If you have a wood router, do not underestiamte its power.

[The2ndAmendment]

I was going along a template with my bottom bearing trim bit on my router. Before I even knew what happened, my entire workpiece slid more than 8-12 inches to the left (the feed direction), and my right wrist was slit by the fence track as it was pulled instantaneously 8 inches to the left with my piece.

When I let go in sheer horror, the router took the rest of the work piece and flung into the garage door like a catapult, the stake-like end of the workpiece piercing it like a javelin. After I bandaged my wrist (initially I was going to call 9-11 since I didn't' know how severe the bleeding would be), I had to use a chisel and hammer to widen the hole around the garage door to remove the "stake" that had punctured it.

Now I sincerely believe that a router can fuck you up worse than a table saw --- and that's saying a lot!

 

[TheOldSchool]

Damn! Were you alone?

IMO a router and a table saw are a 2 man job.

 

[Rikurzhen]

Um, clamps are your friends.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Um, clamps are your friends.

How does one use a router table when the router is fixed and the workpiece is clamped?

You can't even clamp the template on a router table, you need double stick tape, or Pins/bolts that lock the template and the workpiece in the x-y plane.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Not a woodworker, but plenty of my car-repair tools can be dangerous. Like the time I dropped a transmission on myself... I once watched a guy set his pants on fire torching off a spring U-bolt.

Why did what you were working on slide the way it did? And seriously: no gloves?!?!

 

[gallantwarrior]

Chit happens. Are you OK?

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Gloves are suicide with spinning machinery, the material can catch and pull you in.

 

[saveliberty]

Open the garage door?

Stay away from 14" concrete saws. Table saws are child's play by comparision

 

[blastoff]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that table saws cause far more injuries than routers.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that table saws cause far more injuries than routers.

They do, but that's because only experienced wood workers use routers. From what I saw, a router has the potential to do greater injury than a table saw. The saw makes a clean cut, usually fingers. An active router would mangle your hand in a twisting and gruesome way.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Also...the danger of a table saw is pretty obvious. The danger of a router, a bit less so.

One thing that way too few people realize the danger of on a car is the energy in a compressed coil spring!