Stan Harrison: Follow simple hand saw safety tips to avoid ‘cutting edge’ experience

Usually, it’s my younger son who keeps everybody in stitches with his barrage of jokes.

This time, he was the one in stitches, only he wasn’t laughing.

The stitches were in his hand, the result of a nasty hand saw wound from cutting replacement rungs for a swing set ladder.

Built by a friend 10 years ago, the heavy-duty swing set had been designed for use by kids and adults alike. The ladder led to a platform on top of the swing set.

But time had taken its toll on the ladder. Two of the rungs were missing, and others were in danger of breaking under the weight of playful children.

My younger son and I retrieved another old ladder whose rungs also were questionable. We decided to cut up the still-solid wood side rails for use as replacement rungs on the swing set. He secured the old ladder on its side with rope and pulled out the hand saw.

We took turns. Read more…