"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
On 6/18/2011 9:52 PM, Dbdblocker wrote:
They say 4000 idiots a year saw their fingers off on table saws. That's
10 per day! What is it about 'keep your fingers aways from the spinning
blade' that they do not understand? The federal gubberment is going to
work on a bill to require that new 'meat sensor' safety device on all
table saws. It will add $300 to $500 to the cost. Gee, mine cost $150.
Been using one for 50+ years and still have all my fingers. There must
be
some real dummies out there. By the way, the safety device destroys the
blade and motor shaft if activated.

Who is "THEY". I doubt seriously if 4000 fingers have been chopped off
in the history of table saws total.

Just like the dubious estimates of how many citizens are murdered by illegal
aliens (something I've still not been able to find reasonable source data
for) the estimates of amputations are made on pretty small samples that are
scaled up to match the actual population figures:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/ar...in-perspective

"The same effect occurs if the word "amputation" appears. In 2009 for
example, 117 reported cases were projected to arrive at an estimate of
4211 finger amputations. A look at the actual notes reveals that four
cases weren't table saws after all, and six were near amputations.
That's only ten instances, but ten out of 117 is 8.5 percent. The
projected numbers are weighted, so you can't simply multiply, but you
can safely say that the total number is overstated."

Overstated or not, a lot of people visit the ER daily for power tool
injuries of all kinds. Saws tend to do the most damage and they do it much
more quickly than drills and other types of equipment. Back when long hair
was popular, a buddy of mine knocked himself out with a router when his hair
curled around the bit and drew the router towards his head like a lightning
bolt. I would guess enough fingers are lost every year to make a Cheyenne
warrior very proud:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...ent=a917943233

("the article focuses on a particular trophy, a nineteenth century Cheyenne
finger necklace. Its history illustrates that trophy-taking was part of a
broader circulation of practices of war among native warriors and the
American military in the West.)

For those who aren't squeamish:

http://historygallery.com/prints/ind...rsnecklace.htm

I doubt they were removed by table saw. (-: For the victim's sake, I hope
they were removed post-mortem. You may ask what's that round thing on the
end? - and then wish you hadn't!

--
Bobby G.