…and it wasn’t the end of the world, or me.
Day #3 of my class came with instructions to do additional rip cuts. Well, I’ll call them “ripish” cuts since we were tapering legs. There was of course a jig for this and by now, the instructor was pretty confident in our skills around a table saw to leave us alone a little. I happened to go last on the piece and everyone else was back in the classroom starting the next segment. The instructor had left to check on everyone else after checking in with me while I was tapering my second table leg. My third table leg didn’t go as well.
As I was passing the jig between the fence and the blade, it became much more difficult to push. I could tell the blade was struggling but we hadn’t really discussed what to do in this situation. I could’ve sworn I saw smoke coming from the blade but this also could’ve been my imagination as I was FREAKING OUT in my head. I stopped putting pressure on the jig and leaned to my left to hit the off switch to the table saw. At this point, the jig and my table leg went flying right past me- luckily I had continued to stand well to the side of the blade so I was not struck. They both landed on the floor with a thud as the blade stopped spinning.
I looked around, of course, mortified that I could’ve made such a rookie mistake. I was expecting to see eyes staring at me with judgment behind them. But I had forgotten where I was. I was in a place where people supported each other, learned from each other, gave each other an extra set of hands for a glue-up. A guy walked up to me and just said, “Whoa.” I picked up the jig off the floor and exclaimed, “Oh no, I’ve broken it.” He smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s upside down. Turn it around.” Whew. He very calmly explained that I had likely been passing the piece through the saw too slowly and that I had likely not seen smoke from a fire. He stood by me while I set my piece back in the jig. I contemplated running to get my instructor- a feeling somewhat similar to running to get my mother. But I didn’t. This guy stood close by while I completed the next few tapers on my third and final table legs.
I went back into the classroom and joined my group. At the end of the day, I asked the instructor what I should do in a situation like that. He simply stated, “Keep one hand on your piece and shut the saw off with the other. Never try to pull back or let the piece go because it will fly back.” No kidding!