My saw flung a chunk of wood at me!

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  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    My saw flung a chunk of wood at me!

    Today my Powermatic 64 reminded me who was boss! I had been cutting 1/4" deep score cuts without a guard or splitter and needed to rip a 2"X 6" X 12" piece of cherry, so I cranked up the blade and using a push stick I pushed it through. I used a smaller scrap of wood to push the waste cut out of the way. It turned rather than go on past the blade. In a flash it was on top of the blade. I saw what was happening and flenched and drew both arms and hands against my chest as the blade sailed the 2"X 3"X 12" piece of cherry to me. That sucker whacked me on my right hand center knuckle and the center of my forearm. My knuckle fared ok but is good and sore but I lost enough meat from my arm to make a hors d'oeuvre. As Norm says, now for a little shop safety talk...This is a good reason not to stand directly behind the saw. Also a good reason to put the blade guard back on!
    capncarl
  • poolhound
    Veteran Member
    • Mar 2006
    • 3195
    • Phoenix, AZ
    • BT3100

    #2
    Dang that's a good reminder for us all. Glad you came away without too much of an issue. 
    Jon

    Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
    ________________________________

    We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
    techzibits.com

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    • Bill in Buena Park
      Veteran Member
      • Nov 2007
      • 1865
      • Buena Park, CA
      • CM 21829

      #3
      Yikes Cap - glad it wasn't worse, and hope you heal up quick.
      Bill in Buena Park

      Comment

      • atgcpaul
        Veteran Member
        • Aug 2003
        • 4055
        • Maryland
        • Grizzly 1023SLX

        #4
        Wow. Sorry that happened. Sounds painful.

        Can you power off the saw with your knee? I couldn't do it easily with my Grizzly so I made a large plexiglass paddle that hangs in front of the power box. In case of emergency, I can slap it with my hand or with my knee to shut it off. Saved my bacon a few times.

        Comment

        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          Everything happened so quickly. I have a slap type stop switch but reflexes say get your hands away. That is the 3rd saw Bo-Bo this week! #1, I was cross cutting a 2" X 10" slab of ambrosia maple on the Hitachi compound miter saw. The board was 8 ft long so I didn't bother clamping it down. The first cut the board warped and grabbed the blade, snatching the whole board up against the saws arbor and choked the motor down. I've never had a cross cut bind up this bad before. I expect it on rips. This one I really expected the drive cog belt to break but it seemed ok. I rarely hold the board down by hand on this saw because I have really good kreg vice grip type clamps on each side of the blade, The board was so big I didn't expect this!

          Comment

          • onedash
            Veteran Member
            • Mar 2005
            • 1013
            • Maryland
            • Craftsman 22124

            #6
            I had a big chunk of oak do that to me a couple years ago. Got me in the stomach. Sometimes I think the wood just gets mad and tries to fight back. If someone was trying to cut me into pieces I would definitely fight back.
            YOU DONT HAVE TO TRAIN TO BE MISERABLE. YOU HAVE TO TRAIN TO ENDURE MISERY.

            Comment

            • LCHIEN
              Internet Fact Checker
              • Dec 2002
              • 20914
              • Katy, TX, USA.
              • BT3000 vintage 1999

              #7
              Originally posted by atgcpaul
              Wow. Sorry that happened. Sounds painful.

              Can you power off the saw with your knee? I couldn't do it easily with my Grizzly so I made a large plexiglass paddle that hangs in front of the power box. In case of emergency, I can slap it with my hand or with my knee to shut it off. Saved my bacon a few times.
              Kick back will get you way faster than you can shut off the saw. By the time you get hit, you will be closing the gate not after the cows have left but after the bulls have gored you.
              The tips of the saw are moving about 100 mph and that's the velocity of stuff that flies away from a kickback.
              Loring in Katy, TX USA
              If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
              BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

              Comment

              • tfischer
                Veteran Member
                • Jul 2003
                • 2343
                • Plymouth (Minneapolis), MN, USA.
                • BT3100

                #8
                One thing I love about my BT3100 (which I still use lol) is my Shark Guard. The only time I'm not using the riving knife/splitter is when I'm doing dados. Most of the time I have the guard on, and for those cuts where it's not practical I still have the protection of the riving knife.

                Still great advice to not stand behind the business end of any power tool... I was planing an overly rough board a couple months ago and had it forcibly ejected from the planer... not something I"ve ever seen or heard of before. I wasn't standing behind it but it hit my hand so hard that I first thought I broke a finger.

                Comment

                • jabe
                  Senior Member
                  • Apr 2006
                  • 566
                  • Hilo, Hawaii
                  • Ryobi BT3000 & Delta Milwaukee 10" tilting Table circular saw

                  #9
                  Been there, done that, I was lucky not to draw any blood from my accident, got hit in the stomach where I have lots of padding so just got bruised. Still doubled me over though. It happened to my late father, he was a skinny guy so it broke couple of ribs on him. Guess there are some benefits to being hefty/fat ha ha ha. A friend of mine lost his brother it hit him in the chest, knocked him out and he died, true story, happened in Kohala, Hawaii. Soo be careful out there do not take chances, especially if you're working alone with no one close by, even if you have a cell phone on you if you're knocked out who's going to call.

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