2 x 4 Rocket

[Kernopelli]

KFBEAL, Sorry to hear about this but thankfully this story didn't follow your previous posting.
My best friends father retired 2 years ago. He had talked about it for years and how he would be able to fish, play on his TO20 and work in his wood shop. One month after being retired, he was ripping a 4x4 (he has a very sturdy professional table saw that runs on 220V that he bought from a cabinet making shop and apparently is quite powerful). The way my buddy tells it, it kicked back and hit him in the chest hard enough that it "stunned him" and he fell forward across the saw and cut all four finger off at the knuckles and half the thumb, on his dominant hand.
You can imagine how traumatic that would be in its self but the fact that this happened so soon into retirement has devastated him emotionally. When he was down to visit my friend before this happened, he would never miss an opportunity to come to my place and fish all afternoon. Now when he's here, he is like a different person and appears to have no desire to do any of the things he used to love. It is very sad.

 

[Kfbeal]

I'm a die hard fisherman and hunter also and not sure what I would do if it had been worse. My biggest fear is the burden it would put on my family such as picking up my 2 children, etc. I've worked on combines, cotton pickers, hay balers, etc. as we farmed growing up without any injuries. Maybe I'm just getting older and a lot slower than I used to be.

On how I was doing it, I always use a push stick and I belive I had a stick on top to keep it from rising as it passed the blade. I was in a cramped position and shouldn't have done it there to begin with. I normally don't like my hands close to the blade so I try to avoid that at all times.

 

[DWCox]

Many of you may have seen this saw demonstrated before, but I still find it fascinating to watch. While its safety feature will obviously not prevent kickbacks, etc., it is pretty amazing in its ability to detect and prevent serious cuts to the skin:

SawStop

 

[Redneck in training]

My brother is an owner of cabinetmaking business and coincidently we were taking about internal tension in wood before I read this thread today. He said that it all depends how the wood is dried. If they dry it too quickly it might bend and jammed between the fence and the blade when ripped. Some wood such as oak is more prone to internal tension than other. I personally prefer hand circular saw when ripping 2X4.

 

[kidr]

You guys probably already know.....but I have to remind myself every time I rip , to keep the cupped side of the board down on the table. When I don't, I get into trouble.

 

[Kfbeal]

What do you mean cupped side? The grains of the wood possibly? U facing down?

I know I always do that when putting board on trailers so they bow up and now down.

 

[Kfbeal]

Many of you may have seen this saw demonstrated before, but I still find it fascinating to watch. While its safety feature will obviously not prevent kickbacks, etc., it is pretty amazing in its ability to detect and prevent serious cuts to the skin:

SawStop

I saw this a few weeks ago on one of those shows on the Discovery Channel. I can't remember which one.

The inventor tested the hot dog, etc. then used his own finger. As he slowly moved it in, as SOON as it grazed it the blade stopped. You couldn't even see anything on his finger, and I thought that was the most amazing thing.

 

[Willl]

Did the saw come with 'anti-kickback pawls' ?

 

[sixdogs]

What a great thread. It has made me think anew about tablesaw safety. We tend to forget how to be careful.

I once saw the partial imprint of a sheet of plywood in the metal sliding door of a pole barn where I guy I knew was making cabinets. He had made them for many years and is a sharp guy. I didn't ask and he didn't volunteer.

 

[kidr]

What do you mean cupped side? The grains of the wood possibly? U facing down?

I know I always do that when putting board on trailers so they bow up and now down.

Yes.exactly. Ripping with the U up usually results in binding for me.