Table saw safety question

[Mike Cutler]

Remember that machines are by their nature "lazy" and will do almost anything to avoid doing the work of cutting, whether that means pushing the workpiece away from the blade or lifting it up off the table, or throwing it at you, or grabbing and throwing a lathe gouge, or smacking you in the gut with the workpiece at the drill press, or breaking your arm when the drill bit on a hand drill punches through a piece of steel and jams...it's helpful to think of them as recalcitrant mules, sometimes (don't stand behind the mule or the TS blade!)

Have fun and welcome to the forum...

Jacob
Is this all personal experience??
I never broke an arm with a drill, but they've definitely taken me for a ride cutting holes through floors to install plumbing.
Having horses, It's the front end I worry about most. The backend is pretty capable too.

[mat price]

Jacob
Is this all personal experience??
I never broke an arm with a drill, but they've definitely taken me for a ride cutting holes through floors to install plumbing.
Having horses, It's the front end I worry about most. The backend is pretty capable too.

Mike, I grew up in a plumbing contracting family. We had that old as heck Milwaukee beast drill and planatary bits to cut through top plates and joists. That thing would tear your arm off if it caught a knot lol

[Charles Lent]

I agree with the others about keeping the longer side of the piece against the fence, or finding another way to make the cut.

A saw sled is a great way to do these cuts safely, but when using a sled, make certain that the blade is hidden and protected as it passes into the fence piece closest to you. Keep your hands to either side of this blade position when feeding the sled into the cut. It's good to have a strip of clear Lexan plastic above the blade that's at least 4" wide. This will reduce the amount of saw dust being thrown into your face and also prevent other possible blade contact as you work on both sides of the blade.


A few more table saw or other power tool safety tips -

My uncle, who first taught me much of the woodworking that I know taught me that with a table saw, or any other tool with a fast moving blade that I needed to keep my hands, fingers, and any other part of my body at least 6" from the blade or cutter. He said that if I ever realize that what I'm doing will result in me getting closer than that, to stop and find another way. It was 6 months after I bought my first Grripper that I was able to convince myself that it was OK for my hand to pass over the blade while holding onto the Grripper handle. I finally added "unless you are holding securely onto the safety device" to my uncle's rule and now have and use 3 Grrippers, 2 for the table saw, and 1 with the narrow side removed for use on my router table. I'm 77 and this training has kept me from serious cutting tool injury my whole working life.

Cross cutting while using a miter gauge works well, as long as you can hold or clamp the piece being cut tight to the miter gauge. When doing this you can use the fence as a stop, but only if you have a fence that can be adjusted to end before the piece being cut touches the blade, or you can clamp a block to the fence that ends before the work touches the blade if the block is only used as a fence spacer the stop for determining the length of the cut piece, so the off cut can move free of the blade and fence as it's being cut.

Never stand directly behind the blade as you feed the piece in. Stand to either side of the cut, so the possible kick back will have less chance of hitting your body.

Always use a material feeding method that holds the work down as well as pushes it forward, especially when cutting smaller pieces. This will significantly reduce the chance of kick back. To me, the push sticks that only feed the board without holding it down are totally unacceptable, even if two are used. Let the blade lift the board even slightly and there is a good chance of kick back.

Always keep the entire top of the table saw clear of everything but the piece or pieces being cut. Shut the saw off if any loose off cuts need to be moved away from the blade.

Never reach over the spinning blade to retrieve a part or off cut. Turn the saw off and wait for the blade to stop before reaching there. I added an out feed table to my Unisaw to catch the pieces that I cut, so there is no temptation to reach over the blade to catch a piece before it falls.

Unplug the saw and keep the plug visible when changing the blade, setting up the tool, or repairing the tool. My Unisaw plugs into an outlet next to and slightly above the top of my saw, and the plug is kept within a few inches of the outlet by a piece of nylon cord. I can easily see when it's unplugged, yet it's easy to reach the plug and plug it in when I'm ready to use the saw again.

Never make a bevel cut where the off cut will be trapped between the fence and the blade. If using a right tilt saw, move the fence to the left side of the blade for the cut. Move the fence to the right of the blade for the same cut on a left tilt saw. The angled blade should never be pointed toward the fence.

Never move the fence with the saw running. Always turn it off before making a position adjustment.

I added a ceiling mounted laser line generator that has a one button remote to turn it on and off. The remote is attached to the top of my fence with Velcro. The laser is adjusted to draw a red line to show the cutting line of my Unisaw and this line shows on the top of my work being cut. If my fingers should ever have a red line on them, they are in the wrong place. This is most important when doing non through cuts and dado cuts where you can't see the blade. It might lift or hit a thin spot in the work and break through.

I have one of the Delta Pop-UP Splitters on my Unisaw, and use it whenever ripping solid wood. I have never had plywood or cross cuts of solid wood close up against the blade and pinch it, so my splitter is only used and needed when ripping solid wood, which frequently does pinch the blade. I Have a Brett Guard that too, but frequently even this guard must be moved out of the way for blind cuts and when using the Grrippers.


Charley

[Rod Sheridan]

My uncle, who first taught me much of the woodworking that I know taught me that with a table saw, or any other tool with a fast moving blade that I needed to keep my hands, fingers, and any other part of my body at least 6" from the blade or cutter. He said that if I ever realize that what I'm doing will result in me getting closer than that, to stop and find another way. It was 6 months after I bought my first Grripper that I was able to convince myself that it was OK for my hand to pass over the blade while holding onto the Grripper handle. I finally added "unless you are holding securely onto the safety device" to my uncle's rule and now have and use 3 Grrippers, 2 for the table saw, and 1 with the narrow side removed for use on my router table. I'm 77 and this training has kept me from serious cutting tool injury my whole working life.









Charley

Charley you had some wonderful safety ideas, thanks for posting those.

I have to disagree with the Gripper however.

Anytime you have to remove the guards to perform an operation, you're either using the wrong machine or the wrong guard.

Regards, Rod.

[Charles Lent]

Rod,

I felt that way too, until I gained some experience using the Grripper. Now I'm completely converted when it comes to sawing small pieces. To me, it isn't ideal for doing larger work, but it's ability to hold down and rip an 1/8" wide piece as well as the piece that it is being cut from, all the way past the blade better than any other way that I've found, is what converted me. Every one of us uses our tools for different things and each has an opinion on what works best for them. Like I said, it took me about 6 months to accept and use the Grripper, and for small work where kick back is a frequent concern, I am convinced that the Grripper has it's place as the safer way to do this. There is a safety device built into the Grripper that they don't advertise. If the blade begins cutting into any part of the Grripper a unique plastic smell is emitted. Trust me, you won't cut any further if you smell this. I managed to mis-position one of my Grrippers and shaved the side of one leg. I only cut about 1/8" into it before the smell stopped me. It's strong and like no other. So actually the bridge and handle of the gripper are the guard that protects your hand as long as you hang onto the Grripper handle, and the sudden smell will stop you from cutting if the blade should hit the Grripper way before it hits your hand.

Charley

[Mark e Kessler]

This maybe good advice or bad, I have worked on table saws everything from my first B&D table with the inverted circ saw @10-12yrs old to big ol iron Tanewitz and Oliver direct drive and Sliders. I was/am a cabinetmaker/furniture maker.

I personally have no problems with 4" x 4" on 12" saw or even smaller. The key is that you know the saw ad are comfortable behind it, have a sharp blade and riving knife. I like the blade to be around 1” or more higher than the material I am sure some will gasp at this but I can tell you from 30+ years of using table saws it is the only way for me. I think the recommendation is something like 1/8”? problem with that is that if you get any kind of lift while cutting (usually due to a dull blade) the material can get caught on the top of the blade and guess what… yea I am speaking from experience I had a 36” x 36” ¾” piece of Melamine lift, spin and slam me in the gut on a slider.


What I do is keep my eye on the blade and fingers at all time (sounds obvious but…) 1. always push to the right of the fence with a finger or two on the fence lip if you can and don’t bear fist the material 2. I like to keep a light but firm grip on the material

For #1. If the material gets away from you have a better chance of your hand moving away from the blade not into it
For #2 hard to explain but the point here is that if the blade grabs it you need to know when to let go to reduce the chance of your hand of getting pulled into the blade which goes back to #1…when you let go OR the wood goes on its own while you are pushing your hand goes out of the way.



Caveat, not that a saw kick back is any safer just better than losing body parts. Yes I had plenty of kickbacks, rarely had any kind of injury from it (watch out for mitered kickbacks!)

Caveat of caveat, for me kick back become dangerous if you are cutting a miter with the blade tilted to the fence, I witnessed a kickback of ½” t x 4ish w x 12ish long of walnut about ½ way through the cut..wamo… all I will say is image a knife edge fling through the air… did not end well for that fella. And yes I cut miters with the blade tilted to the fence and material between the fence and blade..

So much to cover here but in the end it is most important to feel relaxed and not nervous, start with large sizes you are comfortable with and go a little smaller as the need arises

mark

[Brian Holcombe]

I think crosscutting while using the fence to set your distance is going to be disaster prone, it does not take much force to move something out of square and your hands are very near to the blade.

If your saw is having trouble crosscutting you may be using the wrong blade.


I use a slider for crosscutting now, but prior to that I simply marked and used a track saw then trimmed the cut square by hand with hand planes.

[Charles Lent]

Mark,

In 66 years of using a table saw, following my uncle's 6" rule for keeping my hands away from the blade, and using hold down type pushing devices I have never had a kick back. I could never bring myself to allow my fingers that close to the blade either. Only in rare cases, when I want the cut to be as straight up and down as possible, do I ever set the blade height to more than 1/2" above the material being cut. Doesn't this tell you something? How many more kick backs do you need to suffer before changing your ways?

Charley

[mat price]

Mark,

In 66 years of using a table saw, following my uncle's 6" rule for keeping my hands away from the blade, and using hold down type pushing devices I have never had a kick back. I could never bring myself to allow my fingers that close to the blade either. Only in rare cases, when I want the cut to be as straight up and down as possible, do I ever set the blade height to more than 1/2" above the material being cut. Doesn't this tell you something? How many more kick backs do you need to suffer before changing your ways?

Charley

Mark I have a couple gripper push blocks and even with the gripper and the blade set just a half tooth above the wood it gives me uneasy feeling passing close to the blade

[Brian Holcombe]

I wouldn't run my hand over the top of the tablesaw blade for any reason, whatsoever. Period.

[Charles P. Wright]

I use a miter gauge with a 6" long 1" thick stop block clamped to the fence. It ends far enough forward, but gives me enough positive registration and simple math (add 1) to the fence scale. I find the simple stock miter gauge is easier than the sled for cross cuts that are not wider than a few inches or longer than a 2-3'.

[Mark e Kessler]

I have had 2 kickbacks that I can remember in 30 years. 6” is venturing into paranoia... 1/2 is ok but too low for me, hell I might be setting it to 2” does anyone really measure that?... And I don’t remember saying that I was suffering, nothing further from the truth.

66 years no kick backs? Now that is impressive working as a full time trades person to achieve I certainly am envious.


W

Mark,

In 66 years of using a table saw, following my uncle's 6" rule for keeping my hands away from the blade, and using hold down type pushing devices I have never had a kick back. I could never bring myself to allow my fingers that close to the blade either. Only in rare cases, when I want the cut to be as straight up and down as possible, do I ever set the blade height to more than 1/2" above the material being cut. Doesn't this tell you something? How many more kick backs do you need to suffer before changing your ways?

Charley

[Jim Becker]

Matt, there's a lot of good advise already. I will add that with the particular type of saw you have you have to be "more careful" relative to the fence because smaller, portable saws tend not to stay completely in alignment. That can affect both ripping and crosscutting when the fence is involved. Alignment is measured in thousandths and the worst case is if material gets pinched between the fence and the blade at the back of the blade if the fence doesn't stay oriented properly. Be careful and work slowly...use push blocks and sleds, and keep your hands as far from the blade as practical at all times.

[Carl Beckett]

I use a miter gauge with a 6" long 1" thick stop block clamped to the fence. It ends far enough forward, but gives me enough positive registration and simple math (add 1) to the fence scale. I find the simple stock miter gauge is easier than the sled for cross cuts that are not wider than a few inches or longer than a 2-3'.

I use a miter guide more than a sled...

[fred everett]

I think it's important to "listen to your gut" with a lot of this stuff – if your instinct tells you some operation isn't safe, very often (in my experience, at least) I've found, later, that my gut was right, even if I couldn't identify what was unsafe at the time. Sometimes in retrospect, you'll realize why your gut was sending you those signals. On the other hand, some things that seem unsafe to a beginner are actually safe (don't ask for an example, because I can't think of one right now, but I know that has also happened to me), but in general I don't think you can go too far wrong by trusting your instincts.

All the safe methods have been discussed. I'll just say the "gut" is an amazing thing. I've had two issues in 20 years....TS kickback and drill press. In both situations my gut said "DON'T" and I didn't listen. The TS kickback happened so fast it was incredible....I was lucky only small scratch. At the DP (with it running) I reached in to grab a smaller piece after the cut....gut said "NO SHUT IT OFF" and I didn't listen.....forstner bit vs finger below. Warning graphic. I listen to my gut intently these days.

DrillPressIssue.jpg