Kickback is real ( and powerful)

[Robert Hayward]

Kickbacks can also drag your hand across the blade,

Been there and did that. 14 years old in 1961 making bee hive supers. Using a wobble dado blade to cut the rabbit for the wax frames to hang from. The blade was so dull it was smoking. Hit a knot and the board tried to go backwards toward me. My right hand was on the far end of the wood and I pushed down hard to stop the board from going backwards. Pulled my hand right across the blade severing my right thumb except for a small section of skin on the back of my hand.

I was fortunate to have parents that had the means to take me to a place that reattached the thumb. The knuckle never did work after that, just flopped around. Two years later back to the hospital, this time at the University of Michigan. They fused the knuckle so my thumb is like a metal rod. At least I still have the thumb, but I have lived my entire adult life with that reminder.

On a side note the board hit me in the chest and knocked the wind out of me. At the hospital while the doctor was planning how to handle my thumb and I was laying there without a shirt on he asked what was in my chest. Huh ? A button from the flannel shirt I was wearing was embedded in my breast plate.

I have had a couple kickbacks since, but I have never been hit again and no, it never slowed me down from woodworking.

Bob

[Chris Parks]

Push sticks make wicked projectiles too.

I wouldn't use one for a bet, unstable and dangerous things but people seem to think that if their hands are far away from the blade then they are totally safe. I will get off my soapbox now and sorry for the diversion.

[Lee Schierer]

I have push sticks that I made and use.

If you want to buy one, here is one link that will lead you to it. There are numerous other links as well, just google it.

http://www.rockler.com/search/go?asu...8d254239752594

A better design of push stick.IMG_0419.jpg Pushing on the back of a board with a forked stick will tend to lift the front end of the piece. My design reaches far enough forward to prevent the front lifting.

[Ole Anderson]

I've had several like the one Ole shows. Underpowered job site saws are the worst bog the saw down then it launches wood back.

Slow learner there Andrew?

[Andrew Hughes]

Slow learner there Andrew?

Yes sir. The only way to learn is the hard way.

[Andrew Seemann]

Back when I was 17 and young and stupid (well, stupider at least), I was free handing a piece of 3/4 inch plywood on the old man's 2 hp craftsman 10" saw. I think the reason I was free handing it was because it was a 26"x26" piece and the fence only went to 24"; teenage logic at its best.

As I got to the end of the cut, I didn't remember to push the sides apart and ended up pinching the back of the cut. It launched back at me, hit me in the stomach at the same time the momentum pushed the far end board up at my face, so I grabbed it to keep it from hitting me in the face. Since the board knocked the wind out of me when I caught it, I dropped it. . . . . . . right back into the blade, which promptly launched it right back into my stomach. That time I fortunately had the good sense to fall to the ground and whimper in the fetal position for the next 15 minutes, rather than get hit him the stomach again and again.

That was the last time I ever freehanded on a tablesaw.

[Andrew Hughes]

Now that's funny Andrew.

[Rick Alexander]

I had a pretty nasty one from ripping a crooked 2x4 when I was about 16. Not again until the last two years I've had 3 in that span. 2 from trying to rip 1/4 inch drawer bottoms (need riving knife and to pay attention) and one trying to adjust a tenon attachment on my TS using too short a setup board and not tightening the hold down good enough. That one would have done some serious damage if I hadn't had a sweatshirt, t shirt, and thick shirt on to protect my belly. Still left a very nasty bruise and cut on my belly - could have measured the tenon size on my skin cuts. 40 years since my first one and 3 in two years. I'm still learning I guess.

[Jerome Stanek]

I had one just before my sons wedding 11 stitches doing a project for his wedding cutting a dado and it kicked back. I did finish after I had the stitches but didn't want to shake hands at the wedding.

[Stan Calow]

This makes a good excuse for that extra padding I carry around the waist.

[Al Launier]

[QUOTE=Nick Schepis;2794367]In this particular instance, I was cutting a 3/8" deep groove (along the grain) in an 8" piece of 1X4.
The throat plate had apparently slightly settled so the corner of my piece got hung up on the lip before the cut was complete.
...... "As I reached down to turn off the saw, I was not careful enough to keep the workpiece firmly in place until the blade underneath it fully stopped, and it caught and Bang Zoom!"

Sorry to hear of your incident & glad it wasn't more serious. Imagine if it had hit you in the eyes.
Not to belabor the point, but I would like to recommend the use of a Paddle Emergency Stop Switch. I place mine on the LH side so I can shut off the motor with my knee. I've used this a number of times. I believe it's a great safety feature.
http://www.grizzly.com/search/?q=(st...stop+OR+switch)

[Charlie Hinton]

This makes a good excuse for that extra padding I carry around the waist.

I have some decorative padding too 😀

[Marc Rochkind]

It would be useful to know what, if any anti-kickback devices were in place. Riving blade? Any sort of kerf separator at all? Blade guard with anti-kickback claws?

My understanding of kickback is that it occurs when the upward-traveling (rearward) teeth grab the wood. Is that what happened in this case? Or something else which you're referring to as "kickback"?

[Jerry Wright]

Local urgent care doctor says kick back injuries ate his most common saw injury - way more prevalent than finger cuts. And yes, my stomach has loomed like some of these images before.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Not to belabor the point, but I would like to recommend the use of a Paddle Emergency Stop Switch. I place mine on the LH side so I can shut off the motor with my knee. I've used this a number of times. I believe it's a great safety feature.
http://www.grizzly.com/search/?q=(st...stop+OR+switch)

Excellent idea, Al. I had one on my old cabinet saw such that I could just tap it with my upper thigh when standing to the left of the blade. VERY handy.