2 x 4 Rocket

Ken_CT · Jan 10, 2009

Flatheadyoungin, that was an excellent video on kickback safety that everyone who uses a table saw should watch.
YouTube - How to Avoid a Table Saw Kickback

I am a hobbiest, and I've become accustomed to having all my fingers, so I do keep the safeties in place whenever possible. I realize that there are times, like making a dado, when this is not possible. I have a buddy who lost 3 1/2 fingers in a dadoing accident, so that is always in the back of my mind when using a table saw. You cannot sew anything back on cut on a dado, it's just gone. Here are a couple of pics showing some of my equipment that is available to reduce kickbacks. The yellow wheels only turns in one direction and the rear one holds the board down after it passes the center of the blade. They can be removed in a couple of seconds if need be.

Conservation · Jan 10, 2009

I haven't seen anything about aprons. In our larger cabinet making plant, all the table saws are Saw Stops, and basic PPE are safety glasses, ear plugs and aprons. Anti kickback is ALWAYS used. Push sticks are mandatory on any smaller cuts. With over 100 employees using table saws, never one injury in 2.5 years.

sixdogs · Jan 10, 2009

Ken_CT said:
Flatheadyoungin, that was an excellent video on kickback safety that everyone who uses a table saw should watch.
YouTube - How to Avoid a Table Saw Kickback

I am a hobbiest, and I've become accustomed to having all my fingers, so I do keep the safeties in place whenever possible. I realize that there are times, like making a dado, when this is not possible. I have a buddy who lost 3 1/2 fingers in a dadoing accident, so that is always in the back of my mind when using a table saw. You cannot sew anything back on cut on a dado, it's just gone. Here are a couple of pics showing some of my equipment that is available to reduce kickbacks. The yellow wheels only turns in one direction and the rear one holds the board down after it passes the center of the blade. They can be removed in a couple of seconds if need be.

As soon as my right arm heels from tendon surgery I'm going to install my "splitter" on my saw--just like in your photos. Having to do everything left-handed-only for three weeks--with FIVE more to go--has been a sobering experience on the importance of keeping limbs and digits intact. Try brushing your teeth left-handed. I can't even dress myself.
Thanks for the photos,

Kfbeal · Jan 10, 2009

Willl said:
Did the saw come with 'anti-kickback pawls' ?

I don't recall seeing anything similar to that, but do remember a plastic clear shield. I got this from my brother, so there's no telling what may have happened to it in the exchange.

sixdogs said:
Try brushing your teeth left-handed. I can't even dress myself.
Thanks for the photos,

Not a problem for me as I'm naturally a south-paw as we put it being left-handed. Glad you're almost over your hump. Luckily when I cut the tip of my finger off it was my right hand.

2manyrocks · Jan 10, 2009

Here is a link to a DIY overarm blade guard. It isn't that hard to build. Won't stop a kickback, but it keeps the dust out of your face and is in my opinion, a better guard than those plastic things that come with the saws.

I think theirs mounts to the ceiling. You can also build a mount to attach it to the floor or to your table saw stand.

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/blade_guard.pdf

jimmyj · Jan 11, 2009

I always stand "off to the side" when using the table saw, and I use push sticks. Of all the tools that I have, the table saw seems the most dangerous for some reason.

Same with chain sawing, I always stand offset to the line of the bar. Never had a kickback on either tool but this thread sure points out the built in risks.

Very educational, as always.

emmy71 · Jan 11, 2009

Ken_CT said:
Flatheadyoungin, that was an excellent video on kickback safety that everyone who uses a table saw should watch.
YouTube - How to Avoid a Table Saw Kickback

I am a hobbiest, and I've become accustomed to having all my fingers, so I do keep the safeties in place whenever possible. I realize that there are times, like making a dado, when this is not possible. I have a buddy who lost 3 1/2 fingers in a dadoing accident, so that is always in the back of my mind when using a table saw. You cannot sew anything back on cut on a dado, it's just gone. Here are a couple of pics showing some of my equipment that is available to reduce kickbacks. The yellow wheels only turns in one direction and the rear one holds the board down after it passes the center of the blade. They can be removed in a couple of seconds if need be.

Where did you get those wheels. Looks like something I might be interested in.

Terry

Ken_CT · Jan 11, 2009

emmy71 said:
Where did you get those wheels. Looks like something I might be interested in.

Terry

I think I got them from Woodworkers Warehouse, but they are in the Grizzly catalog. Make sure you get the yellow set for table saws, they only turn one way, the orange ones spin in both directions.

G2370 Board Buddies® For Table Saws - Yellow

2manyrocks · Jan 14, 2009

Maybe not as good, but worth considering are featherboards:

Google Image Result for http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/gordgraff/Feather%20Boards/11.jpg

Flatheadyoungin · Jan 14, 2009

i looked quickly and couldn't find any good pics but delta's separate guard and splitter system works GREAT!

there are all kinds of cuts on a table saw; some you can use all of your guards, splitters, stand to the side, use push sticks, etc........then some cuts you need your half of your guard, some you have to take out the splitter, some you don't use anything.....just depends on what you are doing......the delta system is an honest to goodness pleasure to use.......i hate guards and most safety devices but every time i use it i feel proud that it does exactly what i want.......

the hard part is, it's probably more $$ than the average homeowner/occasional user would want to pay......though you can pick them up used every now and again....

i'll try to find a pic, it isn't the one that comes standard on the machine.....

edit: here it is, it's not as bad ($$) as i thought......i know 3 bills is a lot of money but knowing what it does makes it genuinly seem cheap.......i paid 179 for just a splitter when they first came on the market.....that hurt but the first time i used it and the first time it worked, all that went out the window...

http://www.toolsdirect.com/index.cf...nery/finish/na&source=shopzilla&cse=shopzilla

63spyder · Nov 7, 2009

i had a kick back that put a 1x1 6inches into a bag of mortar mix that was sitting 10 feet behind the saw. i worked at a cabinet shop where one of the guys working on a 12inch tablesaw had a kick back that punched a hole 10 feet up through a 1/2 piece of plywood wall cladding 20 feet away we had a safety meeting on that on. nee

dless to say i always keep my hips to the side.

Transit · Nov 7, 2009

Willl said:
Did the saw come with 'anti-kickback pawls' ?

Being a wood worker too I can relate to many of the stories. Sears has, had a book on using power tools Cat # 9-2918.

Table Saw Techniques by Roger W. Cliffe
Radial Arm Saw Techniques by Roger W. Cliffe
Master Woodworking Machines by Mark Duginske
I have another book that I cant find now about making jigs for safety and special operations.

Let me say a few words about the post and photo posted by Will.

First that blade is dangerous! There are newer blades that have a tooth that limits the depth that each tooth may make so that the blade is not over feed.
Second. The blade is not all steel, the teeth are carbide and welded to the blade body, meaning that they may fly off at any time.

Now for my story;

I don't like sawdust blowing up in my face, so I bought a face shield, about $30. The first time I use it, it gets dinged by a throng tooth from the carbide blade, $#@&((^^ ruined. Dinged in front of my right eye, )*^$@#!@(? 30 bucks blown. After I cooled down, hay, that was my eye!

Redneck in training · Nov 7, 2009

Saws are dangerous. My brother is a professional cabinetmaker. Once I visited him in the small company he used to co-own and looked at the guys there. Each of them including my brother had missing part of at least of one finger.
Just recently my SIL was cutting something on a table saw and cut his hand. Bone in his thumb was cut trough and middle finger was cut about 3/4" deep parallel to the bone just missing the bone. It took the surgeon three hours to put his hand back together.

The Haymaker · Nov 8, 2009

Heh, when we were building the house I had cut a bunch of 2'x2' plywood panels on a table saw. I was zipping right along, letting the panels fall on the ground behind the saw where I would bring them around and cut the other side.

When I came to the last panel, instead of letting it drop I brought it back to me, accidentally..... no..... stupidly, dragging it across the blade. Before I could even register what was happening, a corner of the ballistic balsa hit me HARD in the hip, right at the spot I had broken my femoral neck a few years prior. My leg actually went numb below the point of impact. Because of the prior injury, I was almost wishing it had struck 2" to the right! Doh!

And then there was the time I was feeding a small piece through the radial arm saw from the wrong end, thinking "I shouldn't be doing this" the whole time. Schwing! After it glanced off the side of my thumb, it dented the furnace 5' behind me. Thumb hurt like **** for quite a while, and I now have a bump at the point it hit. I'm assuming I cracked or chipped the bone. Whoops again.

etcallhome · Nov 8, 2009

Glad to hear you will be OK .When building our house I needed a small shim for under the front door.
Since I couldn't find what I needed I decided to rip a piece of Plywood (of course no safety items on saw
To make a long story short I still have the scars both 1/2" to 3/4" long on my left hand where piece of plywood went in web part of hand between thumb and index finger and came out between index and middle finger. I couldn't pull the piece out myself , all alone but thankfully Wifes grandfather drove up the road ,I stopped him and after 5 min or so He pulled the 12" to 15" piece out
I NOW ALWAYS STAND TO SIDE OF PIECE BEING RIPPED OR CUT. and try never to remove the safety items to prevent a Kick Back

Transit · Nov 9, 2009

Table saws, radial saws, don't forget 7 inch circular saws too. Lots of people hold the blade guard open or brace a 2 x across their upper leg and cut their leg. Dull blades are dangerous, for some blinking is a dangerous thing to do.

deereboy72 · Nov 10, 2009

worlds safest table saw

YouTube - THE WORLD'S SAFEST TABLE SAW - Will Not Cut your fingers!

Cat_Driver · Nov 10, 2009

Worst bruise I ever had came from a kickback on a 3/4 sheet of ply wood.

That whole sheet kicked back and darn near cut me in half. I had a bruise 3/4" thick and across my whole gut that turned black and blue for three weeks.

That was the last time I used that machine and it will be a cold day before I fire that saw up again.

Shirleyshusband · Nov 11, 2009

Glad you're only bruised!

We have a 16" table saw in the shop. About 20 years ago I was ripping a 16' 2 x 4. It caught on the last two feet and flew back over 30' in the air before it hit a wire fence. Yep, I was standing to the side!

About 15 years ago, I was setting up our 20" planer. I measured the thickness wrong and had the blades set too HIGH. I pushed in a 4' 1 x 8 and before I knew what happend I was on the floor looking up. The board had kicked back, hit me square in the hip and put me down. That hurt for awhile...