Most Dangerous Power Tool?

[Garrett French]

What's the most dangerous power tool?

My answer would be: "whichever power tool you're using!"

But then... I'm not a woodworker

Which power tool/s, in your experience, are the most dangerous?

[Don Taylor]

For me that would have to be the chain saw. I've never felt comfortable with one.

Don

[Ian Gillis]

Lots of possible answers here. I think I'd have to go with "the machine that's most poorly maintained". Fences out of alignment, hold downs that don't hold, shut offs that don't always work on the first try.

It's okay to have a television that needs a smart tap to get it working properly, but it's not acceptable with powerful shop machines.

[Jeff Horton]

The tool you are least knowledgeable of or most careless with.

Jeff

[Garrett French]

yeah - I'm wary of chainsaws too... I've used my share of bow saws to cut up brush and cut myself pretty good doing that

Ian - I wasn't aware of the relationship between safety and tool maintenance...

But let's say you've got a shop full of well maintained tools?

Are there any tools that are just plain more dangerous than others?

Also Ian do you think a more useful/interesting line of discussion be - what are the most important points to check on powerful shop machines to insure safety?

[Steve Clardy]

Guess I give my 3hp powermatic shaper more respect than any machine in the shop

[Ian Abraham]

what are the most important points to check on powerful shop machines to insure safety?

The operator

But seriuosly, you want to ensure that whatever guards and safety features it has are actually there and working, and that nothings likely to come loose and break while you are working. Like you dont want to use a router with a dodgy collet or a saw blade with a stess crack in it

But nine times out of ten it comes down to the operator making a mistake.

I also vote for chainsaw as the most dangerous, but at least it's obviously dangerous. Big noisey machine with exposed fast moving cutters, there is no mistaking it could do some damage if you operate it carelessly. There aren't many other common machines where you should wear as much safety gear as a chainsaw.

Cheers

Ian

[Art Mulder]

#1 - A tablesaw that does not have a splitter, and/or the fence is not parallel to the blade.

#2 - Circular saw. I go out of my way to avoid using a circ saw. I usually use a jig saw if/when I need to break up a large sheet of plywood. Slow, yes, but I'm just much more comfortable with it.

[Frank Fusco]

The question was rather broad, "power tool". My tractor is a power tool as is my truck, etc.
But, to limit the response to a wood working shop, I'll repeat what my son, an emergency room physician, says.
The most frequent serious injuries are with table saws.
The second most frequent serious injuries, in terms of numbers of incidents, are from miter and/or compound miter sliders.
However, in terms of most devasting the CSM is far and away the worst. Those usually involve finger amputations. The table saw accidents are serious gashes but (usually) leave the fingers in place.
He also says that most of those injuries are to guys like me, middle age to retired age. And, they all say the same thing, "I never do it that way, but just this once........".

[Frank Pellow]

The most dangerous woodworking tool that I actually use is a chainsaw. There are others (such as a radial arm saw used for ripping) that I will not use.