Safety and Precision in Woodworking: The Secret of Sharp Tools

I'm not a big believer in the idea that sharp tools are safer.  I get why people say that. but the idea that they require less force, and as a result may not pop out of cut, and hurt one, falls down in a number of regards. 

- First, who cares?  In this field that never happens to me, everything is always sharper than sharp enough.  Maybe someone needs to be told that accidents can occur from misuse of dull tools, which is true. How one gets from that to they are safer is beyond me.

- They require less force, because they are sharper, but they cut substantially deeper with the same low force.  The cuts will be worse, and as there is less tissue destroyed they will be harder to clot.

- This place is presumably a subset of humanity that actually knows how to use tools and even when one gets away in a cut, the situation has been set up so that they still won't get cut.  So the accident issue is minimized, as far as use is concerned.  Heaven forbid one ever just trips and takes 2 inches of Japanese chisel into the gut.  The last thought might be how little it hurt, and pride in the edge.  

As a bowhunter, I heard one story of a guy who tripped on the trail and as he was wearing a Hill back quiver (sorta rare these days), the arrows tossed over his shoulder and onto the trail in front of him, and one was placed by a bush in the perfect position for him to run his leg through the razor sharp broadhead.  He was not alone, and better still his pal was a trauma surgeon, but in this case he was barely able to contain the flow of blood.  Razor sharp BHs are nothing like as sharp as most hand tools.

I had a friend, who was a guide on Mont Blanc in France, and either witnessed, or was called to an accident, where a climber stumbled, and took a piolet to the femoral artery.  Not survivable or pretty.  That tool probably wasn't even that sharp.

I only belabor the point because I think a lot of people think that the table saw, or the bandsaw, are the most dangerous tools in the shop.  Maybe they are.  But a lot of hand tools have unlimited geometry, fully exposed business ends, and would easily kill a person in a number of accidents, or sever tendons that might be difficult to repair.  And their uncanny power is related to their being sharp.

Added later 15 min 46 s:

What is my favourite tip?  Beware of the man with only one rifle.  

When I got involved in this stuff over 45 years ago, it was hard to find decent tools in all categories, and so I tried a lot of things, and today have a lot of tools.  

Far better to have as few tools as possible, of as few types of steel as possible (say all O1), and then you can really master dealing with that one steel; have the tools that best handle it, and keep the number of items that need care, to a minimum.  Most woods up to maple, or possibly this side of maple, can be ably handled with O1 tool steel.  It isn't necessarily the best, but one can find every tool in that one steel.

Second tip?  Trust but verify. 

Try to learn how to sharpen freehand.  It will be the only method that works in many instances (lee Valley offers no jig for your scythe...), and is far more efficient.  It also allows the sometimes tedious job of sharpening to be a major skill builder.  

However, there are situations, like taking out a chip; or at the other end of the spectrum, getting a good result with unrealistically fine stones; or bringing tools back from bad sharpening; where a jig is very useful.  Don't avoid freehand, if you please, but even the best carpenters in Japan will use some of the most elaborate sharpening fixtures I have seen.

A source?
Long-standing "rule" has been "a dull knife is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen."

Mark, My wife says that I'm the most dangerous tool.   Hmmm....   

My wife hates real sharp kitchen knives and I've learned not to belabor the point. I also have to admit, while I do like real sharp knives there have been times when using "hers" that I feel I've saved my self from a deep cut because of the duller blade.
I don't doubt about the need for extra effort when using dull tools and that could be a cause for an accident but I don't subscribe to all real sharp things are safer.

Riadh, welcome to the forums, and you can join as many as you wish. I jump to Woodnet when the gods on this site, WoodCentral, play games with my login. However, you have touched the most belabored and at one time, most contentious, topic of all forums, sharpening. 

A forum membership of say, 2000 will likely have 500 hundred sharpening solutions. I am certain that purveyors of tools intentionally setup these sharpening matters because the profits in sharpening media are by far the highest return.  I have enough different stones, steels, and gizmos to weight down my workbench. A set of new stones being delivered to me may have caused a train wreck.  

I think the best advice for sharpening is to acquire the techniques that make each method work efficiently. I switched to pulling the edge toward me on the last, or last couple media because the edge was blunted in a forward thrust; an irritation that constantly occurred at the end of my prior routines. The greatest embarrassment/satisfaction was learning that the leather holding up my pants gave the final polish that allowed me the sweetest shave from a non-purpose-made plane iron.  In case you don't have that stone, it is one of the finest grits and costs as much as the other stones in that particular "system". Don't buy it. Sacrifice a leather belt.

Derek Cohen professes the quickest sharpening method. After seeing one of his edges I understand why. I could barely see the secondary bevel, key edge, of his cutting tool.

Now, my take on cutting accidents happens right at the get-go. I usually slice my fingers while sharpening. The next potential hazard is dropping a cutting tool. I guess the message to quit will be not jerking a leg away fast enough.

Mark Mandell wrote:

A source?
Long-standing "rule" has been "a dull knife is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen."

I thought that referred to the cook?  Most are not dull knives, but some are.

Actually, in earlier days, there were some truly shocking numbers of kitchen helpers killed by vats of boiling water.  Usually kids.

Added later 05 min 32 s:

I hesitate to suggest it, but Cold Steel has some truly demented knife videos on YT that show pig carcasses being easily cut in half with various knives.  Gross, but even having cut myself on several occasions, and well aware of how arrows, kill, I was surprised to see how devastating knives can be.  And they don't have a segment were people just trip while carrying the knives...  That used to be a huge concern when I was a kid.  Seems to have largely disappeared, but I guess it must have had some basis.