Comment by d--b
3 days ago
uh? We used to have a jig or scroll saw when we were kids, it could cut thin plywood, but you could put your finger on the blade when it was working and it wouldn't hurt at all.
3 days ago
uh? We used to have a jig or scroll saw when we were kids, it could cut thin plywood, but you could put your finger on the blade when it was working and it wouldn't hurt at all.
The scroll saw seems like about the safest power saw that a kid could use. But every one I've ever owned/used could definitely cut human flesh. Maybe someone could come up with one that has a very limited range of motion, so that it works like a cast saw / oscillatory multi-tool, where the teeth movement is so small that it is within the elastic range of your skin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx1AiQdMQro
Back in the day, I had a Mattel Power Shop. https://corporate.mattel.com/brand-portfolio/power-shop
It had was a combined jig saw, lathe, drill press, and disc sander.
Now, I don’t know much about modern scroll saws, but the “blade” on this thing was more like a thin, round file. Perfectly adequate for something like popsicle stick thick wood. It more ground it’s way through wood than actually cutting it.
I think it would take some pressure to really hurt a finger. I can say there was no real bloodletting on my projects.
The drill bits were pointed, flat pieces of metal. It was all designed for really soft wood.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Olson-Saw-5-in-L-Pin-End-Scroll-...
This includes what you asked for: https://4in1workshop.com
There are 4 tools and one is a finger-safe jigsaw.
Yes I think it worked like that. I can’t find any info on it though, this was back in the mid 1980s.
Yes—startling, but not catastrophic. I first used something like that at age 6. It probably COULD cut flesh if you really tried, but it would take some determination, and just the specter of damage was enough to keep me on good behavior.
I remember it as helping me develop a healthy respect for tools, and also to relate to the material world as something I can manipulate rather than something to be passively consumed. And to manage risks, and confront my fears.
My kids (8, 10, 12) have all used my scrollsaw with supervision without issue. Jigsaw is a bit more sketchy and reminds me of most the injuries I've seen in the shop around handheld router after the cut is complete. My lathe is the kids favorite tool to be honest.
Yeah, I am trying to re-arrange my house so that I can make and store and set up and use a spring pole lathe (bodge for the Brits) --- seems a nice fit for kids (and great exercise!).
My dream is a spring pole lathe!, but it seems most people make there own, and my skills/confidence are not quite there to tackle that project.
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Scroll saws operate at 400-1800 strokes per minute with metal teeth that can absolutely cause serious injury - please don't test this safety assumption with children.
Scroll saws, unlike more common woodworking power tools (table saw, bandsaw, router, joiner, planer), is one of the only tools that touching the blade does not typically cause an injury.
That's incorrect. A scroll blade is just like any other saw blade, but moves up and down many times a minute. It will 100% cut you if you touch the front of the blade.
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I think I know what they're talking about; I had a wood lathe that ran on D batteries, and I think there was a saw version too.
Unlike the woodburning tool...