For the next theater show, we need to do about 6 roof trusses.  I was gone a couple weeks ago when the manager cut a prototype.  I told him I could bring in my taper jig Saturday and he said, nah, he just cut them, freehand on the table saw.  I've seen him do stuff  like that in the past and it scares me.  I never use a table saw without a rip fence, miter gauge, crosscut table or other jig.   The risk of hiving a 10' long 2x4 go flying back at you is something I don't want.  Particularly with the semi-skilled parent volunteers.  You see this frequently on internet videos, usually in an open air shop by someone barefoot or wearing sandals.

Oh yeah, wasn't that was some untrained due was trying to do, got hurt and sued the table saw mfr for $1.5 million.  https://thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/man-awarded-money-for-tablesaw-accident/?srsltid=AfmBOoonF00aWLxxJW3wJQoMh2i3SEy9gNqx58Ki3djEDSqy84J42FZA

 

 

Edited August 13, 20241 yr by kmealy

let me get my phone ready to call 911.....

 

what?

 

you're going to end up bleeding, just a matter of how much....

A great example of the confidence of youth who have been lucky so far and don't realize the potential danger that a knot in the wood or some internal tension that'll bind the blade can cause.  This thread caused a cascade of past memories about every table saw accident I witnessed or heard about while teaching. Scary.