WARNING DIYers!!! Cutting PVC with power saws

[roland jacques]

Cutting PVC with power saws be careful.

i just want to jive a heads-up about ripping PVC on table saws. Cutting it length wise for some DIY projects. 1 years ago today i riped 2" dia 20" long piece of schedule 40 PVC. The blade was lowed to just get though the thickness of the pipe about 3/8". I pushed it through no problem, and started to pull it out the other side, it was easy, and cut good until the last 1/2". My hand was 19" away from the blade holding the pipe end at the top, when it started to pull back, i thought i was safe so i just pulled harder i only had to go less than a 1/2 more to complete the cut. The last 1/2" of cutting relieved the pipe shape, and it clamped onto the blade. I thought it just pulled the piece out of my hand and shot the PVC across the room. While i was looking for the PVC that shot from the table saw i realized that i was missing fingers. It was a rough way to start out a new year.

I guess my point is to tell everybody to be safe. Any other safety tips welcome.

PS. When PVC is cold it gets brittle and cutting brittle PVC with power saws can be dangers also.

 

[triga22]

Wow so sorry. Thats so scarry glad your alright.

 

[stroid]

Wow Roland I noticed that you were missing a finger at one of the meetings but I just assumed it was something other then tank builds. Sorry that happened man but I guess in the end it coulda been worse. Glad your alright!

 

[james s_]

I like using Miter Saws for cutting PVC. I just take it slow. Of course a hacksaw/pvc cutter would be safer! Sorry to hear about that Roland. I have feared that happening many times working with power tools.

 

[cameron]

Holy crap! I will certainly be very careful in the future. Thanks for advice.

 

[soarin']

Ow! I am very sorry to hear about that -- I guess they couldn't reattach them? I would think that would be one of the easier ones to reattach if it was cut cleanly off with a blade?

I guess it's also a good time to plug wearing eye protection -- I met a guy in Denmark who was a farmer and had a little wood shop or something -- anyway he was cutting something and a chip flew in his eye, and he lost the vision in that eye. I have been pretty religious in wearing eye protection ever since then.

Thanks for the warning and I will definitely keep that in mind.

 

[cameron]

I hope it wasn't like that guy in Sicko where he had to choose between which finger to reattach since he couldn't afford both. I would certainly chip in to get a finger sewed back on. My brother had three of his fingers cut off and all were reattached. One was just above the first joint and the other two were tips.

 

[gwhiz]

Yowza! I've had the TS throw boards back at me and hit me across the stomach...but only ended up with bruises.....so far at least.

I try to keep my hands on the front side of the blade for just that reason (the saw blade spins towards you and if it grabs the wood, it's gonna throw it back your way). Don't ever pull material through the blade because, as we all just learned, it can take your hand with it and your instinct is to resist letting go. (Be careful on the router table and avoid 'climb cutting' if possible for the same reason!)

I've only ripped PVC pipe on the band saw, a practice that I'll continue.

Thank you for the unfortunate reminder Roland.:sad:

 

[tnyga]

Geehh;116794 wrote: Yowza! I've had the TS throw boards back at me and hit me across the stomach...but only ended up with bruises.....so far at least.

I try to keep my hands on the front side of the blade for just that reason (the saw blade spins towards you and if it grabs the wood, it's gonna throw it back your way). Don't ever pull material through the blade because, as we all just learned, it can take your hand with it and your instinct is to resist letting go. (Be careful on the router table and avoid 'climb cutting' if possible for the same reason!)

I've only ripped PVC pipe on the band saw, a practice that I'll continue.

Thank you for the unfortunate reminder Roland.:sad:

First of all before I bust on Geehh Id like to say a Big Old Fashioned OUCH!!!

Now for Geehh...I can see him reading this post...eyes sucked onto each word waiting for the end...then while all is quiet a suttle "cool" comes out of his warped minded mouth.... LOL Your the best Geehh...Just bustin

 

[gwhiz]

tnyga;116803 wrote: First of all before I bust on Geehh Id like to say a Big Old Fashioned OUCH!!!

Now for Geehh...I can see him reading this post...eyes sucked onto each word waiting for the end...then while all is quiet a suttle "cool" comes out of his warped minded mouth.... LOL Your the best Geehh...Just bustin

I don't get it....but whatever....

Just be careful out there guys!

 

[roland jacques]

Geehh;116794 wrote: Don't ever pull material through the blade because, as we all just learned, it can take your hand with it and your instinct is to resist letting go. (Be careful on the router table and avoid 'climb cutting' if possible for the same reason!)

You got that right. It was so fast that I did not even see my hand get near the blade. I thought I let go way before the blade. When I looked at my hand the first time or two, It had me puzzled as to who's hand I was looking at. I kept thinking, that guys hand has got to hurt, but their was know one else around. :unsure:

I would agree with you who think they could have put it back on. I think the doctor was not to happy about doing any work on me when he found out my insurance was with Kaiser P. Anyway it could have been worse, they did 7 hours of sugury to save my thumb and middle finger. Thank GOD.

 

[sailfish]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">That is terrible, I wish you a quick recovery.</span></span> </span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Joe</span>