[RobinDobbie]

Saw this video a few weeks ago when I was looking at different spline jigs for inspiration for building my own.

At 1:08 this guy starts making a cut, realizes his blade is too low, brings the board back with the blade still spinning. Then, he raises the saw blade while the thing's still running, and then finishes the cut.

He replied soon after my comment saying that was holy-crap-unsafe saying if I had kickback doing that it must mean my fence isn't aligned. I just let it go because people can be stupid if they want. But then he just replied again suggesting a lesson on kickback is in order. Oh wow. Coming from the guy who runs wood backwards? Then watch what he does with his left hand during the whole cut.

It's funny that he's not using a riving knife or splitter giving his only stated reason for what causes kickback.

And of course, more gold, "as I am 56 and a professional woodworker with all my fingers it would appear I don't take unnecessary risks."

 

[Acercanto]

Wow, having all his fingers just means his luck hasn't run out yet!
I'd be more worried about the sound of his saw; it sounds like the blade is dinging on something whenever it spins down.

Acer

 

[Lilblee]

HOLY CRAP!!!!! I find myself taking a risk or two every once in a while; followed by a thought of "Dang that was stupid" but WOW!!! Why would he feel like he should have to reach over the blade like that and incorporate his left hand in holding down the piece? Why would he not finish that cut, raise the blade and cut it again? And most of all. How the heck did he just avoid taking a piece of MDF to the chest? By taking an unnecessary to me would be cutting to 6"; starting the cut and realizing the push stick is across the shop and continuing the cut anyway. And he tried to justify this? What a maroon!

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[Lilblee]

I read a lot of you guys talking about splitters, and riving knives. Other than dado cuts, do you remove your splitters/riving knives for other reasons? What are these reasons?

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[cabinetman]

Pulling a piece backwards...a stroke of genius. Looks like he had one of those genius injuries finding out you can't stop a saw blade with your little finger.

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[woodnthings]

yes, but

Quote from post #4:

I read a lot of you guys talking about splitters, and riving knives. Other than dado cuts, do you remove your splitters/riving knives for other reasons? What are these reasons?

A riving knife will raise and lower with the blade, a splitter is a larger metal plate that stays in a fixed position and height. Since the riving knife will be lower than the top of the blade by a small amount is it seldom in the way of any type of cut.
A splitter will be in the way and block the cut since it's higher than the top of the blade on some types of cut, like a rabbet. If it isn't a "through" cut, meaning the blade must come all the way through the work to allow the splitter to follow in the kerf, then the splitter must come off.

Here the splitter is also part of the blade guard:

 

[woodnthings]

running wood "backwards"?

I have withdrawn a workpiece, moving it back towards me, after making a partial cut with no issues. The kerf has already been made by the blade and is no less safe than pushing it all the way through. However, there may be other issues depending on the specific conditions .... blade, wood, fence alignment etc. It's your option as to whether to stop the blade or not, but a stopped blade can cause no harm of course.

 

[Lilblee]

I always complete the cut then adjust the blade and cut again. I am just a little more comfortable that way. My saw tends to vibrate a little more when powering down and I'm always scared the vibrating will cause the piece to move into the blade resulting in me eating a piece of wood. Although I have been known to not mind a little sawdust in my morning coffee, this isn't my ideal way of ingesting some roughage.

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[Dave Paine]

I read a lot of you guys talking about splitters, and riving knives. Other than dado cuts, do you remove your splitters/riving knives for other reasons? What are these reasons?

My first table saw did not have a riving knife, so I installed a Micro splitter in the insert. I did not like the distance between the blade and the splitter which was part of the guard.

I only removed this splitter if I changed the insert, e.g., to the original insert when doing dado cuts.

My present saw has a riving knife which can be set to be just below the blade height. Now I can keep the riving knife in place when doing dado cuts with the normal blade (multiple passes).

The only time I remove the riving knife is if I install the dado stack due to this being 8in blades and too short for the riving knife.

The person in the original video is crazy. He is playing the odds and at some point they will catch up with him. A good example that not everything on the internet is worth seeing - or believing.

 

[cabinetman]

Better yet, to just get your adjustments right the first time.

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[Lilblee]

Better yet, to just get your adjustments right the first time.





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Lol, I agree, but I'm a little slow sometimes lol

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[cabinetman]

Lol, I agree, but I'm a little slow sometimes lol

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Me too...the older I get.:laughing: It's easy to see blade height compared to stock height.

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[ryan50hrl]

I pull wood back if the cut isn't finished. I have for years without an issue. The kerf is in place, and with a properly aligned fence it should stay centered on the blade.

 

[TimPa]

i've pulled back as well, maybe not as far as he did. the ONLY issue i can share is that wood may sometimes close up, as we all know, during the cut. will not be a problem on the front of the blade as it is going down toward the table, but the back of the blade is lifting, and is where the pinch starts. would not be a good thing happening while you are reaching up there.

we had wood pinch so fast that it stopped our 3hp radial arm saw cold halfway through the board.

 

[Toolman2]

From what I could see, he's an accident waiting to happen. In my opinion, pulling the piece back is the least of his worries. I agree with the dangerous position he puts his left hand in; one slip and it's a trip to the ER.

Also, he needs a better push stick/block, preferably one that has more forward overhand to hold the piece down, especially since he's not using a feather board or similar hold-down.:thumbdown:

 

[Pirate]

I pull wood back if the cut isn't finished. I have for years without an issue. The kerf is in place, and with a properly aligned fence it should stay centered on the blade.

I have also done the same many times, with no problems. You do have to have the saw set up right, and be aware of whats going on.

The scariest thing on the video, is the saw, and the operator. Not so much, what he's, doing, but how. Reaching across the blade to hold down the wood.. No. I don't even do that!
It sounds like he has a bent blade.

Someone mentioned their saw vibrates when winding down. In this case it might be safer to back the wood out of a partial cut, with the motor running.

 

[RobinDobbie]

He replied late last night asking if I'd ever used a table saw. I said, "Absolutely. Have you ever read up on table saw safety?" Looks like his reply to that was to delete both my comments on his safety, as well as his replies.

I didn't mean to be rude to the guy. I almost wish I hadn't responded to his second reply. My initial statement might still be there and stand as a warning. I know you guys might do the backwards thing sometimes, but it really is a super bad idea to let people think it's ok. I think if you're going to make a video on how to make something that potentially thousands of people are going to see, you shouldn't be that complacent about safety. Not everyone watching the video is going to have a quality saw with a fence and blade that are even able to be properly aligned. I say even if the fence is perfectly aligned there's still a risk.

 

[ryan50hrl]

Where does the risk come from? It's no more a risk than continuing to feed forward.

 

[RobinDobbie]

There's always a chance that the work piece could catch and get thrown if it's allowed to go the direction of the blade. I really can't believe I have to explain that to you, considering most of you have probably been woodworking many times, if not orders of magnitude longer than I have.

You wouldn't ever point a gun at someone, even if you knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's not loaded, because you just completely reassembled it and cleaned it. For me it's just a never do it ever kind of thing.

 

[cabinetman]

Where does the risk come from? It's no more a risk than continuing to feed forward.

So, are you saying there's no more risk even if wood is fed from the back of the saw and moved to the front?

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