Fancy push sticks

[ductape]

I ended up making this one:


duct tape, frank, what do you mean really?
cause I've looked at the ones you suggested duck and except for that one:
Attachment 45039
except for that one (if I were to hold it from the very top), the hand position for the rest all seem to run pretty close to the blade (well I'm ignoring the obvious sole stick).

It could be the angle of the photo that causes it to look unstable. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge, because everyone has their preference. A few close calls with push sticks that have a horizontal handle makes me not want to use that style.

[Jon]

Look up table saw injury studies; there is a disturbingly large amount of data, and many of the injuries occurred when people were using push sticks. You can search a study for push stick to see some accounts of what happened: "push stick flipped", "push stick broke", "push stick got caught in the blade", etc. Table saw injuries represent the highest number of woodworking injuries. Or search YouTube for table saw push stick injury for some bloody anecdotal accounts. SawStop works well, but isn't cost effective for hobbyists. As you are pushing a workpiece through, consider "what if my push stick broke right now?".

[mklotz]

Look up table saw injury studies; there is a disturbingly large amount of data, and many of the injuries occurred when people were using push sticks. You can search a study for push stick to see some accounts of what happened: "push stick flipped", "push stick broke", "push stick got caught in the blade", etc. Table saw injuries represent the highest number of woodworking injuries. Or search YouTube for table saw push stick injury for some bloody anecdotal accounts. SawStop works well, but isn't cost effective for hobbyists. As you are pushing a workpiece through, consider "what if my push stick broke right now?".

The first time I tried to cut something on a table saw, I was terrified. After some thought, I decided that the only way to make it moderately safe was to build a sliding table for it. With that the work can be clamped to the table and your hands remain safely back pushing the table and not the workpiece.

I also added a power interrupter switch activated by a horizontal bar that stretched across the saw stand at upper thigh height. Bumping it with your body stopped the saw. Actually, with the sliding table the bar was overkill; I seldom used it. However, it's a safety feature that, along with a motor brake, should be built into every lathe to help avoid those "rolled in" accidents.

[Jon]

Clever on both modifications. This is a problem with deadman switch pedals too. If a machine pulls you in, it won't necessarily lift your foot off of the pedal. Improper deadman pedal design was implicated as a cause of the 2003 Waterfall rail accident:

[ductape]

Look up table saw injury studies; there is a disturbingly large amount of data, and many of the injuries occurred when people were using push sticks. You can search a study for push stick to see some accounts of what happened: "push stick flipped", "push stick broke", "push stick got caught in the blade", etc. Table saw injuries represent the highest number of woodworking injuries. Or search YouTube for table saw push stick injury for some bloody anecdotal accounts. SawStop works well, but isn't cost effective for hobbyists. As you are pushing a workpiece through, consider "what if my push stick broke right now?".

Thanks for the rabbit hole. There are a surprising number of interesting studies done on this. Many of them come to the conclusion that people just tend to remove safety devices for convenience.

[IntheGroove]

Does anyone use or trust this...

[ductape]

Does anyone use or trust this...

A friend of a friend is a surgeon who does woodworking outside of his day job. He has a Sawstop and trusts it to not wreck his livelihood. So far, so good.

[therosehermit]

It could be the angle of the photo that causes it to look unstable. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge, because everyone has their preference. A few close calls with push sticks that have a horizontal handle makes me not want to use that style.

y'all check this bad boy from John Malecki xD... solved the close to the blade problem!:

[Jon]

y'all check this bad boy from John Malecki xD... solved the close to the blade problem!:

Plan for that flange on the end to break, or for it to slip off the end of the workpiece.

[therosehermit]

fair point. will improve it.