Hi Tom,
I have read that most serious wood working injuries occur as a result of table saws. These are probably the most prevelant free standing machines in use except maybe the drill press. I am familiar with an individual who is single handedly trying to make table saws (among other machines) safe. Check out this site:
http://www.sawstop.com/video.htm
I think there are a lot of people out there that would use his device if they were aware of it.
Cyanide?! Hardening steel? Man.
As far as the most dangerous tools go, I can't think of a specific (they have all scared the cr*p out of me from time to time) But what sticks in my mind are the older tools we scrounge or inherit. A lot of these never had proper guards or the guards have been removed. Lost a heart shape chunck of scalp (it grew back) about the size of a dime to an old drill press. The spindle was exposed in a couple of places up through the the head casting and I leaned in a little too close to look down the hole. More embarassing than painful but that machine has a clear plastic guard on it, now. -Doug