How safe are push sticks?

[Alfred Hoffmann]

I just narrowly escaped injury by a slipping push stick. Over the years I made several from scrap wood - just a flat piece notched on one end. This scared me enough to build one the hugs the rip fence. I made one handle that can be moved to several blocks with different side widths which can be easily replaced. No more slipping off the wood pushed through the saw!

[Pat Germain]

That's a nice rig there, Alfred. Push sticks are obviously safer than nothing, but I think the effectiveness depends on the design.

I have one called a "Saw-Aid" which I really like. Lots of folks like the Gripper system.

[george wilson]

I just make sure that the end of the push stick is well rounded. You can kick a hole in your palm if it isn't. I like to keep my hands farther away from the blades than some types of push sticks allow. I guess,like me,some workers occasionally use 2 push sticks?

[Russ Boyd]

Nice setup. I personally like the type that has a handle similar to yours. The stick kind worry me, but like the others said are better than nothing. Russ

[David DeCristoforo]

I think push sticks are like any other device or tool in that they have their uses but are not always going to guarantee safety. I'll give you an example. One time I needed to rip 1/8" off the side of a small piece of wood. It was about six inches long, about an inch and a quarter wide and an inch thick. So, obviously push sticks were going to figure into the equation. I set the (table) saw blade to just high enough to cut through the piece and began to push it through with a hooked stick on the end and a flat one pushing it tight to the fence. Evidently the hook was not sufficient to hold the piece down on the table and the blade tore it out from under the stick and fired it back at me. It hit the end of my thumb like a bullet shattering the bone in the first joint, breaking the bone in the second joint and cracking the next bone "down".

At this point I can look back on that and easily see what I did wrong. But at the time I was young and inexperienced and I thought that, because I was using push sticks, I was "safe".

[keith ouellette]

I think push sticks are like any other device or tool in that they have their uses but are not always going to guarantee safety. I'll give you an example. One time I needed to rip 1/8" off the side of a small piece of wood. It was about six inches long, about an inch and a quarter wide and an inch thick. So, obviously push sticks were going to figure into the equation. I set the (table) saw blade to just high enough to cut through the piece and began to push it through with a hooked stick on the end and a flat one pushing it tight to the fence. Evidently the hook was not sufficient to hold the piece down on the table and the blade tore it out from under the stick and fired it back at me. It hit the end of my thumb like a bullet shattering the bone in the first joint, breaking the bone in the second joint and cracking the next bone "down".

At this point I can look back on that and easily see what I did wrong. But at the time I was young and inexperienced and I thought that, because I was using push sticks, I was "safe".

I was just thinking of something similar to your story the other day. I was ripping a piece of lumber and had started out pushing it with my thumb over the end. It ran into some resistance and I wondered ' If this thing kicked back hard could I break my thumb?' Then I didn't think of it again till I read your post.

Now from what you say I gather it could easily break a finger or at least push it out of joint.

[Ed Calkins]

I think push sticks are like any other device or tool in that they have their uses but are not always going to guarantee safety. I'll give you an example. One time I needed to rip 1/8" off the side of a small piece of wood. It was about six inches long, about an inch and a quarter wide and an inch thick. So, obviously push sticks were going to figure into the equation. I set the (table) saw blade to just high enough to cut through the piece and began to push it through with a hooked stick on the end and a flat one pushing it tight to the fence. Evidently the hook was not sufficient to hold the piece down on the table and the blade tore it out from under the stick and fired it back at me. It hit the end of my thumb like a bullet shattering the bone in the first joint, breaking the bone in the second joint and cracking the next bone "down".

At this point I can look back on that and easily see what I did wrong. But at the time I was young and inexperienced and I thought that, because I was using push sticks, I was "safe".

Wow, David -- what did you do wrong --
I think I would do about the same thing?? Ed

[David DeCristoforo]

"...what did you do wrong..."

The stick I was using to push the piece down onto the table should have been "longer"... Like this:

113649

[Rod Sheridan]

Wow, David -- what did you do wrong --
I think I would do about the same thing?? Ed


Ripping a six inch long piece of wood on a tablesaw was the first mistake.

If you want to do that, you need a sled with hold down clamps......Rod.

[glenn bradley]

I have a magnetic push stick. It is stuck to my jointer's DC and has been for years. They are a little too dainty for me and I don't feel comfortable with them. I have several shop made blocks and your fence straddling one looks great. I would have to attach the handle permanently to feel good about it though. Currently a pair of Grr-Rippers and sleds with hold downs take care of 99% of my needs. Ripping a 6" piece on the TS is no problem with a Grr-Ripper or similar appliance but, like others, I prefer a sled for small pieces.

[Chip Lindley]

The *saw handle* pusher is a Good design, but with one *flaw*! It pushes straight ahead with no provision to put pressure against the fence. Either a featherboard or 2nd pusher stick would have to be included in the setup.

Call me UNSAFE (and I know you will) but for pushing small strips, I have used the same old blue-handled ice pick as a pusher for 20 years. It lays on top of my Biesemeyer at the ready. I can both push, and angle the push toward the fence at the same time. With pressure toward the fence, I feel anything that goes wrong would go to the *right* and not straight back at me! I have always been more concerned with *dinging* a carbide sawblade with the steel tip than personal injury!

[Frank Drew]

Ripping a six inch long piece of wood on a tablesaw was the first mistake.

If you want to do that, you need a sled with hold down clamps......Rod.

I don't agree; in terms of safety, the length of the piece is usually less an issue than the width. There's nothing inherently unsafe about ripping a short board (e.g. six inches) if you can keep your hands away from the blade, using a push stick or not depending on the board's width.

Jointing a short length... now that's an entirely different matter :eek:.

In over twenty-five years full-time furniture-making I had a few accidents, but none when using push sticks. I came to rely on them when ripping narrow stuff, and always used one at the rear end of a board I was face planing on the jointer, a broad pusher with a handle like the rear handle on a plane.

Chip's ice pick pusher isn't all that uncommon; I occasionally used something similar, a short length of nail in the end of a length of dowel rod.

[Cody Colston]

I never use push "sticks" at the TS. I use push shoes, similar to the second sketch in David's post. With the shoe type, you can keep pressure down on the piece while also keeping it tight against the fence. A simple stick does nothing to help hold the stock down and it can easily be lifted by the back of the TS blade.

I keep one shoe on top of my fence and several in a TS cabinet drawer. They are expendable as the bottoms routinely get chewed up by the TS blade. I'll then cut them off and glue on another cleat. When they are too shallow to use anymore, I toss them and make more out of scrap plywood.

I see nothing inherently dangerous with ripping a 6" piece of stock using a push shoe. I do it all the time.

[David DeCristoforo]

I see nothing inherently dangerous with ripping a 6" piece of stock using a push shoe.

That's what I'm talkin' about. If I had been using something like that it would have been no problem. But I was young and stupid. Now I'm old(er) and stupid but I know better how to safely rip short pieces of wood!

[Ed Calkins]

Informative thread, thanks to all. I have about 40 years of experience on my Dad's old Craftsman 8" table saw and I am soon getting a 10" cabinet saw. I only know very little about TS's having done the minimum with the saw I have (mostly rips and if I bound anything up the saw would stop rather than a dangerous kick-back due to limited power). I know there is a lot more to know to really utilize my new cabinet saw functionally and to do it safely. Is there a good book that anyone can recommend that really properly addresses the basics and possibilities of a good modern cabinet saw? Thanks, Ed

[Cody Colston]

Jim Tolpin's book Table Saw magic is a good one.

http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Tolpins-Table-Saw-Magic/dp/1558705120

[Bill Wyko]

Much, much safer than push fingers. LMAO:D:D:D