Backlash wrote:
Back a few years ago when my Dad was still living, my then 35 yr old
brother-in law Jeremy was talking about wanting a router to try out
his
woodworking talent. My Dad got up from his chair and went out to the
workshop to get one, and Jeremy followed, after finishing the
conversation
with my Mom. Dad and Jeremy met at the top of the back steps, so they
just
stood there and talked about the tool. The router had a 3/4"
through-slotted
cutter in it, protruding about 3/8". Jeremy wanted to hear the router
run,
so Dad directed him to the overhead soffit, where there was an
electrical
plug used for Christmas lights. Jeremy, holding the router in his
left hand,
dangles it down by his left hip as he stretches upwards with his
right hand
to plug the unit in. The toggle switch on the router was apparently
in the
"on" position, un-noticed at the time, where Jeremy had been
absent-mindedly
flipping it back and forth while talking. When he plugged the tool
in, it of
course instantly started. Dad said he heard a heavy propeller-like
sound and
saw something big go flying by his head into the yard, so he turned
to see
what it was. There was the router, now unplugged, with a pair of
men's
briefs hung up in the cutter, lying on the ground!! Dad whirled back
around
to see Jeremy shaken, face white as a sheet, and eyes big as
saucers.
Jeremy FLEW to the bathroom to see what damage had been done.
(privates
seemed to be a major concern) The only physical damage was a 3/4"
hole in
the left hip seam of his jeans, with a slight band-aid wound on his
hip
where the router bit had nicked him. The router had sucked his entire
pair
of underwear out of his pants in hundredths of a second! Luckily,
nothing
critical was hurt, but he ended up with a bruise in his inner crotch
at his
left leg, and a severely injured pride. In-law visitation dwindled
for a
while after that.
For years afterward, my Dad could not tell the story without
crying from
laughing so hard, telling how he stood outside the bathroom door,
along with
my HIGHLY concerned sister asking "Jeremy, are you all right?"
Jeremy never mentioned wanting to take up woodworking again.

I'm glad your BIL didn't ask your dad to see his gun. I was always
under the impression that you demonstrated safe operation to any
newbie.

R