I’m not much of a woodworker, and in my country we just risk cutting off body parts. The concept is unheard of amongst amateur power tool users of my aquaintance.
But given you already have power tools, why not just make one? What’s special about the ones that can be bought?
I mean:
Iteration 1 - use a sawn off broomstick.
Iteration 2…infinity - use newly made push stick.
Am I missing a step there?
If you start with ten fingers, you can go quite a while before actually needing a push stick.
What country is that?
South Africa, but I learned to use machine tools at school in Zimbabwe.
Possibly not the highest safety standards in the world, but still.
Many countries are tightening safety standards for power tools. I’m told it’s nearly impossible to buy a dado blade in England. The US has been considering a requirement for all table saws to meet the standard set by SawStop to completely stop a circular saw blade before it penetrate the skin by more than 6mm. Luckily that does not look like it will be enacted any time soon.
I think every table saw sold in the US now includes a push stick and blade guard and of course numerous safety warnings. Manufacturers are seriously worried about liability claims. It’s not like people can find their push stick and after removing the saw guard for a non-through cut they never put it back, or pay any attention at all to the safety information but luckily many of them have received a thorough education in power tool safety by watching a couple of videos on YouTube.
I have an acquaintance who has been in the woodworking industry all his life, as both amateur and professional woodworker, and also teaching woodworking. He tells me when he meets woodworkers missing fingers he asks them how it happened and most times he gets a response like “I wasn’t doing anything special but then I noticed my fingers were really close to the blade”.
ETA: Did you ever run across a woodworking machine called the EMCO Star? This multipurpose machine has/had something of a following in South Africa, and perhaps New Zealand. I missed a chance to purchase an untouched, new in the crate unit from 1972. Kicking myself for not offering the guy more money because I collect old multipurpose woodworking machines and this rarity would be an outstanding addition.
So as I mentioned:
Yes, many push sticks are literally just sticks. But there are some common designs that are useful for specific tasks. I wanted one of these:
Because I was ripping a very thin and light piece of wood, and I ain’t putting my finger on the 1/2 inch /12mm between the blade and the fence. This style would keep the material from lifting up, which is what it wanted to do- it’s good at both moving the wood forward and pressing it down.
I did not want to stop what I was working on to then make one, and since there are both Lowe’s and Home Depot within 10 minutes of me, I was just going to buy one. Except they not only don’t have that style, they don’t have any at all.
And sure, it might be a low volume item, but they sell plenty of oddball things.
And probably still are purchased more often than push sticks.
I do not own a table saw, but comments in this thread indicate that (a) some table saws may come packaged with a push stick, and (b) it’s possible, maybe even easy, to make a push stick on your own, if you’re handy enough to be using a table saw. So, how often does the typical table-saw owner need to go to the store for another push stick?
You kinda have to wonder if legal liability isn’t a reason for the absence of this item. Mass produced plastic items like that are given to factory defects. Is it worth a potential multi-million dollar lawsuit to sell a $5 item?
I’ve heard the same, which is really a shame. Dado stacks are extremely useful, and almost certainly safer than through cuts.
And requiring saw stop technology will put table saws out of reach for many.
Use a push stick and there’s really no reason you should get hurt.
All that said, I am considering a new saw. The riving knife on mine attaches to the back of the saw rather than being just behind the blade. So its become out of alignment and stops the wood from passing by, and is integral with the blade guard. As a result I have to run the saw without any of the safety devices.
ETA: I know Rockler, a woodworking-specific store, has push sticks on the shelf. Though, there isn’t one convenient to me.
Home Depot won’t be the manufacturer of the push stick so they wouldn’t care much, although they would put some effort into making sure they aren’t carrying problem products.
It is important to buy from a quality supplier. I have a push stick that came in the Box O’ Parts that often comes with old tools and this particular one looks like it was made for a child’s toy. The plastic is very light and thin and looks perfect to collapse under light pressure just the right away for your hand to go into the blade.
It’s virtually impossible to find standard, inexpensive 4, 5 and 6-inch plastic pots at retailers, including big box stores and garden centers. Clay pots are available sometimes, but mostly it’s big expensive plastic tubs. And forget about picking up big bags of Pro-Mix, perlite and vermiculite most everywhere.
(OT) Ah, SawStop, build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Or if that’s too long in happening, just take the world to court.
For home use, SawStop petitioned the Consumer Protection Safety Commission to make all sensory E-stop saws mandatory, which they declined. Per the rest of the article, they also went after Bosch for creating a similar product.
For commercial use, SawStop combed the OSHA records for everyone who’d cut off a finger on a table saw since SawStop’s own date of launch, and invited them to sue their employer and split the settlements.
Ah problem child of the table saw, the riving knife. Keeping these things aligned can be annoying. For no real reason some of them are considerable thinner than the saw blade and be easily bent. All it takes is the slightest bend to cause a problem. And then they don’t move right with blade tilt or height sometimes, and even when saws include an adjustable mount to realign it with the blade it will be in a difficult to reach location.
What do you have in mind? 10", 12"? Bench top saw, portable, or cabinet? What’s your price range?
Yeah, there’s two that are just too far to bother with since I can get just about anything from Amazon in 72 hours or less. Several other suppliers are just as quick at delivering and more and more offering free shipping for small items.
SawStop says they will allow other companies to use the patented technology if the CPSC enacts this requirement. Note that the original patents were starting to expire already. They were always willing to license their technology but wanted more than anyone would pay so just being able to make another version of it is not an attractive option anyway.
There’s a nice 10" DeWalt at the Homeless Despot I’ve had my eye on. I’ve used one (my brother has this saw) and the adjustments are really nice and precise.
I’m not really much of a woodworker. I dabble a bit, but nothing that I’d say I’m proud of. My saw mostly gets used in support of home improvements. For instance, last week I had to rip about 1/2" off of a piece of door trim because the door is in a corner and the molding was a bit too wide.
The Job Site saw? They look nice. And incredibly similar to my Porter Cable portable. Based on some things I’ve read it may be the same machine. Portable is nice. My other table saw isn’t but I can break up a 4x8 sheet of plywood on it by myself.
That’s the one. It has a knob that will move the fence left and right that’s fantastic for fine adjustments. Mine is pretty old and, well, let’s just say that I have to measure the distance between the fence and the blade at both the front and back, just to make sure the fence is straight.
Some is wear, some is cheapness. I do appreciate that I can get a full 1" dado on the old Craftsman, which I understand some of the newer saws can’t do.
Harbour Freight sells chainsaws (all kinds of both gas and electric), chainsaw chain sharpeners and the discs to go on them, oil for chainsaws and all other manner of chainsaw accessories and needs…
but not chainsaw chains.
That’s interesting, because I visited the Kailua Kona Safeway this past summer, and it was something of an experience. Maybe not as intently Hawaiian as Foodland, but still a far cry from a mainland supermarket.
My guess is that people tend to buy that sort of thing online these days. I mean, if I wanted a 2 oz (volume) jar of Italian seasoning, I’d get at the supermarket. But if I wanted a larger container, I’d look on Amazon or maybe somewhere like Penzeys.
Nah, I’m sure it’s supply and demand combined with Amazon. How many of those did they ever sell, anyway? And with Amazon, that’s surely gone down. So they’re likely thinking they can use that shelf space for something else that sells better.
That’s the case for every retailer. Doesn’t really matter how vital something is, if it doesn’t sell, it gets moved out for something that does.
The thing my parents were looking for without success was a hot water bottle, of the sort on the right side of this picture. They used to be commonly available but we didn’t find one.
