Was at Home Depot on Saturday and saw a guy almost lose a finger using a circular saw without the guard

I was in the lumber aisle picking up some 2x4s for a shed I'm building. This guy about my age was holding a circular saw with the blade guard taped back. He was showing his friend how to cut plywood. The saw kicked back and his hand slipped toward the blade. He got lucky and only hit the wood. But it got me thinking about how many people do this just to make cuts faster. Is there a good reason to disable the guard that I'm missing, or is it just people being impatient?

2 comments

2 Comments

margareth4819h ago

Oh buddy, I've totally been that person (minus the almost losing a finger part). I once taped the guard back on my jigsaw because I was too impatient to change the blade. Spoiler: it did not make the cut any faster, just scarier.

henry_martinez17h ago

Wait, isn't the guard on a jigsaw usually spring-loaded and on the bottom plate (not the same as a circular saw's blade guard)? I think your memory might be mixing up the two tools a bit, since jigsaws don't really have a guard you'd tape back in the same way. Just a heads up so nobody tries that trick on a jigsaw and learns the hard way it works different.