Hi All,

This is a rant. If you read it, don't complain later that it was too
long or about what it says.

All this back and forth over a blade guard. Not one of you is going to
change. Those who believe that they are invincible will continue to
believe that they are invincible. those who have either taken advice or
have seen enough accidents will be using a blade guard. So be it.

There are two times when one is an accident waiting to happen, The first
is when they are just beginning, and the second is when they think that
they have mastered it and think that they are in control, thus becoming
comfortable with what they are doing.

I do not know about the rest of you, but I have spent a lifetime working
in dangerous places and situations around moving machinery and high
voltage. And in that lifetime,of over 70 years, I have see a great many
accidents around machinery, and virtually all of them happened to
someone who had been doing that job for many years. Then it happened to
them.

What roofer or carpenter has not seen someone fall off a building? What
meat cutter has not cut them self? So you really think that it won't
happen to you?? Every one of them was sure that it only happens to
someone else, and won't happen to them. All you have to do is to sneeze
once without warning, and you are going to move where you do not expect
to be. I personally knew a man who was hit by an airplane propeller,
and yes he lived. That he lived was so unusual that the navy sent him
all over the world to teach safety. He had worked around those
airplanes for many years. He knew where the danger zone was, but a gust
of wind at just the wrong time. I saw a man physically picked up and
drawn into the intake of a Jet engine in less than 4/10 of a second, he
got too close. Again a man who had worked around those engines for
years. He knew where he should not be, but just one foot too close. I
saw men loose fingers and hands and eyes, just because they grew
comfortable around moving machinery. And you think that it will not
happen to you? Good luck all, I hope that you never find out the hard
way as so many do. No it does not have to be your fault. strange things
happen sometimes. A single thread hanging down can be caught and drag
you into whatever is moving. One strand of hair is all it takes to grab
you and pull you in. Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I
have see that happen also. I saw a man one day slip and have his hand
run into a moving band saw blade faster than you could blink, his hand
had been at least a foot away from the blade. Cut three inches into his
hand between the thumb and first finger before he could stop his hand
from moving. Every one of them was doing what they did day in and day
out. Professionals every one.

I have watched those carpenters and other workers who have thrown safety
out the window just because the boss is pushing for just a little more
speed.

You all should really look at power company workers, the hot linemen.
You have two extremes of their ages. Either very young just starting
out, and very old men. The only way for the very young to reach the old
age is to listen to the old men who practice extreme safety at all
times. If it cannot be done safely, it just will not be done.

I have refused to do some jobs because they could not be done safely,
and I refused to take a chance. They could keep the job, and I'll keep
my life. Every time they found someone else who would gamble their life,
gamble their hands, eyes, etc that they could get away with it. And
mostly they did win the gamble. But once in awhile some one lost the
gamble.

You go ahead and gamble, it's not going to hurt me. It's going to hurt
your family.

But I still have all my fingers, all my toes, both my eyes. You say that
you have too? Well some of us are trying to help you keep them.

So much for this rant.

Zap



Dave Jackson wrote:
A little backround....I'm a carpenter for a living and can say that the
chances of finding a blade guard on any jobsite table saw (mine included) is
slim to none. There are many of us who feel more comfortable seeing the
blade and watching the cut rather than having it obscured. Without the
blade guard you learn to pay very close attention to the task at hand, which
is a good skill to have running a table saw anyway (with or without the
guard.)
However, I recently bought a cabinet saw for the shop and would like to find
a decent guard. I tried the excalibur guard I got at auction out today and
find it a little clunky at the blade cover, although with some re
engineering I think I can make it workable. --dave

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. com...

In article k.net, "Dave
Jackson" wrote:

I've never used a guard, but I bought a new saw recently and thought I'd
at
least try using the guard. Well, after two cuts or so, the guard was
removed, and there it sits. As in the past, I felt more comfortable
without
it.

[Curious here, not argumentative] Why? How can you be more comfortable
without
the guard than with it?


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.