According to Malcolm Hoar :
In article ,
(Doug Miller) wrote:
In article ,
(Malcolm Hoar)
wrote:

What is mystifying is how the projectile was launched in
the first place. I have a hard time believing a saw of any
kind would be able to transfer sufficient energy to the
molding. I don't think a saw or other tool accident would
have resulted in this "angle of attack" either.

Google "table saw kickback" and perhaps you won't have quite such a hard time
believing it. :-)

Tip speed of a 10" table saw blade is about 110 mph.
Motors in the type of table saw found on job sites are typically in the 0.75
to 1.5 HP range.

1 HP isn't a huge amount and a saw blade doesn't have a
huge mass. Kickback can certainly hurl a chunk of
wood across the room/shop. But it takes a lot of energy
to throw what looks to be a sizable piece of molding
across a construction site -- 7.5 feet vertical and
50ft plus horizontal, apparently.

1HP is more than a human arm, and a human arm could do it.

[Note also that it appears that house the trim came from
is three stories, and the work was being done on the third
floor. So, chances are the trim "came down" from the third
floor, not up from ground level.]

The horsepower of the motor doesn't matter much in this
kind of scenario -- the stored energy in the spinning
blade is what matters. And I don't think that would be
sufficient. But that's why I asked for the OP's estimate
of the mass of that molding. I'm guessing it's at least
a couple of pounds.

Er, no. First, you're forgetting the mass of the arbor
and motor armature. That's a lot more than the blade.

Secondly, of course the horsepower matters a lot, because
that's going to exert a _lot_ of power as the blade jams
as part of the kickback.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.