Which tool do you fear the most?

bainin

Sure they are all dangerous and require proper awareness..but I find my router is the tool that puts me most on edge- no pun intended !

Its strange as I havent had any dangerous moments with it, but i use it alot less than other tools-so maybe the unfamiliarity plays into it.

b

dusty

I have been "injured" just once (cuts, scratches and bruises excepted) but the shaper got me good. I have great respect for the shaper even though it was all brought about by user error.

edflorence

I have always heard that the table saw is responsible for the most shop accidents, so it gets my respect and attention every time I use it. That said, anything that spins at high speed and/or has sharp edges is rightly to be...well, maybe not feared...but approached with an abundance of caution.

Ed in Idaho

JPG

Jointer comes to mind.

jsburger

I don't fear any one tool more than another. I actually don't FEAR any of them. I do respect what they can do and treat them accordingly. I say this even though I cut the tip of my middle finger off right at the knuckle of my left hand on the table saw due to a kick back. Totally my fault. It was in the late 60's and I was in my early 20's. At the time I was working for my uncle at the Berlin Lumber Co. in Berlin, PA. I also damaged my index finger and my ring finger. The doctor sewed the tip of my middle finger back on and it actually healed. It took about 18 months to stop hurting and about 3 years to not be sensitive to touch but after that it worked fine and still does.

edflorence

ouch! Score another for the ts.

One of my worst in the shop, not counting kick backs from the ts that missed me by a hair, was when I took the edge of a thumb off with a box cutter...I was holding a straight edge down with the left hand and pulling the knife along the straight edge with the right. I had that left hand in front of where the knife was cutting and when the knife hit a hard spot or knot in the thin piece of luan ply I was cutting it jumped over the hard spot and surgically removed a disk o' thumb not quite the size of a dime. I now use a shopsmith hold-down block in those situations.

Ed in Idaho

RFGuy

The tool I fear the most is my wife's VETO button on shop purchases.

;)

jsburger

RFGuy wrote The tool I fear the most is my wife's VETO button on shop purchases.

;)

I am glad I don't have that problem. :)

bainin

unrelated to woodworking-but ending in bloody damage - i was training a technician in a lab how to dis-assemble an LED package with a small exacto thru a microscope. She was on the trainer scope and i was on the main doing my knife magic thru the scope zoomed way in...all of a sudden the whole view field was red haha..i had inadvertently slice thru my finger and bled all over the training :)

Didnt even feel it.

b

Gene Howe

If it's sharp I'm skeered of it. If it's sharp and spins, I'm terrified! May be an over statement, but I have had my share of blood letting episodes, resulting in an abundance of caution.

garys

Not scared here, just respectful of any power tool.

edma194

The high speed stuff is scary. The router seems scariest because of the highest speed of rotation, but it probably should be the table saw because I end up too close to the dangerous part of that thing too often.

john_001

I'm cautious with any power tool, especially a circular saw or the SS table saw. But my most painful shop accident was when a 3' pipe clamp slipped off a cabinet I was gluing up and landed on my foot. The top of the foot turned black and blue and I hobbled around flat-footed in an unlaced sneaker for about a week. I wear safety shoes in the shop now.

mountainbreeze

I would have to say it's the jointer.

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bainin

Mountainbreeze -

ouch ! do you know how the finger ended up being cut on the jointer?

mountainbreeze

Yeah, it was just pure stupidity on my part. I was surfacing a piece of stock not using a push block and the tip of my finger got caught. Surprisingly, there was no pain until it came time for the lidocaine injections.

BuckeyeDennis

Mountainbreeze “wins”, for sure! :eek:

For me, the scariest tool is a circle cutter, in drill-press mode. It definitely has it’s uses, but I will only use mine in concert with my speed reducer, at 100 RPM. And even then, I clamp the workpiece very securely, wear goggles, and I don’t get any closer to it than the power switch and the quill-feed lever.

The one time I came close to needing stitches wasn’t even with a power tool. It was with a sharp chisel, and I was using it improperly. But I got lucky, and only did Band-aid class damage to myself. Now I have plenty of respect for edge tools as well.

RFGuy

I have been fortunate to not have any permanent injuries thus far from my shop. I hate to see when anyone gets hurt, particularly in their shop, so you have my sympathy. Some of the power carving tools scare the crap out of me. Like any tool, I know it comes down to the skill of the operator, but I am scared enough to be hesitant to even try these. Some of the ones that come to mind are for example the power carving attachments for angle grinders, etc. Incidentally, this is what Stumpy Nubs hurt himself on last year. Mistakes do happen so we all have to be diligent and respectful of our tools. Wishing everyone a safe 2021 in your shops...

AEA

Jointer is the one I'm extra careful with.

dusty

I have great respect for the jointer but never a fear. I suppose that is mostly because I was taught in the very beginning to avoid pushing anything through the jointer by hand. Use Push Blocks.

Edge Jointing is a bit different but still demands respect.