I my view, blade guards are there for unexpected incidents, aka accidents. You know, shit happens.
I don’t feel the same about stationary tools. I removed the splitter and guard from my table saw.
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Right. I ALWAYS treat my tools with the utmost respect. Not doing so is a good way to be down a finger. Or even worse, an eye!
@buckaroobonsai I started reading this thread from the top, so saw your post from '22 about doing flooring. I also used to do flooring and loved it. It was one of those things I just happened to be really good at, plus everyone that worked for the small company was awesome, so was a great job!
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Pretty sure the guard on a skill saw is to catch debris flying off…
The guard gets stuck usually when cutting a thin piece off the edge of whatever you’re cutting. I go with a plunge cut then.
I see lots of guys modifying tools on residential sites but this will get you banned from a commercial or industrial site on a whim 
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Yup been working in pro wrestling like 12+ years or so now.
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the guy that taught me not to do that set a saw down and it flew across the deck and through the styrofoam 2d story wall and damn near killed a guy on the ground.
first day on the job as a saw operator at a cabinet shop a guy had me cutting a piece of luan for a cabinet. he had the blade 6" up and i was lowering it to just above the level of the wood as i was taught as a carpenter in the field. the wood kicked out and i got 9 out of 10 fingers out of the way of that blade. it looked like hamburger on the tip of my trigger finger and i grabbed it so tight it didn’t bleed until i took my hand off to light a smoke. then it shot across the shop. i finished the day out after getting it stitched up and worked there for a year. i still can’t feel anything with it and had the blade been where the dude told me to leave it i’d be shooting with my middle finger now.
safety rules are written in blood.
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@DDCooper I was thiiiiiis close, but the thought of being random piss/hair tested redirected me haha.
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Real estate investor and Realtor.
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That’s mandatory in Cali got to work faster to pay them bills
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I understand. I look at it as a 30 year t break
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I once saw a guy rip a board using his leg as a workbench.
I couldn’t believe it.
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I saw that kind of stuff so many times. Snap a line of a sheet of plywood, lift one end and cut half way, go to the other hand and cut the rest. 
One time me and another guy had to cut blocking to install in a raised wall. I don’t remember exactly why, but we were on the second story, so we decided I would measure the next block and install, he would cut and toss it up thru a large window opening. So I’d measure and call it out, and while he was cutting I’d measure the next bay and call it out. Then he’d toss the next block up. The very first block was off, but not by a lot so I installed it. We did a few more and the blocks were getting worse, short and long. So after calling out the measurement, I watched wtf he was doing. He wasn’t bothering to either measure or strike a perpendicular (or any) line. Not using saw horses was the least of it!
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I’ve done some pretty sketchy things with power tools but standing on one leg like a flamingo was not one of them.
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In Seattle, framers used to use framing axes. Axe on one end of the head, waffle face head on the other. Whenever I’d show up on a new job site, I’d juggle three axes for part of my lunch break the first day. It was kind of an ice breaker, even if it wasn’t winter. Groan…
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My day job is a legal pot farmer
Downsides: its not my farm - not my call. I make a small fractal portion of the value of the crop
Upsides: I work at a pot farm. I dont have to orchestrate investors and buyers. I can take PTO for vacation and someone else will water the plants.
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The stupidest thing I’ve ever done on a job was lay down on my back, open up a chop saw and let my partner run some wood across the blade like I was a table saw. It worked well and everyone went home unscathed. So maybe it was a brilliant move! Who can say?
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Fucking wow haha
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^That! Lol
I have done some sketchy things with power tools also. But, I know one thing…If it’s got any kind of spinning parts, my long hair gets tucked in my shirt first! 
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This is me. Systems Ecologist, Technologist, Visionary, Legacy (38yrs) grower.
Hi.
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