On Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 10:16:57 PM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
Bob La Londe wrote:

Fatigue. When I reach a certain point every tool in the shop is
dangerous.

Agreed. That's when I start pushing too hard, getting too
wreckless/careless.
Especially as I work with more tools that cut really fast, I'm
recognizing that I have
be more careful that I used to be. I should be grateful for the numerous
small cuts of my youth that taught me good lessons!

How many folks would consider a bar clamp to be a dangerous tool?

When I was building my deck many years ago, I wanted to get a visual of what the stair railing would look like. There is a landing about 5 feet off the ground and I wanted to attach the bottom rail to the posts to see how high off of the stair treads I wanted to put it. The closet clamp I had handy was a 36" bar clamp, which I attached to the post with the bar sticking out into the yard.

I stepped back to the side of the steps to look at the rail, decided I wanted it in a different position and started walking towards the landing. My eyes were focused on the clamp where it held the rail to the post and I didn't see the 3/4" x 1/4" end of the bar that was sticking out into the yard. About 2 feet from the railing my head snapped back as the end of the steel bar cracked the lens of my safety glasses, slid up and gouged my forehead.

The end of the steel bar hit the lens dead center. Had I not been wearing safety glasses it probably would have pushed my eyeball back into my head.