Magic

It Vanished

I’m sure glad that I use, at least some, intelligence when operating the TS. Tonight I had a piece of wood vanish into the land of missing socks.

I was ripping a small piece of wood (approx. 4.5 x 3 x 10.25) using the rip fence and a few stupids. 1) The cut was only 4.5” so I did not remove the 72 tooth and put on a rip blade. 2) It was only 4.5 inches so just used a couple push sticks...Suddenly the wood vanished. It was so fast I couldn’t even say which direction.

I was standing to the side out of line with the blade. However, it did catch me with a glancing blow to the ribs. Thank God it was a glancing blow, that hurt enough. I also managed a one inch scratch on the right arm and a broken left thumbnail. The bangs were so widely placed that I almost believe that each of the three flying parts found a separate target.

I did find the end of one of the push sticks that was broken off (broken, not cut) and eventually I did find the cut-off. However, the main piece remained hidden. Myrna says I can be a stubborn son-of-a-gun and after this I may have to agree. I hunted for that piece for an hour. All of the doors were closed. There is no window. There is also no “save” piece of wood...It’s gone! I gave up and made a new one.

My shop isn’t all that big and, in spite of what Glenn says, it is not that messy. Guess I will have to look in the rafters next or try to find the missing sock landfill.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
There are time when I think we over think safety. I was ripping some pieces 7 1/2 x 1 1/2x1 today and I felt that using a push stick was more dangerous then carefully holding the small pieces by hand. I know having you finger less then 1 1/2" from the blade is dangerous but if you are aware of it and if it give you better control...:huh:
 
Glad to hear that wasn't worse. I have experienced the vanishing wood phenomena and it is unsettling at best. I bought Grr-Rippers years back for controlling small pieces and have never been sorry. I still use push blocks but almost never use the long stick type anymore.

Its interesting how many reported near misses (or worse) are explained with a phrase containing "was only". As in, it "was only" one cut, it "was only" a short piece, it "was only" this once, etc. Take the time . . . Be safe ;-)
 
It is always the small pieces that bite us. The smaller the piece to be cut, the more conscious one must be about what they are doing.

Glad the fall-out was minor.
 
Yea Jim i have experienced that as well on both the table saw and lathe, I have cleaned the shop on several occasions and I still have no idea where some of the magical exploding bowls have gone. Of course i have also had the times when they let me know exactly where they are. Ribs and forehead once that almost knocked me out. Big fan of face sheilds now. :thumb:
 
Magic continued

Hi Again,

I really should have mentioned that the two (out of three) pieces I did find were in a completely different location than I even considered looking. They were about 12 feet to the left of the blade. I found them accidently. See the Visio drawing.

View attachment 47027

In order to get where I found them I think that the pieces must have bounced off of the rip fence. The third piece is still missing.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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hey jim,, look in the dust chute:) and under anything you havnt looked under in years:) glad you wernt hurt any more.. you should try to use those leakages more next time:)
 
Glad to see you weren't hurt any worse than you were. (Pays to be a small target sometimes, huh?) :D I've had my share of disappearing wood pieces and push sticks yanked out of my hand. Like Glenn, I've gone over to the Grrripper, and put an end to that nonsense. I use it on short rips as well as the last couple feet of long rips. I do still use a push stick on the bandsaw, but that tool's not likely to throw the stick back at me. ;)
 
I've never had a kickback on the table saw knock on wood. I'm glad nothing bad happened.

I did have one on the planer the week before this past Christmas. The wood hit me in my left index finger and ripped a big chunk out of my finger. I also thought it had broken my finger. A couple weeks later I broke down and went to see my family Dr. He told me if I'd have brought the chunk when it happened he could have put it back on. I told him there was no way I could have found it. It wasn't broken but I think I tore the ligaments. I still can't close my finger all the way.
 
hey jim,, look in the dust chute:) and under anything you havnt looked under in years:) glad you wernt hurt any more.. you should try to use those leakages more next time:)

Larry,

If it had not been so fast (instantaneous) there probably would have been some leakages.

I am still fascinated by the fact that the two pieces I did find were a lot closer to 90degrees from the plane of the saw blade than in line with the blade. Do I have to wear armor? Is there no safe place to stand?

Please understand, the "event" is not going to reduce my use of the TS. However, my safety quotent is going even higher.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
can you use the Grrripper with the blade guard down?

Nope, it takes the place of the guard in my opinion. Take that with a grain of salt, though. It's coming from someone who learned on tablesaws without guards, and who believes they are more of a hazard than a help. At least any of the ones I've tried have been. But by all means, people should use a guard if they're more comfortable with it than without it.
 
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