Spuds & Onions part 2

Dennis sent through a couple of images of the resulting tops for his potato and onion boxes we cut with the CNC Shark, after then filling them with west epoxy with a sandstone oxide, sanded through grades to 800 grit.

Came up bloody well – I was most impressed!

You Can’t Beat the Physics of Kickback – Fine Woodworking

A really important look back at a kick back article/video on Fine Woodworking.com by Ed Pirnik

You Can’t Beat the Physics of Kickback – Fine Woodworking.

Picking one comment from the article, which goes to the crux of the matter:

Here’s the KickerWhat floored me wasn’t the fact that the kickback occurred, or how violent it was but rather, the fact that despite the fact that this fellow knew the kickback was coming, and was prepared to pull his hand away at that fateful moment, the momentum of the blade was simply too much to fight against. In his slow motion replay at minute 4:20 we clearly see that despite his efforts to pull his hand away from the blade, it still gets sucked right towards it. By my estimate, his left hand was pulled in to within 1/2-in. of the spinning blade-again, this despite the fact that he was intentionally pulling his hand AWAY from the danger zone.

Just goes to show, you can’t beat physics, no matter how hard you try!

When you see the video again, in light of the quote reproduced above, you can see no matter how good an operator you are, if you get yourself unintentially in a kickback situation then you are in harm’s way no matter how experienced you are.  I’ve had a couple of situations over the years where I’ve found myself standing very still re-evaluating the situation after something violent and unexpected just happened, visually checking extremities and looking for claret.  Fortunately, on the rare occasion it has happened, nothing untoward has been found (other than some dramatic scars cut deep in the timber when it is found flung somewhere in the workshop).  Luck.  I don’t like relying on luck.  I like being in control of the situation, and if I can’t be in control, I want the equivalent of “airbag technology for the car” on my tablesaw.  And that is why I’m getting a SawStop.