Tips & tricks from experienced pros on how to prevent From kickback on table saw
If you have ever uses a table saw before, you understand that there are a lot of safety precautions you need to use to help make sure you do everything the right way to keep yourself safe. One of the biggest problems that happens with table saws is the kickback. The kickback happens when the wood hits the back of the blade and it can send the wood flying back and it can cause serious injury in some situations.
Luckily for you, there are ways to try and prevent the kickback to help give you a safer experience overall. The following information will help you to prevent table saw kickback when you operate the saw.
What You Will Need To Follow This Tutorial
As with a lot of other tutorials you are going to follow, there’s no better way to learn from a tutorial than having the item in front of you. This will help you to identify the specific parts of the unit we mention so you can easily see for yourself. However, if that is not possible than that’s fully understandable.
If you do have a table saw handy, then you should also be sure you have some stock to cut for demonstration purposes and also ensure you have the proper safety equipment at all times including safety glasses. With the table saw, you will be able to see exactly what you need to do with the saw in order to prevent kickback when you use it.
Last but not least, you should have a pen and notebook handy to type with whenever you need to write something down. Over the course of the tutorial, chances are good that you will learn some helpful tips and tricks to get the best results and you’ll want to write them down so you don’t forget.
Recommended Reading : Check our list of top jobsite table saw available in market.
Step By Step Instructions - Prevent Table Saw Kickback
Understand What Causes It
In general, you will find that kickback happens when the hood hits the back of the blade or the wood happens to bind. Some of the most common causes of kickback that you will find include a board being warped, twisted or cupped so that it binds against the blade, the kerf closing after the cut pinches the blade, the side of the wood against the saw not being straight, the blade not being parallel to the fence, or a cut-off getting trapped between the blade and the fence.
No matter what the cause might be, the velocity of the blade has the ability to lift the board and send it flying through the air. If it send the wood flying, it’s going to come out flying fast and it can even fly hard enough to get stuck into plywood. Clearly this is something you want to avoid at all costs and this helps to highlight the reasoning why safety glasses are so incredibly important.
Benefits Of Reducing Kickback
As you might have already guessed, there are a ton of benefits when it comes to reducing kickback on the table saw and the biggest one is the safety as already briefly outlined below, Reducing kickback means you reduce the chances of sending a board flying through the air and it also helps to ensure you do things safer as well.
When the blade grabs the board and pulls it into the blade if your hand is on it then chances are good that your hand might go with it and you run the risk of losing your fingers. Kickback happens so incredibly fast that there’s no way you can react quick enough to consciously pull back your hand in time. This is why it is so crucial to learn how to prevent kickback instead of trying to help yourself after it already happens.
Use Push Sticks
The push sticks are going to be your friend and they can help to make sure you have a safe experience at all times and you keep all of your fingers intact. If you happen to cut anything that is less than a foot wide, I highly recommend using a push stick to help you get control over the wood. If you’re like a lot of other people
you probably get really nervous when you’re cutting small stock because you realize how unsafe and dangerous it can be without a push stick. Of course, you might get lucky and you’re fine but luck only lasts so luck before you become unlucky. For the benefit of everyone involved and to help ensure a safe experience, please use push sticks whenever possible.
Riving Knives
One of the best things you can do to try and prevent kickback is to use some type of a riving knife of a splitter along with an anti-kickback device. The riving knife works to hold open the kerf behind the blade to make sure that the wood can’t close when you are cutting it. Without it, if the kerf happens to pinch the back of the blade then the board would go flying. However
with this particular device, you’re going to find that it will hold down the wood against the table so it has nowhere to go and it will not fly across the room if anything happens. This is going to help ensure that if kickback does happen, it will greatly reduce the danger that might happen.
On the market today, you will see more and more new table saws coming with this type of safety equipment included to help prevent kickback. However, the options are pretty limited when it comes to older models because you have to rely on aftermarket products to get the job done. Be sure to pay close attention to the specifics of the product before you actually buy it.
Use Your Fence Correctly
One of the other ways to help make sure you reduce the amount of kickback you experience is to ensure you are using the fence of the saw correctly. The wood needs to be flat and the side that is up against the fence needs to be perfectly straight while the blade stays parallel to the fence. You should never try to freehand a cut because all it does is set yourself up for serious injury and problems.
Additionally, you want to make sure that you forget about the fence and do not use it if you are cross cutting wood or material that is very narrow. In most cases, there isn’t enough wood that goes against the fence so it can’t control it. If you have to cut narrow stock, you should try and use a miter gauge to push the wood forward as you cut it.
If you find it necessary to have a stop when you are cutting, then you can choose to clamp a short piece of wood to the fence or you can clamp on to the miter gauge you are using. Push your stock all the way up against it in order to get your measurement but ensure the stop is behind the blade. If it’s not behind the blade you run the risk of the cut-off getting trapped between the blade and the fence which could then lead to a serious and dangerous kickback from the table saw.
How To Avoid Kickback On The Table Saw
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Conclusion
As you have probably noticed, there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind when it comes to preventing the kickback on a table saw. You want to make sure that you follow all of the information provided above to ensure a safe experience every time you use the saw.
The information provided above is not only going to provide you with all of the information you need to prevent kickback, but it will help to make sure you know how to have a safer experience overall. I hope you have enjoyed all of the information you have read so far and you use it to the best of your advantage!
Be sure to share this article with your friends and family if you think they would enjoy it and be sure to leave a comment below with any thoughts or advice you might have!
