It one uses a table-saw, one has, by definition accepted the risk that comes with its operation. It is an interesting bit of small print, if only because most of us, myself front and center, do not think about it. No thoughts pause in our minds until something happens. In that moment, every warning, observation, and comment made by those wiser comes to mind.
I know that it is dangerous to use two types of guides at the same time. The only certain thing is that you are asking for trouble! The books warn you about this. Every shop teacher I’ve known reminds you of this. My Dad, friend, mentor, and instructor, has repeatedly shared the lesson and stories of bad outcomes.
As I used both guides, the predictable occurred. Fortunately, I wasn’t standing behind the blade! As the board I was cutting pinched, the blade caught and fired the cut piece of wood straight off the table-saw. It was a wooden bullet from a different kind of rifle. Even as I began to realize the problem was occurring, there was a loud, resounding sound of wood hitting the wall ten feet behind me! It was over before I knew it had begun.
How could this happen? Couldn’t somebody, anybody, have done something to prevent it? Who started this?
The questions are not new. “Who do you think turned Jacob over to the thugs, let loose the robbers on Israel? Wasn't it God himself, this God against whom we've sinned—not doing what he commanded, not listening to what he said?” (Isaiah 42.24)
Candidly, if I had not had so much fun with Dad as a child, I would not be in the shop today. If Dad had never taught me how to use a table saw I would not have been in the position. It is Dad’s fault!
Divinity has given us a detailed set of facts. They have come down through many different vehicles – books, life lessons, and nature. In today’s chaos, never forget this reality; we are responsible for our choices.
2023 Copyright © Daily Whispers.