blackdogwoods

I'm new to this forum but have a question. A few weeks ago I had an 8 x 12" board nail me badly when it got pinched at the end of a crosscut. Aside from being extremely painful (I still have a golfball lump on my hipbone although the basketball sized bruise on my stomach is finally gone. . .) I realized how badly that accident could have gone.

I've been around workshops all my life, my Dad was a contractor, and I admit I've never used the table saw guards. Aside from putting that contraption back on my old Craftsman circa 1970 table saw (if I can even find them!) someone told me that if I invested in a good fence on my old saw it would dramatically reduce kickback.

I can't really afford to replace my trusty table saw right now, but wondered if anyone could advise if investing in a new fence is the way to go. If so, would you recommend going with Biesemeyer or vega for this type saw?

Thanks. . .a-bruised-up-but-wiser Mary

Big Dave

A new fence is not going to cure the problem. You should have used a miter guage and a block attached to the fence before the blade so that when the piece your cutting off is cut off it is not pinched between the blade and the fence. The miter guage keeps the other piece from twisting sideways and catching the blade and being thrown at the operator.

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woodnthings

Generally speaking the miter guage is not used in combination with the fence. For reasons above. For crosscutting a number of pieces to the same length, use a stop block set to the desired dimension clamped at the right side of the blade but close to the front of the table. Slide the board over to the block then proceed to cut so the cutoff will just fall loose on the right side of the blade, nothing else in the way. Shut off the saw and retreive the cutoff. Do not reach over and try to carry it back across the blade since it may drop and your instinct will be to catch it. On loose cutoffs I sometimes just push them off the back of the saw with a push stick to clear the way for the next cut. But this requires some experience. bill

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rrich

You have discovered one of the basic ways to cause a kick back. As mentioned above, stock becoming pinched between the fence and blade causes a kick back.

When I have to do a series of repetitive cuts, I clamp a 1" block against the fence. Then set the fence to 1" more than the repetitive cut. The stock should never be able to touch the 1" block and the blade simultaneously.

Then with the miter gage to the right of the blade, position the stock against the 1" block and the miter gage. With both hands, holding the stock to the miter gage, make the cut.

Amazingly this works well on both left and right tilting saws.

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Rich (Tilting right)
Huntington Beach, California
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blackdogwoods

Thanks for the advice! I have more pieces to cut for a blanket chest I'm starting and I will do it this way. Prior to starting larger furniture projects, most of my crosscutting could be handled with a chop saw and I've never had any problems with ripping on a table saw. ;0)

Itchy Brother

Blackdogwoods,You can always make a tablesaw sled for doing your crosscuts.Checkout the internet on how to make one.There are also video's on youtube on making them.It was my first woodworking project.The Golden rule of woodworking is never do crosscuts using the miter and let the board touch your fence.Have fun with your woodworking . Itchy

Domer

All of the other suggestions are good but put your blade guard back on.

Domer