GMC 100 Tooth Crosscut Blade

The next review from the “Battle of the Blades”. The GMC 100 Tooth, 100 tooth crosscut blade.

On Course

Been spending the day at Holmesglen Tafe, running another introductory woodworking course.  Always enjoy those – the guys always seem to get a lot out of them, even those who have been doing woodworking for a while.  Always a rewarding experience for me too.

Had one line come up this time which is gold, and I think is one of the best definitions you could use to apply to safe working practices (or the lack of) in your workshop.

It is simply “and what else did you tell the doctor?”

You use it in the context of explaining what you do in the workshop as a practice, and how you justify it to yourself, and others.

Eg, (and this is just hypothetical), “I don’t use guards – they get in my way, and actually make the tablesaw more dangerous”  to which the reply is “and what else did you tell the doctor?”

See how it works?  I think it absolutely nails the whole discussion subtly, but directly enough to make the recipient really think about what they have just said, and how it actually sounds when placed in that context.  Ie, you can use as much justification as you like for doing something a particular way, but if it sounds like it could be used in the context of post-accident and sound then more like an excuse for why something occurred, then perhaps the practice itself deserves reconsideration.