"micky" wrote in message
"Robert Green" wrote:

stuff snipped

My own experience tells me that chain sawing is more dangerous than table
sawing since I've rarely lost my footing with the RAS but I have when
trying
to saw a fallen tree into bite-sized chunks.

Yeah, but an electric chain saw stops if you don't keep squeezing the
trigger, and iirc a gas one does too.

A table saw just keeps running, even when someone is fainting, tripping,
having a a seizure.

It probably doesn't matter much given how much damage a power saw of any
kind can do to human flesh and bone in just milliseconds.

With a RAS or a table saw the most common injuries are sawing off some
fingers. Continuing to run for a RAS or table saw probably doesn't inflict
much more damage after your fingers are gone unless you're slowly feeding
what's left of you into the spinning blade, a la Perils of Pauline.

http://www.toolbox.co.uk/chainsaw-injuries

Look at the injury frequency chart above and it's clear that a chain saw
inflicts a lot more potential damage than finger amputations. If you've got
a strong stomach, look at some of the pictures. If I were still using a
chain-saw, I'd certainly spring for the chaps based on where I'd be likely
to injure myself.

FWIW, that "dead man's" switch on the chain saw probably came after some
pretty gruesome accidents with a run-a-way chain saw. I imagine that it
could use its blade like a half-track and drag itself along the ground
looking for victims. I remember the first time a RAS walked on me and
dragged the saw head over the work as it rammed its way toward me. Bad
height setting on the blade - easy to do if you change heights often.

And yet some entertainers juggle running chainsaws. I'll bet at least some
dumb kid out there watching such feats has tried it on his own with less
than stellar results. I'd guess at least one chainsaw head injury of the
2,826 that occurred in 1999 was acquired that way.

Speaking of chain sawing I saw a neat trick on ATOH yesterday. To prevent
the bark from ripping when sawing off a limb, he made a small cut on the
bottom so that when the branch's weight might normally cause the limb to
break off with torn bark, the reverse cut left a clean break. Kewl.

--
Bobby G.