Safety tip for woodworking

I am sure that there are a number of professionals in OSHA, and the few remaining wood-shop teachers, who will have violent stomach cramps as they view Larry Williams using an adz in a grossly unsafe manner in your article on Windsor chairs (“Hewing to Tradition With His Bare Hands,” Nov. 13).

The worker is wearing unprotected shoes. An adz will shear off toes easier than a wood knot. A device holding the wood would permit the worker to keep his feet splayed and so be less subject to injury. The adz digs into the wood as a function of the angle of the shaft. The more vertical the head, the deeper the gouging action of the blade. If the blade is too flat to the work, it will skip across the surface, and possibly into the man’s foot.

Adam Coutts

Santa Monica