"Tom Watson" wrote in message

"Swingman" wrote:

It is apparently a well known fact that "pro shops" don't use splitters,
and
culturally speaking, we are convinced that all pro's have big pricks and
large cojones, therefore yours will somehow gain "pro" stature if you
also
refrain.

What's missing is the fact that most "pro's" learn early the necessity to
physically control the wood throughout the cut, something a weekend
woodworker may not learn, except the hard way.

The reasoning behind throwing away the OEM splitter/guard is almost
always the same:

1. The OEM splitter/guards are poorly designed rubbish.
2. The operator wants to see the blade and the area immediately
before and after the cut, so that he can react to what happens during
the cutting operation.
3. The operator wants to deal with the wood, the blade and the
fence - without other variables being introduced by the alleged safety
devices.

Yabbut, you left out the pertinent part of my post:

Enter the "well designed" splitter, usually aftermarket, and not the POS
that came with the TS.

It is inarguably a good thing for a weekend wooddorker to use one ... it
may well protect your appendages (as well as those of a "pro" in the
throes
of a brain fart) that _one_ time in 40 years of woodworking that it was
needed.

Just get/make one that encourages use by being easy to install and remove,
that stays.in good working order, and that is not so flimsy as to be an
actual danger and therefore better than none.

Got a kid just old enough to be in the shop?

If so, there's a damn good way to dipstick your level of commitment to NOT
using safety devices like splitters and guards. Put your non "pro" loved one
_alone_ in the shop with 100 bf of lumber to cut, then think real hard
beforehand whether to use splitters and blade guards, or not.

You will then know, at gut level, the strength of your commitment.

Most of us, while not foolish all the time, will do a foolish thing now and
again ... and that's when we, and even the "pro's", need all the help we can
get to remain unscathed.

Besides, why not?

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/04