Woodworking Tips – Follow up to Tablesaw Safety
- on 08.30.09
- Woodworking Tips and Techniques
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Hey guys, you should have bet with me. A couple of weeks ago we published an article on tablesaw safety, and at the end of the article we added a survey on how many of my fellow woodworkers actually had the blade guard installed on their tablesaw. My estimate was that over 80% of the woodworkers either had removed or never installed the blade guard.
Well, the results of our survey show that only 29% of the woodworkers who responded had the blade guard installed, leaving an astounding 71% without the blade guard installed. While my estimate was off by 10% and technically I would have lost the bet, the results pose an interesting question, WHY?
In my case, I found that when I was ripping very narrow pieces of wood, the blade guard was simply in the way. I didn’t feel that I had good control over the wood in this instance. So I removed the blade guard, intending to re install it later. Several years later, it is still sitting there waiting to be reinstalled.
It also asks the question, with all the advancements in woodworking technologies, why hasn’t the blade guard been improved. Today’s woodworkers are offered every thing from
digital readouts for the rip fence position, to saws like the SawStop, that automatically retracts the blade when it comes into contact with an object like your finger. And these items are great, so why are we forced to use the same blade guard assembly that has been offered for decades. What are the manufactures of tablesaws waiting for?
Sorry I got on my soap box again, that happens sometimes. But seriously, I haven’t seen an improvement to the blade guard in years, and I wonder why. If you know of one, please let me know. I really like my tablesaw, and wouldn’t trade it in, but I also would like it to be a little safer, and have a blade guard assembly that doesn’t present more of a safety hazard then it is trying to prevent.
For those of you that did respond, I thank you. And hope that you will take a few minutes to let me know why you don’t have the blade guard installed. Thanks
Why isn’t your blade guard installed?
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