Table Saw Accident Leads to New, Safer Push Stick

Sometimes Misfortune Can Be the Mother of Invention

Back in the seventies, Kevin Ellie, a woodworker friend of mine, had a table saw accident that severely injured his right hand.  Now, some might have hung up their shop apron and sought other ways to satisfy their passion for hands-on activity; but, not Kevin.

His love of woodworking not only drew him back into the workshop, it also inspired him to create a safer table saw push stick by combining the secure grip of a traditional handsaw with the notched pushing end common to many shop-made and commercial pushing devices.

When I heard about Kevin’s design, I was eager to try it out – partly because the tool just looked like it would work and partly because I’m never comfortable getting my hands any closer to a spinning blade than it absolutely necessary.

For the rest of the story, take a look at the video.

Make Your Own
Here is a full-size push stick template that you can download and print.