How not to operate a table saw

What motivates this guy to SHARE this stuff ?? It's bad enough he puts himself at risk, but why spread the madness on the interweb ?

In addition to the bizarre starting ritual, it looks like he's using the mitre gauge and the fence together. If you don't clamp a block to the fence to create clearance you'll end up eating the piece closest to the fence.

Disclosure: I have an old Beaver 4" jointer whose motor lacks a start capacitor. The motor has a stepped pulley. Since I can turn the motor and jointer head over without slackening off the belt, I wrap a piece of nylon clothesline around the outboard pulley and spin the motor manually. Only when the rope is free, I hit the power switch. I absolutely never wrap the rope around my hand. Not my proudest moment, but I do it with full knowledge of the risks involved. DO NOT try this at home!
 
Wow! In sandals no less. I wouldn't have thought a capacitor was that hard to replace.

Check out the stonehenge video. That's a pretty smart guy.
 
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To tell you the truth, I watched PART of the video. I just did NOT want to see what was going to happen so I closed the window about half way through. Maybe one of these days I'll watch it but it just looked to scary to watch.

John
 
By looking at the replies I think he got the point as to his unsafe saw usage. I just wished people would be a little nicer. The guy probably never had guidance and needs to learn. With any hope he will go talk to a seasoned woodworker.
 
I've seen much less safe operation on job sites when I was younger. Since I couldn't hear the audio, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but it didn't look as dangerous to me as all the folks made out. Seemed to me the starter was gone and he started crankin' the motor by hand so it would start, then had it propped up by the board so lift the pulley off the belt. After he got it running, he lowered the motor so it would tighten up the belt.

He looks careful when he's cutting.

I've seen a lot worse with skill saws, not that I advocate either.
 
By looking at the replies I think he got the point as to his unsafe saw usage. I just wished people would be a little nicer. The guy probably never had guidance and needs to learn. With any hope he will go talk to a seasoned woodworker.

I disagree with that Jim. In the beginning of the clip he starts talking with his mask on, only to take it off and state that "he needs to get into this safety stuff" and that is why he is wearing his mask to protect his lungs.

That leads me to believe that he has done some research in terms of safety and knows at least some aspects of woodworking. I think he is a fairly seasoned do-it-yourselfer who thought his method of getting his tablesaw started was unique. He is right on that one, it is unique, but downright dangerous. The fact that this guy reproduced (assuming that is his daughter) is the really scary part. He definately deserves the Darwin Award in the woodworking category!!

By the way Ian, your start up method is not much better. One slip of the rope guy and your fingers are done. I think deep down you know what you do to get your jointer going is just as dangerous. Maybe you got some checks and balances in there, but it is still unsafe. I used to be the safety coordinator for a huge railroad out west and I have to say, they trained me to look for patterns. Everytime you start that jointer you are gambling with your fingers. It's just not worth it. You don't know how many times I have written up accident reports that said "but I did it that way 100 times". A new electric motor is pretty cheap, an a capacitor is even cheaper.

I don't mean to sound rude, but I would rather sound mean than to feel bad about not saying anything and hear your got your fingers ripped off.
 
I watched again and did get audio this time...that's funny, I don't know why folks find it so offensive...I think it's funny how he drops the belt on the pulley...that is funny...Maybe he wanted to start my 5HP direct drive for me...:rofl: First you need to spin the blade with your nose while you flip the switch....:rofl: :rofl:

I like how he uses his foot though...creative...:bonkers:

I'm a sick puppy, heh?
 
I don't mean to sound rude, but I would rather sound mean than to feel bad about not saying anything and hear your got your fingers ripped off.

Hi Travis,

There's nothing rude about your message and you're absolutely right to bring it up.

It's a stupid thing to do and I'm only rationalising when I tell myself that I'm wise enough to get away with it.

Since you've done research about workplace accidents, you probably know that the greatest number of accidents happen to the new inexperienced worker or the experienced overconfident worker.

I'll phone the nearest motor shop next week and stop flirting with disaster.
 
You know, that reminds me of something I saw in Germany last year, strangely enough at the Bahnhof (train station). There was a guy using a tablesaw with no guards (not surprising), but what was surprising to me was that he was cross cutting boards free hand. I'm sure it wasn't for anything more than forms or bracing, but still, quite dangerous in my mind.

I watched for awhile in amazement.
 
There was a guy using a tablesaw with no guards (not surprising), but what was surprising to me was that he was cross cutting boards free hand.

My FIL comes over and uses my shop from time to time. He cuts free hand on the Unisaw all the time. I just get out of the way and turn my back. Just scares me to watch.
 
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