is also some dreadful dangerous advice on the internet…. Avoid short cuts and quick fixes, use tools for and as the manufacturers intended them to be used. Most importantly of all, enjoy our great hobbies they bring us enormous benefits mentally and physically.
I wish you could pop by Adam’s shop and repeat the bit about the guards and safety features to him. The man runs a table saw without a riving knife in front of six million viewers.
i did hardwood flooring for 14 years and one of the key lessons I learned is that the Table Saw in particular WANTS to hurt you. And I approached every cut on it with the intent to not let it.
“All tool usage is a battle with my impatience”. Ain’t that the truth!
Surprising... while the router and table saw could cause damage - I'm usually more concerned with 'high torque' machinery like the lathe and mill. While a saw can give you a pretty severe "zap", you can usually get away - it's quick, which is why I think a lot of people are scared - they're loud, somewhat violent in operation, and a accident can happen in a split second. I find I have more concern for machines with high torque and power - they have a bad habit of not causing a "quick" injury, but tend to grab, then very determinedly wind clothing and limbs around them before something stops or comes loose (be it machine or limb). I see some of those old photos of machinists working in an apron, with a dress shirt and a TIE, and they make me cringe... all I can think of is that damn tie coming loose, getting grabbed by the headstock, and dragging a face into it. 😬
Right now Mythbusters is winning a Kyle Hill poll for the best science show of all time. Congrats! ❤
I think many of us have the tool(s) that we're uncomfortable with, but I appreciate that a craftsman like Adam can be honest and understanding about that.
You're spot on about repetitive work. You get into a habit of doing the same thing over and over, and all od a sudden you will do something else, which is usually dangerous.
I went snowboarding one time. When I say one time, I mean actually once down a hill and never went on a ski lift again. It was a bunny hill, and the old junky ski left rocked with the ferocity of a small boat in a major storm in open water.
This is the first time I've ever heard that someone else had a similar reaction. I'm sure many do, but no one has ever admitted it. Thank you for sharing.
Yup, confirming from the last 3 years of increasingly intensive experience: while a proper tool for the job is the necessary condition, the setup is the sufficient condition. Spending 10 minutes for a 10 second cut is... the normal usual way it works if you want quality.
07:23 - It's pretty much the same in the cooking world. People who don't often cook think that the cooking is the largest part of, well, making the meal, whereas everything is about the prep-once prep is done properly, cooking is the most uneventful part.
You are absolutely correct. And it applies to ALL powered cutting tools. They can yank a piece of work and pull your hand into the blade. They can kick material back into you at insanely high speed. If they do make contact with you, they will tear you up in split second far worse than any hand held non powered toool ever could.
Drill presses would take a second place in my book. If anything attached to you makes contact with that bit, it will likely get tangled and wound up in the bit, pulling you toward the danger - necklaces, bracelets, pony tails, neck ties, anything.
My rule of thumb is to do it with hand tools unelss a) you can't achieve the needed result or b) the hand tool will take more time than you have
Lucky for me, I'm an enthusiast, not a pro, so time is not money, and I prefer the quiet meditative personal connection to the work that hand tools bring. But I've met way too many people with missing digits, massive scars, etc.
As you say, practice every cut, and always assume anything dangerous thing that can happen probably will.... and then consider if a hand tool will do the job you need in the time you have.
I saw a carpenter using a plastic pusher tool when operating a table saw and he looked so safe and confident in his work. It is truly a smart tool and I will never use a table saw without one now.
I'm a mechanic for 24yrs and use stuff that can hurt you everyday, but my most feared tool is a chop saw with a metal cutting blade cutting metal, especially pipe or box, had a peice kick out once and I got a Fred Flintstone thumb from it. I agree with a good stance, and even practicing the move you will be making, can never be to careful
Adam, this should be a part of EVERY OSHA safety video. Thank you sir for stating the obvious in a way that sinks in. I work in a stave mill and will be forwarding this to everyone.
BTW, greased marbles, I love it ! So simply stated
Best advice for cutting using any saw always figure out where your hands will be throughout the whole cut and where the blade will be.
Back in high school woodshop, when the teacher was going over the safe use of the table saw, he talked about where NOT to stand beind the saw, then pointed out this perfect 2"x4" hole in the wall at the far side of the room. It was a perfect rememinder of the power of the tools, and specificlaly the table saw!
It took me a long time and a lot of cuts to get comfortable with power saws, but the more I learned to relax and let the tool do the work the easier to make cuts and the better the cuts became. Same thing with routers. Now the router is one of my most used power tools (along with the jigsaw).
Working along side professionals and learning how they approach things went a long way to building confidence to balance out the healthy fear of power tools
Thank you for mentioning "fixtures". A good fixture is one of the most important things you can have in the shop, it helps you safely make repeatable products, and can keep you from having to chase stuff around on the bench/table (which increases the risk of damage to you or the thing you're making).
I was in 7th grade wood shop and witnessed a bad kickback on the table saw. It shot a large piece of a 2x4 about 30-40 feet and it still had enough force behind it to break cleanly through a wire-reinforced security window on the far side of the building. I am now a middle aged man and I still think about that kickback EVERY SINGLE TIME I turn my table saw on. Don't stand directly behind the work EVER. If you aren't at least a little afraid of your table saw every time you turn it on, you really don't belong anywhere near it. Complacency and excessive self-confidence is what will get you hurt.
Imagine you’re a curious and creative kid….and you have Adam Savage for a Grandfather….showing, teaching and telling his stories in that amazing workroom. I’d never go home! Sadly I’m 60 and I don’t think Adam will ever by my Grandfather!
Brilliantly explained about the saw set up. The one thing I would add to that list is dust/chip extraction (or at least removal, like a blower) so that you can always see what you're doing.
Have respect for power saws, Always keep an eye on both hands when sawing and don't think about anything else when sawing, Then you get distracted and that's when accidents happen. (32 years as a carpenter)
Lovely seeing you at comicon KC Adam!
Table Saw = Push Sticks for going past the blade.
Table saw = getting one that has a riving knife at the very least.
I agreed to help a friend build a gate in his garden a few days ago. I used my table saw to rip down some scrap 1/4in ply to make some shims to align the gate to the post when we were hanging the gate and installing hinges.
Because I just had to rip some scrap stock down and just make a couple cuts that weren't part of a finished project but just shims to help with alignment, I was impatient and wanted to finish the cuts quickly.
Everything was fine, but, in hindsight, I should have used my blade guard + with its anti-kickback pawls because the ply that I was ripping had some rough spots, and I think exactly these kinds of rushed cuts can result in stupid kickback accidents (or worse). I was making through-cuts, and it would have been totally possible and appropriate to use a full blade guard with a riving knife and anti-kickback pawls for extra protection. I still used a riving knife, but I should have taken more time to use every safety device available to me for the cuts. Also, I think I need to clean some saw dust and maybe pine tar that gummed up the mounting bracket of my riving knife because I think my riving knife is no longer perfectly aligned with my blade, and that sometimes causes my work pieces to catch as I'm pushing them through the riving knife. Accepting this without actually fixing the issue is lazy and unsafe (but yes, I've made some cuts without fixing the problem due to impatience).
I've been meaning to get the anti-kickback table saw rollers made by Jess Em. They look like they would significantly mitigate kickback. I don't think they would fit the fence on my small jobsite table saw, and I'd have to probably spend an hour building an auxiliary fence that can clamp to my fence to use with these, but it would totally be worth it. I should really spend a little time on my next project to do that.
My son asked me why I take so much time to set up a cut on a table saw or to drill a hole on the drill press. I told him is that the reason is that the tool is way more powerful than me. It can do more damage in a split second than my body can heal in weeks. A little extra time and patience is worth the effort.
I am glad that my heightened discomfort with table saws isn't abnormal.
I've only used a saw stop, but that did zero to make me less uncomfortable about the saw blade. Not to mention the pieces bucking or getting thrown. Someone in the shop I was in lost control of some plastic they were cutting once and it got thrown across the room and into the back wall *hard*. It's a very good thing it didn't hit the person, and that no one was using the pull saw along that wall.
I think the other scariest thing that I've used was a giant wood planer, just a mouth with a bunch of blades in the top and bottom. You needed two people to operate that thing, and I once caught someone working solo who tried to put a too small piece of wood through it about to stick his hand in while it was on. I don't think I've ever run in and commanded someone to stop what they were doing faster in my life, ready to hit the all stop button for the shop. He wasn't hurt but I still blame myself for not noticing he had even gotten that far till it was almost too late.
The one thing I'm glad seems to be less dangerous is sanders, probably the most common accident in the shop I was in was people getting their hands/fingers into one.
A 'trick' I use with the table saw is set myself up in the way I hold things so that if something goes wrong I cannot be pulled into the blade, i.e. use a sledge or a mitre gauge hold the piece to the equipment and move it as one, or when feeding a sheet through against the fence do so that you have set up your holding forces to move your hands away from the blade. Also the table saw cut out is bright red and considered a finger 'no go zone, no matter what'. I also use push sticks and feather boards to constrain and control the piece as much as possible. Always remember its you who causes the accident, not the machine; so set things up so that it won't occur.
Circular saws, in comparison, give me the screaming willies.
100% respect, the day you get complacent with a table saw is when you get into trouble. push sticks, and lots of them around the saw pays dividends
One of the most terrifying saws I've used is a toe kick saw, that thing scares the crap out of me, more than routers, planers, table saws, and band saws, and I'm saying that after a student in my junior high school wood shop had a hand get sucked into a planer. I mean when you need a toe kick saw nothing else really comes close, but dear god those suckers are scary to work with and difficult, they want to leap out of your hands, and take some part of you with it.
I sooooo agree, The actual cut is just the cherry on the top of all that prep. I'd add: develop habits like not standing directly in front of the blade which is just waiting to shoot a piece of wood back at you with the force of a cannon. I've had chunks of wood embed themselves in the wall behind me. A sturdy shop apron is a good idea. Mine has a hole in it from that momentary lapse when I stood right in front of the blade and a thin strip came flying back like a crossbow bolt. Didn't hurt me because I was very lucky. Just a canvas apron from Katz-Moses but it did the job.