Dado cutters - Please, what is so dangerous about them

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wrightclan":2vd1s21w said:
If that were the case, why don't we all use 500 watt routers?

Because it wouldn't be effective. Not all choices are made solely on the basis of safety; that does not mean there are not safety differences to consider, and considering them does not mean "don't do it". A person has a choice to make and ideally the choice would be informed.

I have never had a router throw a good sized of piece of plywood at me; I have seen one try, but the attempt was poor. I have had a tablesaw do so. The energy difference is extremely obvious in practice. It doesn't mean the tablesaw shouldn't be used, but it is part of the informed choice.
 
I can't really offer much opinion because I don't have a TS and have never used a Dado set, but there is some interesting reading here:

http://www.woodworking2.org/AccidentSurvey/search.htm

I did a search on:
Tool: Tablesaw
Accident type: Needed medical attention
Keyword: dado

One notable quote:

The doctors told me that the most frequent injuries they see are from dado blades.

Anyway, the router works fine for me, and will continue to do so!
 
Good site :)

interesting to see total of 31 hits for router accidents needing medical attention and 153 for tablesaws (20 involving dados) definately a tool to respect!
 
Adam":28nu44ws said:
[


Imagine you had a piece of timber that looked perfect, you had all the guards setup, and you start cutting. Today is your unfortunate day, the world over, a thousand people were doing the same cut and it went fine. You have done this same task, on the same saw, for the last 20 years. You are confident in your own ability. Something unusual happens, something falls in your shop, the board has a nail, the missus walks in and knocks the plank, twisting it, you have a heart attack, a blackout, a fainting fit. Whatever.

Which would you rather be using. A dado cutter or a router?

As above, but its your child doing it.




Adam

What if one of those things happened, while travelling. Which would you rather be doing, walking, cycling or driving? I think I'd rather be walking. But that doesn't keep me from driving when the journey calls for it. I'm sorry, but I don't (and neither do you) live your life by the million in one chance.

I don't want my child to live that way either.

I really think that all this fear over dado cutters is a fear of the unknown. Other than Scrit, how many of you, who are so adamantly opposed to them, have actually used one more than once or twice?

Brad



Brad
 
Feeling any pointlessness yet?

wrightclan":2t1lmns3 said:
really think that all this fear over dado cutters is a fear of the unknown.

Or to turn that around 180 degrees, your lack of fear could be attributed to the complacency of having used one a lot without incident.
 
Jake":3h6f6fml said:
Feeling any pointlessness yet?

wrightclan":3h6f6fml said:
really think that all this fear over dado cutters is a fear of the unknown.

Or to turn that around 180 degrees, your lack of fear could be attributed to the complacency of having used one a lot without incident.

Yes it is pointless. ](*,)

But no, I don't think I'm complacent--I use appropriate methods to control my workpiece or my tools, no matter what the operation.

Brad
 
this is i think becoming a boys pissing contest. :cry:

the fact is we all take risks every day. we have to take
responsibility for our own actions.

for whatever reason the dado on a table saw is not allowed
in professional shops, and by extension therefore the manufacturers
will not sell it for amateur use. so arguing about its safety or otherwise
here is a bit pointless.

of more concern is whether the insurance that you carry, either for
building or contents or in the case of pro's covers you for an
accident with a machine that is not to the specification of the manufacturer,
and the cee certificate issued with it.

we all modify our machines to some extent in the expectation that
we will always be fit enough to cope with the machine in the way we
normally use it. but having discovered recently that i need to care for
my heart and some of the old broken bones in my back, i
make sure i do not lift unwieldy bits of wood, or assemble things i
cannot easily handle. this is good practice to stop me being totally
stupid.

so i think about what i am planning to do, then take actions that will
ensure that i am working within the known limitations of my skills
and machinery. why would i bother to add risks to my daily tasks???

yes daily we take risks, but they are known. when working on
your own in your own workshop, what about your own physical
abilities?????

i do not remember many other threads that offer so little help, and so
many foolish comments. i thought we were better than that.
:twisted:

paul :wink:
 
I'm truly sorry, if anyone feels that this has been a pissing contest. I did not intend any of my comments to be taken that way.

Sawdust asked a question about the safety of dado cutters. I was trying to point out that (as with any endeavour) danger almost always comes when we (or someone else) are using something improperly. The danger is not really inherent in the tool itself.

And that in those instances where danger comes from something completely outwith anyone's control; then to take that miniscule risk with a dado cutter is no more irresponsible than the risks of daily life.

Brad
 
hehe dont worry wrightclan, you could bring this topic up next week and still get the same heated debate. I almost get withdrawal symptoms if i dont read a dado argument every now and then ;) :p

my 2p, as stated in all the other dado threads: if i had a TS that took a dado I would try it and if I liked it, i'd use it.
 
Not from me Alf, well not yet. I'd foresworn to never again enter a dado debate but here I am breaking that rule. I'll simply relate what I've seen and leave people to decide what's right for them.

I'm not a dado blade user but I lived and worked in the USA as a furniture maker and/or workshop manager for ten years in four different businesses. I witnessed, if I recall correctly, either four or five dado blade, er, urhm, incidents of varying degrees of seriousness. And there were also two or three fairly serious table saw incidents largely caused by lack of crown guards and splitters. In the latter cases I suspect things were sometimes not helped because of the use of the long rip fences favoured in US style woodworking.

Still, each to their own. However, now that I'm living and working again in the UK I really have no hankering to use a dado blade in a table saw.

That's all I'm saying on the subject. Slainte.
 
Sgian Dubh":3iryw70i said:
use of the long rip fences favoured in US style woodworking.

Can you expand on that? not something I have come across before. Longer as in longer than the table?
 
wrightclan":z2m8ocq2 said:
Kane":z2m8ocq2 said:
Good site :)

interesting to see total of 31 hits for router accidents needing medical attention and 153 for tablesaws (20 involving dados) definately a tool to respect!

You can respect it, without being afraid of it.

Brad

Very true
 
engineer one":h05a2fbb said:
this is i think becoming a boys pissing contest. :cry:

Nah, I'm just playing devils advocate on this thread. As normal dado threads get heated, therefore moderators have to watch them carefully, and in turn, I might as well post seen as i have to read each post. In reality, by having two of us play ping pong I think helps get all the facts out in the open. Its a pleasure to hear someone else view on all topics, and dado's and safety is a topic which, admittedly has stronger views but none of them are any the less relevant. We talk just as much on dust, blade sharpening, etc.

We may not change our individual views, but some people may understand it more, which is, in effect, the whole purpose of the forum. A forum of views.

Adam
 
WiZeR":zivvwugk said:
Sgian Dubh":zivvwugk said:
use of the long rip fences favoured in US style woodworking.

Can you expand on that? not something I have come across before. Longer as in longer than the table?

Longer as in not stopping at the blade, and instead being the whole length of the table

Worth a read, and ignoring Clarkson-like scorn, these people derive their ideas from when things have gone for people who presumably thought it would never happen to them: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis16.pdf
 
adam all i was saying that it seemed to be getting to my risks are
bigger than your risks, and that is where the contest seems to be.

having driven at over 200 mph, and pulled large wheelies on
bikes i understand risks, but that was on machines i had
built not ones i had bought and wood i knew nothing about.

paul :wink:
 

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