For Woodworker’s Safety Week 2011, Highland Woodworking is bringing you a safety tip every day.
Today’s tip comes from Tom O’Brien of San Antonio, Texas. Tom actually has a couple pieces of advice to help safeguard us from the sharp blades in our shops.
When cleaning on and around your table saw, it is a good idea to crank the saw blade down below the table surface. In fact, it’s a good idea to lower the blade whenever the table saw is not in use.
I recently completed a saw till to hold my motley collection of handsaws, and I incorporated an important rule into the design: Store the saw with its cutting edge toward the wall. Several saw till designs I’ve seen on the Internet are built to hold the saws with cutting edges facing away from the wall. That presents a lot of opportunities for cuts and nicks. Think of a kitchen knife holder: would you store the knives in a drawer with cutting edges up? Probably not for long!
Keep on staying safe in your shops this week (and every week!), and happy woodworking!
Do you have a great idea for staying alert and helping to avoid injuries in your workshop? If so, we want to hear about it! Receive a $25 store gift card if we feature your tip in a future issue of Wood News.