Featured This Month
Participation
26 Table Saw Safety
by Kevin Berry
27 Club Corner by Chris Olin
Feature
27 Battery Pack Construction
by Ray Billings
Technical Knowledge
30 *******Aided Design
by Kevin Berry
Events
30 Results — Jun 11th - Jul 15th
33 Upcoming — Sept & Oct
Software Review
32 ExpressSCH v5.6
by Jay Johnson
26 SERVO 09.2007
PARTICIPATI
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Table Saw Safety
● by Kevin Berry
Whether you are
roughing out a
design using wooden
mockups, cutting plastics, or even working
metal, most builders
wind up using a table
saw. Even if you meticulously follow all safety
rules , this is still one
dangerous piece of
equipment. Besides all the
standard rules you learned in
shop class, you need to follow
some specialized ones when
using this beast.
One discussion I hear a lot
is the “gloves/no gloves”
debate. Most feel that gloves
limit your feeling for what’s
happening, are likely to snag
and pull your hand INTO
the blade, and don’t
provide any protection
anyway. I must confess, I
wear gloves when cutting
metal that has sharp edges
or burrs, and when cutting
really splintery wood. I make sure
to have safety guards in place, use
push sticks if possible, THINK
about where my hands will go if
snagged or slipped, and then
think again if I could do without
them. Metal gets really hot on a
table saw, especially if using a
composite blade, so I often wind
up wearing them.
Another tip you might not get
in shop class: clean out the
sawdust before cutting metal! I
have burned up (literally, not
electrically) two table saws when
sparks set them on fire due to
built-up wood residue.
