Are you saying that because of the sliding function or are you saying it about miter saws in general? My non-sliding miter saw doesn’t scare me as much as even a handheld circular saw, let alone my table saw.
Comment on Acquired a sliding mitre saw
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Ahh the ol’ stubinator. These things have a long history of being EXTREMELY uh… “finger removal-y”. So uh. be careful.
grue@lemmy.world 2 months ago
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s a the sliding part and how that impacts where the workpiece/ hands/ force of rotation go. Because you are doing miters, things a going to be a little funky and what fucks people up is the sliding aspect, which granted, is super useful, but the slide is where people lose digits. The additional degree of freedom fucks people up.
The radial arm saw is the same principle with even more degrees of freedom to the movement of the saw. Those were so famously dangerous they don’t even really make them any more.
The thing about a saw where the blade has a very static motion relative to the piece is that it’s very very predictable as to where force is being applied and what’s gonna happen to the piece. Especially in the event of kick back. Start adding in degrees of freedom and it gets less and less predictable. In this way a table saw or skillsaw is actually really safe because the blade relative to the piece is extremely predictable. I’m not scared at all of a table saw or a skillsaw. Just don’t rest the work piece in your knee. A radial arm or sliding miter saw gives me the heeby jeebies.
xylol@leminal.space 2 months ago
Good to know I’ll try and be safe
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I mean its not a radial arm saw but there are good reasons to be especially cautious and really “think” about where you and your body are relative to the machine, and what the motion you are about to do is.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
In my experience, what gets you bit with a miter saw is trying to cut a very small piece that isn’t properly constrained by the fence, the saw kicks back, sending the blade back/up, the work and the fingers trying to hold it down forward/in, badda bing badda boom you get a good look at your philanges.
If the work isn’t long enough to hold to the fence/table with your entire free hand clear of the blade action, you need to use an auxiliary fence and a hold down stick. If you do a lot of small stuff like that. Or, consider using a sled on a table saw. Or, get a miter box and cut it with a back saw.