You are not the only person I see doing stupid stuff on KZfaq. Have you ever heard of The Darwin Awards?

Walking around a Fully Exposed Blade like that and Using Your Fingers To get the Previous Cut away from the Blade is Asking for Trouble in My Book.

Who needs horror movies when you can watch videos like this and have the most intense 20mins of your life.

Not sure, but from your looks, I'm guessing that I'm older than you are. Still working 40+ hrs. a week tho in the construction field. What I've learned about aging is that my eyesight, hand dexterity, and agility on my feet have gradually lessened. It makes what we do for a living more hazardous than it once was. I slightly misjudge where my feet and fingers are. I stumble on things that I never would have 10yrs ago. Be more careful. We don't notice the decline sneaking up on us. Love the video.

Hey John. Some people wouldn't put this video out for a view, professional pride or whatever. This is a great lesson to everyone who appreciates your video's and your work. Thanks for posting and I'm really glad no great damage was done to you or your machinery. What you can't see can hurt you is a lesson for me from this. More power to you.

I love watching the old Sawmills in action, I was good friends with the Sawyer in town that had an Old Sawmill and used to watch it in operation all the time. It's only dangerous when you don't know what you're doing, but it does look like you could use a helper, although finding a good helper that's not going to kill himself in the process of helping you is tough to find. So sometimes you're better off by yourself instead of the helper hurting himself

I started at 15 working packing lumber with a sawmill like that my brother in laws family owned for sixty yrs or more not sure but seeing this vid sure brought back some good memories thanks for posting it

Looks like a cool old Jeep in the back there!! I was waiting for something catostrophic, don't think that was near fatal, but honestly, GLAD IT WASN'T!

The problem with doing something for years is you tend to do it without thinking about it, and it’s not hard to make major mistakes.

The whole time I'm watching this I'm thinking, 'What the Hell is He doing'? He knows better!? Always turn your equipment off when adjusting the material, try to not stand in the path of destruction. 😢

As someone who might have chance to do this, I appreciate your video a lot. Thank you truly for putting this for many person.

I've been around these mills as a helper and of course I been around many a tool. Love these old saws. We have a tendency to become complacent when we do a thing for a long time and become good at it. Consider your mishap a reminder to self correct bad habits we learned due to over confidence and wanting to be efficient. Suggestion: If you wish to continue with reaching out and pulling the board away from the blade after its cut, consider using your other hand (your left). Reason: it is further away from the blade and you'll be reaching toward the blade straight on or perpendicular to the blade. The left arm; as you stood, naturally the elbow bends out away from the blade and unlike the right arm not toward the cutting path of the blade. Be safe. Work smart and keep cutting - lumber.

I've got to admit John, you re a master at making sawdust. Fun at the sawmill.

Worked as a safety engineer for St. Regis, Champion, Gilman, and GP to name a few. I ALWAYS CRINGE WHEN I SEE PEOPLE TRYING TO GET IN A HURRY OR GET CARELESS. I HAVE SEEN SOME HORRIFIC ACCIDENTS. REMBER. SAFETY NEVER SLEEPS!. STAY SAFE!!! BTW, I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN YOU UP FOR SEVERAL INFRACTIONS. YOU DON'T GET SECOND CHANCES.

Reminds me of the ole Burger King TV commercials during the Vietnam war "It takes a hook and a nub to handle a Whopper".

That's an amazing setup and nice looking lumber, but there's a heckuva lot that can go wrong there with exposed moving parts. I grew up on a farm and we had a lot of machinery that was dangerous...I did a lot of things I shouldn't have, but no way I'd take a chance milling lumber here. If it works for you, though, more power to ya!

I'm glad you are alright. I sure love watching you sawyers at work. I'm not there yet, but one of these days.

Seen a few bad accidents over the years. This one made me pucker. Glad you were paying attention.

Well you and Mark and ... Out of the woods.. All three of y'all does a outstanding job of explaining what you are doing. I bought logs for a small sawmill that cut rail road ties. I watched them some so I enjoy what you do.

Every time you reached for that wood to pull it off and stack it I almost couldn’t look because I thought you were going to cut off an arm or something 😳 Be careful man!!!!

Im not a saw mill guy, but every time I saw you reach forward to roll the fresh cut onto its side I winced. That blade is unforgiving!!

I am 84 and finding I still get stupid round machinery like saws n powersaws. GrACE OF GOD! CHEERS

I'm no expert but that whole setup looks like an accident waiting to happen.

It’s kinda scary watching you get so close to the circle saw , looks like you could make a couple of rollers that slowly turn backwards to bring the planks back and maybe some adjustable wedge near the top of board at the other end to flip the plank on its side

This guy is totally unsafe around the blade. Too comfortable.

There is a reason why workers comp/OSHA made it a requirement to have safety cages and operator booths with plexiglass protection on these head rig/carriage mills! You might say these are real men but accidents happened all time injuring men very badly quite regularly! A piece of metal in the log can shatter the blade sending high speed chunks of blade flying! Absolutely killing everyone in its path!

I thought the comments were silly, had it going in background, glanced over to see him reaching right at the blade to pull a board away and pull it towards him where it could get kicked by the blade. Osha didn't exist when these mills were standard and it shows

All the folks saying "Oooo, so dangerous!" He's touching the blade where it's smooth, no teeth. I've pulled thousands of board feet of lumber off a mill like this....he's not doing anything out of the ordinary. Growin' up in the country, every other farm had a mill just like that all up & down the Appalachians, and every kid learned to run 'em. We couldn't run to Home Depot every time we needed boards to fix the hog pen. If y'all had been born 200 years ago the industrial revolution would have never happened.

Just now found your site, Damn , what a machine , when i was a kid 70 years 77 now there was a sawmill like that one down the road only bigger ? Ever year there was two are three people lost there hands, arms and even got killed . I know , you know every inch of this old girl so be safe will you , i want to see some more of your video's, See Ya Texas

I've been cutting lumber all my life, I nipped the tips of 3 fingers in 79. And his setup scares the bejeebers out of me. Especially at his age. I know speaking for myself, "I ain't as good as I once was!" Slow down, with blades as big as that you can't afford to be stupid!

I don’t believe this man should be anywhere near a saw mill..

you have shown us that even the best make mistakes ! Not a big deal ,looking forward to the swedge and file video

You're lucky to be alive. That's a terrible disregard for safety you are setting as an example to viewers

Never been so nervous watching a video.

I am thinking about getting myself a sawmill. Very nice Y’all.

15:50 is where the blade hits some metal

Me sitting here, scared to death waiting on it. Sure am glad that's all there was was a polishing and not a notch out of the doggie. Yessir, they're tapered, all right. And there ain't but a fuzz between go and NO. Just glad YOU're all right. They're making blades, rings and bits every day but there's just one sawyer John. A little swaging and filing and off goes the short bus motor. Your and Marks motors must be spot on because there's no gagging and sputtering when you light them off. Just ready to GO! GBWYou!

dang, took me this long to figure out that the accident was nearly fatal to the saw, not necessarily the operator . . . .

Hit EM Bad. I was in a mill very similar to this.. Belt drive and leather laced belts. 1978 - I got to the mill - a week after this happened. Sawyer pulled a log on the deck, He set the carriage to pull the first cut. What no one knew - is a steel bullet was hidden in the tree. I think it was a 60 or 72 inch saw. About half way thru the first cut - The was a roar out of the saw blade - and the strong-backs where broken out of the saw - and they fired the teeth into the roof - over the carriage in a line - and the teeth sounded like shots out of a firearm, as the embedded in a line - into the roof.. In my mind - there is a canterman, to roll the logs on the carriage. A carriage rider - dog-man - set the dogs when needed - The sawyer controlled the carriage. A good sawyer - would never have a carriage not moving. The canterman and dogman - and the sawyer worked as a team. Before they spun the saw - the sawyer briefed them on what they wanted the most of. The sawyer never touched a board - because getting finger width distance from the saw - was something they - the owner did not approve of. So - where the board fell - there was trim saw - edgerman - he ran the boards thru a gang saw - and made boards. A Pilot - was on the edge of this stickering and piling everything - 12x12, 14x14 - 16x16. 4x24x32 ft - Wet - Hemlock. I was that guy for 2 summers. I love the old time rigs.

My grandpa lost his left hand in a saw mill like that in the 60's.

Very nice video...be careful man. Reaching in close to the blade like that is making me nervous. You have a beautiful mill there..I love it.

Be careful climbing around on those 4x4’s, John! Thanks for another fun video 👍😀

You are good at feeding your mill stuff happens glad your a pro Thx for the movie as always

Just caught your video. I admire a man that can admit he made a mistake especially when he can still blame it on the sun. 😂. New sub. Looking forward to catching more videos. Honestly glad to see you were not injured.

As a person who doesn’t understand why this is a near fatal - it must be that blade as big as it is could have sent shrapnel into you had the dog or blade or both sheared off at those high speeds? Glad you’re okay. I can picture some bureaucrat watching this thinking,” If only I could make a law demanding every wood mill be retrofitted with an automatic sensor that would prevent this…” I almost couldn’t watch this. Each time the saw would cycle and you reached in there to flip the board over - I kept thinking here it comes. But there is something satisfying about watching that man and machine do it’s thing.

a kickback is the most dangerous risk -more so than getting hands near the smooth part of the blade lovely piece of kit though -the speed it was cutting at is amazing

That saw is pure nightmare fuel

I worked at one for 26 year.your about right.

That crappy male log turned out some decent siding after all. You gave that dog a little kiss. That'll be a good wake up call. Keeps a guy on his toes!!

We need more old school everything these days. Nice video.

That may be the most stupidly dangerous woodworking machine i have ever seen in my entire life!!!

No worries. There is no mistakes, only lessons. 💪🏽

Experience is what you get right after you needed it. (Let that one sink in a little.)

This guy is driving me nuts being so care free

My friend has a mill like that, I think he had some guard that hit the blade, shit came loose and peeled half his face back past his ear, he lived. He got right back on the horse, also made some improvements

Cool old saw, it sounds like a tractor running when you started it. does it run off of the tractor?Ive seen these a few times, how old is it? I would however not get my hands near that blade nor jump down off of that saw feed rack like you did with that blade running though, be safe man. Cool video.

We all paid, my friend. What's important, is that how we learn from it.

Man this guy has balls of steel 😅

My dad had one of these mills, until it burned in the 70's. Wish I still had it with the price of wood now.

Yeah, the title is quite appropriate. The whole video is surely a near fatal accident. BTW, my name is not john.

I have cut wood for 40 years doing firewood. Back in the 90s I saw a guy whack a leg at the calf where it joins the abdomin clean off. The loader operator was knocking down trees I heard a faint oh over the noise then I saw the dozer operator his eyes lunged out of his head he said top of his lungs H---y S*** Tourniquet that s-- O- a B--- he was telling the other guy cutting had a shirt he tied deathgrip tight around the leg then yelled CALL 911 911. It is a very memorable unforgettable experience to see someone's body one place and their leg lying in the woods. The adrenaline and the tourniquet saved his life. You don't forget seeing in person a near fatal accident like that. That was AWFUL. Ole Bubba cut His leg off.

New subscriber, wow that was a bit scary. Got those hands way too close to the sawblade. Be careful! Good video.

That’s why I always dreaded that last close cut when the dogs are a fraction away from the saw. I never hit a dog but the worst was a surprise porcelain fence insulator - ruined all 44 bits. I tried to re swage them but they were never worth much after that.

I'm seven metric minutes in, and all I can say right now is, that blade doesn't need to be spinning while you plant the next cut.... Then you opened the throttle

That sure is faster than a band saw mill but a much bigger kerf! You need a helper on the back of that saw to pull the wood away after the cut- pull it away from the blade!

One thing i learne is never put your fingers close to the blade

Hi Man, you scared the living crap out of me watching you reach in and grabbing the lumber away from the blade. Thank goodness you only killed the dog and didn't saw your fingers off. At least use a stick to tip the boards away from the blade. You have a really nice sounding engine running the mill. What kind is it?? Take care and be careful my friend!! Logger Al

That diesel engine sounds like a two-stroke.

Retired cabinet here. Once he hit the dog the safe thing is to stop and check the blade for damage. A damaged blade could cause more accidents. Also you can hear how the motor is lagging after the hit because it is ruined. Always listen to your machines. They tell you how they are working!

I just wanted him to switch that bland rotation off whilst making the adjustments, it sent shivers down my spine.

Keep on keeping on! Like your vids.

Gave me the creeps watching him put his hand so close to the blade when he pulled the cut board away.

I guess I missed the near fatal accident! I'd love to have a saw mill, old or new!

good on ya for showing an honest review. good thing they's replacable bits. what's your sawdust handling system like? Used to be a partner on a headsaw outfit...man the sawdust piled up quick

Would could think that a huge rotating blade without any safety measures could be dangerous.

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Man there is no way I would get near that thing. That's a death machine.

Christ ! A simple 2ft stick can do what your fingers do. Cmon man.

I can only imagine the mess your property is ! Your complacency in the extremely dangerous situation you are in tells me you've been extremely lucky, luck is bound to run out, just like cowboy pilots

The drawback of complacency and trying to get that last 1/4” of board cut. I felt his surprise! Never push your luck! There should be a deadman kind of setup so if you get hung up the feed or blade stops feeding.

Sawmill accidents are seldom trivial.

He is doing what we are use to. Never tried it with no help.

Based on the title I expected some serious carnage! Video was not as advertised but that's ok! I'm more happy that you're not hurt. Never get complacent with these machines! EVER!

not quite a fatal accident, but reckless to say the least. I’ve had slabs kick back out of a bull edger, just miss me and fly 50 yards out back of the mill. Sawmills are dangerous when operating tired. keep your mind and body fresh to avoid accidents and quit before you get tired.

Sitting in my chair, I'm as close to that machine as I care to be.

Back in the early '30's grandpa s hired man and his boy were sawing wood with a saw like that. It was a cold winter day with ice on the ground. The boy approached the running saw, slipped on the ice, and fell head first head first into the blade! It caught him at the top of the shoulder and cut his arm off. He survived and lived into his eighties.

When you hit a dog do you have to call the SPCA?

not what I expected. I was waiting for a whole cut being thrown due to the nonchalant drag past the back of the saw

First video I've seen of yours. You sound like Jason Sudeikus.

I have so much anxiety watching this video...

John, what thickness were you cutting these boards?

That was one of those gosh darn moments when you hit the dog.

While you at it you should replace that first 4x4 you used to roll that log it had a major crack when that log fell over where that 3/4" hole is drilled through it.

Thank you for the video.I worry about hitting the third dog.Do you do any good selling your lumber on Craigslist?

Hold my moonshine and watch this

You ever happen to notice how when you make a cut the material all moves away from you AND the blade at the end of the pass. And how you have to stand back as far from the blade as possible AND how hard it is to REVERSE the work and product flow to drag the boards the mill PULLS AWAY FROM YOU LIKE SOMEBODY THAT BUILT THE SAWMILL THOUGHT LETTING YOU TRY TO SEND THE CARRIAGE AWAY FROM YOU BY PULLING A LEVER AND BRINGING IT BACK PAST YOU WITH A PULL AND KEEPING ALL CONTROLS WHERE THEY KEEP YOU BACK FROM THE BLADE MIGHT KEEP YOU FROM DUMB SHIT LIKE TRYING TO PULL THE PRODUCT BACK INTO HARMS WAY BY HAND AND REACHING INTO THE DEATH ZONE BAREHANDED AND EVEN STICKING FOREIGN OBJECTS THAT LOOK TO BE STEEL RIGHT INTO KERF - THE "SLOT" BETWEEN BLADE AND BOARD - TRYING TO "FLOP" A STANDING BOARD BACK AWAY FROM THE BLADE SO YOU CAN LITERALLY HANDLE IT FROM THERE AND AGAIN SEND IT OUT THE FRONT TO CUT IT WAY CLEAR OF THE SAW AND AUTOMATICALLY WITH A SIMPLE HAND PULL BUT "GO IN AFTER" THE PRODUCT PLANK FROM BEHIND AND BY HAND PULL IT AND STACK IT ON THE LOG END OF YOUR OPERATION? PROBABLY NOT. AND IT'S NOT LIKE YOUR INSISTENCE ON HANDLING THE RAW MATERIAL AND PRODUCT AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE WHILE "MULTITASKING" AND "SORTING" THE PLANKS RIGHT OUT OF - AND IN BOTH DIRECTIONS - THE MILL ITSELF IN A MANNER THAT RESULTS IN THE CARRIAGE MOVING LESS MATERIAL AND PRODUCT "BACK AND FORTH" TO GET THEM "IN AND OUT"? IT'S NO WONDER YOU'VE GOT SUCH A CLUSTERFUCK OF A "LUMBERYARD" THERE AND HAVE ASH GETTING MILDEWED AND RANDOM PILES OF SHIT EVERYWHERE AND APPARENTLY SO MUCH FREE TIME AND EXCESS ENERGY AND BLADE, BELTS, FUEL AND MONEY TO BURN YOU USE YOUR SAWMILL TO MAKE PINE LOGS INTO PINE SQUARES AND A HOLE PILE OF THEM AS YOU TRY TO "GET SOMETHING" OUT OF PINE LOGS THAT WILL STILL BE PINE PLANKS AND ROUGH SAWN AND WITH ZERO CHANCE OF USING A SAWMILL AS A "SURFACE PLANER" SUCCESSFULLY TO "GET" 1-BY PINE LUMBER OUT OF "TIMBER" AND WHEN REALITY FINALLY SINKS IN AND YOU REALIZE YOUR "PRODUCTION" ENDED UP BEING NEGATIVE "BOARD FEET" YOUR "LEMONS OUT OF LEMONADE" (I'LL PRETEND IT WAS LIFE THAT GAVE YOU THE PULPWOOD PINE AND "SAWMILL" SET UP FOR "RIPPING" LOGS INTO 2-BYS AND EVEN 3-BYS (BRIDGE PLANKS) AND NOT REMOTELY INTENDED TO TURN OUT EVEN UTILITY GRADE BOARDS ALL BY ITSELF WITHOUT A REAL "MILL" IN SITE AND CERTAINLY A "SINO" (SAWYER IN NAME ONLY" BEHIND THE CONTROLS WHEN HE'S NOT BETWEEN THE CONTROLS AND THE BLADE TRYING TO "PILE" THE SHIT HE'S TURNING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM IN THE "RAW MATERIAL" AREA AND "STACK" THE OCCASIONAL "PALLET PINE" PLANK THE "MILL" MANAGES TO "GET" EVERY FEW PASSES WHEN THE PLANETS ALIGN, THE BELTS BITE, THE BLADE BENDS LESS, THE CARRIAGE STAYS BEHIND THE HORSE, THE TEETH THAT "NEED SHARPENED" (YOU CAN "SIT THERE" AND SHARPEN SAW TEETH UNTIL THEY SCARE VELOCIRAPTORS TO DEATH BUT UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO SET TEETH AND DO IT CORRECTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY STOP USING A BUZZ SAW BLADE FOR "MILLING" YOU'LL STILL BE THE "SURPRISE SAWYER" WONDERING WHEN THAT "INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY" IS GOING TO FIND SOME "LOGS" IT "LIKES" SO YOU CAN START STACKING SOME COLD CASH INSTEAD OF TURNING OUT BETTER FUNGUS THAN ASH.

OUCH !! I hate it when that happens !! Good thing ya just bumped it and caught it quick … but no matter, at that time speed you’re gonna bugger up something if you hit metal of any kind. Well… except gold.

Glad it was just a nicked blade/dog. I was cringing waiting for some semi catastrophic, near fatal accident. Glad there wasn't one!!! STAY SAFE!!!

I have those kinds of accidents all the time. It is not near-fatal to me unless I have to move to avoid something or a little blood is sacrificed to the god of chaos. But it always pisses me off when I try to save 15 seconds and it cost me hours to recover. I am confident you know this or you would not be here now. Fast spinning blades and clothes are not a good match. When I was around 18, a friend (18 as well) and I were working in a furniture factory on a machine that had a shaper head that rotated about 2,000 rpm or 20,000 rpm (do not remember - was the 1980s). On this day he was feeding the machine (putting wood into the machine) and I was "tailing" the machine (get the shaped wood off the machineand stacking). He would wear gloves as the wood was rough and had "splinters." I never would wear gloves as I did not like not being able to feel exactly where my fingers were relative to the wood. In any event, not all the wood was exactly the same size and sometimes a smaller piece would not feed through automatically. Most of the time he would use a stick to help push the stuck block into the feeder as the wood would be dangerously close to the first shaper head (depending on where the block was stuck). If the block was sticking out far enough he would just use his hand and give it a little push (save time not having to reach around and get a stick to push the wood). Well, one day he used his hand and a tip of a finger of his glove must have been grabbed by the spinning head and it pulled his hand into the head all the way up to the end of the glove just past the wrist. It took a second and his hand was gone. All of it. If you ever wear gloves around that spinning blade and you get your hands close to the blade, remember my friend. Do not get me wrong, I do that dangerous crap all the time - I just do not wear gloves.

Wow that saw is dangerous and big always take care sir , nice sawmill