Two foolish mistakes at table saw cost me, dearly - Graphic Photos!

[Ted Reischl]

For the life of me I cannot understand all the videos I see of people pushing work through a TS with their right hand and the left hand pushing the cutoff past the blade, sometimes quite close.

I absolutely never, ever, push anything through the TS with my right hand as the push block. Ever. I use push shoes that I make on the cnc router with a nice saw handle that sits way above the stock. My left hand does nothing. The cutoff stops when it is severed, the blade does not reach out and grab it so I see no point in pushing it past the blade. Typically I will push the piece I am cutting past the blade and use the heel of the push show to move the piece clear of the blade. I am very careful about that last, making sure I am well past the blade. I am tall and have long arms so it is easy for me to do. Been doing it this way for about forty years now.

Oh, sheet stock. . . If what I am cutting off is like 18 inches wide or greater, then yes, I will push it thru with my right hand since a push shoe doesn't work real well doing that type of cut.

Another observation: I am fed up with folks who use european style saws stating that a "proper" fence is the one they use. I use a long fence to straighten the edge of boards, just like is done on a jointer. Try that with a European fence. I even have one that is about 8 feet long to work on longer pieces. My rip fence is a UniFence which I can shorten just like a European style fence. I have run it that way and well, it just does not seem all that advantageous to me. Once I discovered I could create a straight edge on a TS just as well, maybe better, than a jointer I sold the jointer.

[Lance Conry]

Hi Bruce,

I'm really sorry to hear of your misfortune. I shattered a bone in my foot with permanent repercussions several years ago. It really can knock the wind from your sails. It's a humbling reminder that despite our best efforts and intentions, accidents can and do happen. We can plan and mitigate as much as we are able, but at the end of it all, to guarantee safety, we'd have to spend our leisure time sitting on the couch watching TV instead of pursuing our hobbies and interests ... and who wants to do that!

Unless the guard gets in the way, I see no benefits of not using it. Can anyone give some practicial examples of why the guard (unless it is a bad one) should not be used?

Simon

Hi Simon,

This is not why a blade guard "should" not be used, but rather an example of why one "would" not be used.

When I first started using a table saw, I was looking after a friend's saw. It is an older unit, and unlike your Sawstop, when you want do do a non through-cut, or use a sled, removing the blade guard is a good five minute (at least) exercise. You need to turn off the power at the wall, drop the blade most of the way down into the cavity, remove the insert, and get your hand with a socket/spanner inside the cabinet cavity (and in most cases, slice your hand or fore-arm on the blade teeth as you manoeuvre) and remove two nuts, which allows the blade guard to be removed. Do a couple of cuts, and reverse the entire procedure again. Do this several times over the course of an evening, and you've lost a fair bit of time to taking the blade guard on and off. I know my friend never had the blade guard installed because he considered it too inconvenient (plus he knows better craftsmen who do it, so it must be ok). I'm a bit of a stickler, so went through the motions each time, bit it was very inconvenient, and gets old very fast.

In my mind, this was a case of the manufacturer needing to provide a blade guard, but did nothing to encourage people to use it. A bit like a car manufacturer providing seat belts, but which require occupants to carry a spanner with them, to bolt/un-bolt the belt every time they put it on/took it off. Would there be any wonder why fewer people would use seat belts?

I now have a high quality cabinet saw, and there are so many little "features" that make it safe. One being that it is dead easy and FAST to switch between the blade guard and riving knife. 10 seconds and I'm done.

Lance