On Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:19 -0400, Bill wrote:

RicodJour wrote:
On Oct 8, 1:50 pm, Gerald wrote:

This may be the beginning of the end of reasonably priced table saws for
occasional users like me. I still have my hand saws.

They're dangerous, too. A common injury back in the day was
"carpenter's thumb". That's where the saw jumped the kerf and bit
into the back of the thumb and cut the tendon.

It still works! Somewhere I learned to use my left thumb to guide the
saw at the start of the cut. I got an entra lesson for the small cost of
a band-aid and I will henceforth hold that thumb higher.

I'm on the verge of getting some wood carving gouges. I wonder what they
will teach me...lol. I read a good tip yesterday, "Never catch a
falling gouge...stitches are even more expensive".

Some time back I was working in the lab and a soldering iron fell off the
bench. I automatically moved my hands and feet outward so that it fell
harmlessly to the floor. My boss happened to be watching and was amazed that
I didn't try to catch it. "Boss, it's hot!" ;-)

Before using any dangerous tool it's good to think; "now if this falls...".
It's really no different than thinking about where a knife is about to go if
it slips.