Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

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ShawnShawn
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Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by ShawnShawn »

I recently got into woodworking and bought myself a nice Skil saw warm drive 10 inch tablesaw. I’ve been working with it for over a year and just got into using a dado blade I had tons of confidence by then as I tackled a bunch of projects so while building a cabinet and cutting a dado cut without any safety implements a piece of hardwood kick back on me and took out a chunk of my arm requiring 30 stitches on multiple layers including my forearm muscle.

Needless to say that really sucked and ever since I have been super nervous while doing non-through cuts. It took me a couple months just to get back on the saw and I’ve gotten every piece of safety equipment I could fine to avoid this but still when doing nine through cuts I feel really nervous and hear that blade grinding sound which strikes fear into my heart.

Long story short my question is are there any tips you guys can give me given my set up. Is this overkill? Is the arriving knife helpful? Should I use the tunnel guard. Where should I stand and where should I be putting pressure, Especially near the end of the cut which I always end up getting so nervous I just turn off the saw prematurely and can never fully finish these cuts.
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Doesn’t look too bad when you’re later but at the time…
Doesn’t look too bad when you’re later but at the time…
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RFGuy
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by RFGuy »

Shawn,

Sorry this happened to you. Kickbacks are never fun and should be avoided at all costs. In my opinion, the Jessem Clear Cut Stock Guides are a great addition that you have made for safety. However, it is important first to make sure that the fence is parallel with the sawblade. This is a critical alignment and is very important in minimizing kickbacks. Some woodworkers prefer that the fence be slightly farther away from the sawblade near the back of the blade than at the front. Having a few thousandths of an inch difference between the back and front (greater gap at back) will ensure that the workpiece never gets pinched at the back of the sawblade. Make sure that the fence is at least perfectly parallel to the sawblade, if you decide to not make the gap larger at the back. Never let the distance from the fence to the sawblade be smaller at the back than the front or pinching will occur leading to kickback. From your pictures, I see a problem in putting a featherboard on the left of the workpiece. I recommend against this. Just as you don't want to pinch the workpiece between the sawblade and the right fence, you don't want to pinch the cutoff between the featherboard and the sawblade. This too can result in a kickback as that pressure from the featherboard can push the cutoff into the blade causing it to catch on the back of the black and shooting it towards you at high speed. IF you choose to use a featherboard on the cut side of the workpiece, then the featherboard has to be BEFORE the sawblade makes contact with the workpiece, so you need to move that featherboard closer to the front of the saw so it is nowhere near the blade. A riving knife can further help to mitigate against kickbacks, but I believe the Jessem guides will likely eliminate 99% of all kickbacks (assuming your fence is properly aligned to the sawblade and you don't use featherboards on the other side). I have included a good video below on kickbacks that even has high speed video footage showing kickbacks. Hope this helps...

P.S. Re-reading your post now, I would say it sounds like your tablesaw may be underpowered for doing non-through dado cuts. A dado stack has a lot of mass so it takes a powerful saw to spin it effectively and safely. It would probably be a lot safer for you to use a router and guide bar to make these non-through cuts instead of your tablesaw. Just a suggestion.

Last edited by RFGuy on Thu Apr 28, 2022 1:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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chapmanruss
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by chapmanruss »

Shawn,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum. Sorry to hear that happened to you. Follow what RFGuy has already said to avoid any pinching of the wood between the blade and fence. Do move the feather board ahead of the blade. Never have it "pinching" against or behind the blade. Try to position yourself off to the side of the wood being cut whenever possible. In your example you could be either to the right or left of the board being cut whichever is more comfortable and keep yourself out of the danger zone of a kickback.
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RFGuy
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by RFGuy »

Shawn,

Can you tell us how wide of a dado cut you were making when you had the kickback? Your saw looks like it might be the Skil SPT99-11 model. IF so, then it has a max specification of 0.5" wide dado cuts.

https://www.skil.com/wormdrive-table-saw-spt99-11/
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
DC3300 | Shopvac w/ClearVue CV06 Mini Cyclone | JDS AirTech 2000 | Sundstrom PAPR | Dylos DC1100 Pro particulate monitor
Hobbyman2
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by Hobbyman2 »

As far as the riving knife I don't see it doing much good on a non through cut ?? as far as safety , be glad it didnt hit ya in the head !! face protection is not a laughing mater , a good leather shop apron is also a good piece of PPE to have . back to your set up, your kick back fingers in the pictures are not supposed to be even with the blade , it should be adjusted in before the blade , your kick back fingers in that position will push the wood into the blade that's not what they are for , they are only there to prevent kick back , My fence has a slot in a sacrificial piece where I can add kickback fingers vertically,, again,, right before the blade . even with this there is no guarantee . best advice is to stand off to one side out of the path and readjust your set up for a safer operation .
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by Hobbyman2 »

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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by Hobbyman2 »

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algale
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by algale »

chapmanruss wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 1:54 pm Do move the feather board ahead of the blade. Never have it "pinching" against or behind the blade.
^^^This is worth emphasizing!!!!!!

As pictured in the OP's current set up, the feather board will push the work piece toward the blade and, as the cut is completed, this set up could could cause a kickback (although the riving knife might prevent contact at the rear of the blade). At a minimum, the front of the bade may continue to chew up the trailing edge of the work piece. Move the feather board toward the operator until none of the feathers/fingers overlap with the blade.
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Hobbyman2
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by Hobbyman2 »

This looks like one the safest table saws I have seen , trouble is the saw is as big as my shop !! at any rate this shows a safer place to stand even if you use a regular contractors table saw . just be cautious where your arms and hands are and never reach across the moving saw blade , shut the saw off like the operator in the video .
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Re: Non Through cuts on table saw - Safety Tips

Post by Hobbyman2 »

Hobbyman2 wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 11:49 am This looks like one the safest table saws I have seen , trouble is the saw is as big as my shop !! at any rate this shows a safer place to stand even if you use a regular contractors table saw . just be cautious where your arms and hands are and never reach across the moving saw blade , shut the saw off like the operator in the video . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km6pQTXYUlM
Hobbyman2 Favorite Quote: "If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)
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