Kickback

[Jim Dwight]

I like dado blades for dados, I do not use one of my routers unless the workpiece is quite large. If you needed dados all along the workpiece, it is very handy to arrange the dados so you can cut from both sides. That keeps you from trying to cut a dado so far out from the fence. That doesn't work with a stopped dado. Any table saw cut where the width and length of the workpiece is similar is dangerous on the table saw. A dado goes from a dangerous to a normal type cut when you cut only the half of the workpiece closet to the rip fence (assuming a roughly square piece).

[Jacob Reverb]

This thread made me think back to my days with the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild. They teach a table saw safety class there in which they force kickback situations using that pink foam insulation. I never did the class but I heard that it took a long time to get all the foam fragments cleaned up. I guess it was pretty spectacular.

Can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere I saw pics of what happened when a guy was ripping long, skinny strips of wood on the TS and got a kickback. I guess the length of the strips gave the blade plenty of time to get the thrown workpiece up to speed, because when it kicked back, that skinny strip of wood launched out of the table saw and went THROUGH the tailgate of the pickup truck parked behind the saw!

I try never to stand behind the blade anymore after seeing that.

OP, glad you're OK, and thanks for posting up.

[Tom Bender]

If your push block is a 2 x 6 x 2" longer than the workpiece it can have a 2" wide strip of plywood glued to the bottom to push against the workpiece. This keeps your hands away, keeps pressure down over the blade and keeps the workpiece flat.

[Ben Rivel]

Glad this wasnt worse for you. This is one of the reasons I use my router with a guide rail adapter to cut dados whenever possible.

[David Less]

NEVER EVER STAND directly behind the table saw blade when making a cut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Always stand off to one side. I see so much of this very bad practice.

The kick back is the TS killer not the finger in the blade mistake, well...that sucks too. Respect the machine and don't rush

[Karl Loeblein]

Daniel, Have you checked out unidirectional rollers guides to help prevent kickback and maintain even pressure against both the table and fence?

JessEm makes some really nice guides, but they're a bit expensive:

http://www.jessemdirect.com/product_p/04301.htm

Below some cheaper Guides & track from Woodstock:

Woodstock W1104 Board Buddies, Yellow

https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-W11.../dp/B0000223VK

Woodstock W1108 24-Inch Track for Board Buddies
https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-W11.../dp/B0000223VG

[David Buchhauser]

Daniel, Have you checked out unidirectional rollers guides to help prevent kickback and maintain even pressure against both the table and fence?

JessEm makes some really nice guides, but they're a bit expensive:

http://www.jessemdirect.com/product_p/04301.htm

Below some cheaper Guides & track from Woodstock:

Woodstock W1104 Board Buddies, Yellow

https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-W11.../dp/B0000223VK

Woodstock W1108 24-Inch Track for Board Buddies
https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-W11.../dp/B0000223VG

Karl,
I have a pair of the Yellow Board Buddies for one of my table saws - and they work great! An excellent safety product that also help to do better work by keeping the work piece against the fence as it is pushed thru the saw.
David

[Mark Klosky]

I am glad that the OP was not hurt to bad. I have a friend who ran his hand through a dado set, it was UGLY!

First off, you should never try to back a piece out of the spinning blades for a stopped cut, or in your case a stopped dado. Shut off the saw and wait for the blade to stop. A shop that I used to work in the owner would lift his sheet off the dado set for a stopped dado, but that didn't look real safe to me.

I heard you mention that your dado was not uniform in depth. the fix for this is easy. In fact this is how we did it in that same shop, and I still turn to this technique regularly in my shop. After roughing your dado on the saw you can chase it using a Whiteside 3000A or a 3000 bit in a small router. This will give you a uniform dado depth with a nice flat bottom. If you find yourself turning to this with any regularity then you might consider having a dedicated small router setup for this task.