Safety: Kick back can be seriously destructive. Oh yeah, and dangerous.

Don Baker

Member
Messages
17
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
Folks,

I have been using table saws for many years. I currently have a Delta Contractors saw that is about 25 years old. Until today I had never had a serious accident with it. I can't say that anymore. I was trying to slice a very thin shim off of a too small piece of birch and managed to fire it through my shop window and 18 feet into the back yard. Total distance of travel about 30 feet. It took out the window, the screen and one of the false muntins that is between the double glazing.:eek: As you can see from the last picture, the piece managed to get on top of the blade and achieve liftoff. There was birch completely filling the gullets of the saw blade in the area where blade caught the back of the board. Never saw that before and I hope never to see it again.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't forget to put the splitter back after using the dado blade. I am not sure it would have helped as the piece of wood was quite short and would barely have hit the splitter. A riving knife would have prevented this altogether, but, alas, no riving knives on Delta saws.

2. When slicing short, thin pieces use the band saw. This was just going to be used to shim a drawer guide. The finish of the wood off the saw was not an issue.

3. Use a hold down and/or a featherboard. May have worked, but, again, this was a very short piece of wood which is always asking for trouble.

4. Always try to stay out of the firing line of the blade. That one I did right :thumb: or I would be recovering from broken ribs or badly scrambled innards.

I am sure there are a few more lessons you guys can come up with. I am currently coming down from the high of knowing that this birch missile missed me. I can't begin to indicate to you how fast this happened. I had my ear muffs on and didn't hear the window break, so immediately afterwards I was looking around wondering what the heck happened to my wood when I noticed the destruction and popped a fast sweat.

Work safe!!

Don
 

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WHEW ! . . .

Glad you're OK ! Impresive though ! Thanks for the wake-up ! Posts like yours wake everyone back to the real world hazards of our craft. I know I tend to get complacent with the machines. I'll be give'n the TS the stink-eye for awhile again ! Everyone check your fire extinguishers while we're on it !
 
Don,

WOW! Glad you weren' hurt.

Could you show the position of the board when it "caught"? I'm a bit confused with the position of the blade slice/catch in your last pic.

Thanks

P.S. I also have a Delta Contractor saw, but also use a Uniguard blade guard and splitter.
 
I know that some guys need bars on the OUTSIDE of their widows, but man, you need them on the INSIDE :eek:

Sure glad nothing was hurt but your pride, and good for you for sharing your mistake, hopefully it will make us all think again before we do something similar.

Cheers! :thumb:
 
Well, the CoC here prevents me from saying the first words that came out of my mouth after seeing the fist picture, but it's great that you didn't get hurt, and just as great that you shared the story here to serve as a wake-up call. Thanks for posting the reminder.
 
Gees, Don!

I echo everyone's comments. Small pieces on big tools are always a dicey situation. Remember my California Friend I told you about with is small piece on the jointer? Glad you came out better than he did.

The window and screen are way less than a trip to ER.

Many years ago I had a piece clamped in the miter gage and the same thing happened. The miter gage bar impaled itself in the shop door 20 feet behind me. Very impressive! And I needed 7 stitches in my left thumb.

The launch capability of the table saw is very, very powerful and quick.

Like the sergeant said on an old TV show, be careful out there, folks.
 
Greg, in answer to your question

Greg,

Here are 2 pictures that show what I think happened. The first shows the position of the board going into the blade. I was guiding it with my thumb and pointer finger along the edge of the fence. As it got to the end of the cut:

1. I applied too much pressure to the lower right corner of the board.

2. The back of the blade caught the left front of the board which lifted it.

3. It bounced back down on top of the blade as shown in the second picture.

4. Defenestration.

It was a combination of very bad practice with lack of sufficient attention.

Don
 

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Don,

Thanks for the explanation, and the pics....makes sense.

Ouch, I still cringe when I look at the pic of your window.... :eek: That would have left a very purple bruise....:rolleyes: :rolleyes:


:doh:
 
Don - Very glad to hear that you were standing in th right place to avoid injury. The lesson could have been so much more expensive but I'm glad it wasn't.

10" Blade? 3000rpm? Outside edge of that blade is travelling at 130mph+ If it catches something with little resistance to it broken windows are no surprise.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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Wow - glad you weren't hurt!

Couple of things spring to mind;

1. Always use a push-stick. Apart from keeping your fingers away from the blade you are less likely to push at the wrong angle.

2. Riving knives make table saws safer. Here in Europe we don't have a choice but if I did, I'd still use one!
 
I did something similar ripping a full sheet of OSB one time. Luckily the saw was underpowered and the mass of the sheet was too much for it, and I was nearly 8' away. But it was still surprising to me just how quick it jerked the sheet out of my hands and threw it back at me and was a very good lesson. I now ALWAYS use a splitter.
 
Hi Don

I'm so glade that you are ok...the pics reminds me a war or...

A splitter would help but I think that it's mounted too far from the blade and when cutting short pieces, it still doesn't come into "action"...a riving knife would do a better job as it is mounted very close to the blade (3~8 mm - 1/8"~5/16"...I set it to 1/8" behind the blade) but...I know that not many TS's in USA have a riving knife....

I would like to share with you my push shoes/blokes that I'm using for the TS and the router table.

Please note that the "Pusher" is mounted diagonally to the trowel so when I push, I always exert pressure toward the fence...
Also, all of them have an "anti-skid tape" or sanding paper for better grip.

I'm positioning the push shoe at an angle to the workpiece, so when I push, one vector is pushing forward and part of the force, is toward the fence that ensures positive contact of the workpiece to the fence.

I like to position the push shoe so that the back side (the side close to me) is at more than half distance of the fence / blade so, in any case I'll push the workpiece front end toward the fence.

Pb01.jpgPb02.jpgPb03.jpgPb04.jpg

If the pieces are too small, I like them "locked" between the sled and the hold-down (as you could see on the post "TS sled").

Regards
niki
 
Thanks, Niki

One like those shown in the second picture would probably have prevented my accident. The added sandpaper for grip is a good idea.

My wife and I spent some time looking for saws with riving knives today. I also discovered that thanks to Kelly Mehler, Underwriter Labs in the US will only be certifying table saws with riving knives. This has apparently prompted several US manufacturers to start offering them. I might try to fit a Jet Exacta Deluxe into the budget sometime soon, if Jet has a sale. My Delta has given me good service, but now that I am retired and in the almost shop daily, I may need something that is a little safer.

Don
 
Early in playing in my shop, I was trying to cut some short sections of 2x4 using the fence as the guide. Got a kick back that hit me in the solar plexus. I went down and out for about 15 minutes with much accompanying pain. Later, someone, on another forum, advised me that the fence is a RIP fence and should not be used as I was trying. Also, stand to the side, as I do now. Glad you are well.
 
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