Tablesaw Usage

[transatlantic]

So every now and then (usually when a kickback thread is started here, so monthly ) I like to scroll through a bunch of tablesaw safety videos to refresh myself with safe practices. One of the rules is that you should always orient your cut such that the waste piece comes off on the side of the blade opposite to the fence, so that it can't cant jammed between blade and fence and thrown back at you. But it got me wondering, assuming I have my table saw set up properly, with a riving knife and my fence parallel to the blade, why can't the non waste piece also get jammed and thrown back at you? Say for example I was ripping off an inch from from 5 inch width board and tension released caused it to get jammed?

I'm not even sure what would happen in this scenario. If you were using push sticks, would the force you're exerting to move the board through the cut counteract it being flung back? And if you're using the long style of push stick where you're only applying force at the front of the board, wouldn't that result in the board wanting to flip up as it is trying to push back but is only supported from the front by the push stick end?

Finally, if you have a board that you can't orient such that the waste piece is on the opposite side of blade to fence due to your table not being big enough, I guess that you shoudn't be using the table saw for that operation? even with a riving knife? and should use something else like a track saw, circular saw etc?

 

[Adam9453]

Assuming your fence doesn't extend past the centre of the blade then there is nothing for the piece to get jammed between.

 

[PAC1]

A few points:
1. A push stick will NOT stop kickback it only stops your hand from ending up in the blade.
2. Where is your Crown Guard when all this is happening. A good Crown Guard is a deterrent for Kickback as it stops the wood riding up the back of the blade
3. There is a world of difference between cutting timber and sheet materials. Hence for Scenario 1 your rip fence needs to be short so that the wood cannot bind between the fence and the back of the saw. If the fence is long then the event you fear will occur sooner or later. Sheet materials should not be prone to the same release of forces as timber so a long parallel or running out a thou or two works.
4. Scenario 2 as long as you are not trapping the waste between the blade and fence and as long as the piece is fully supported and can move parallel to the blade then you should not have a problem. The saw does not know the piece you want from the waste. I have a sliding table and regularly cut with the waste to the right

 

[andersonec]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7d2vt ... _lifestyle

Andy

 

[Graham Orm]

Your fence should not go past the centre of the blade.