A couple if kickback accidents

[algale]

I now have the Jessem Clear-Cut Stock Guides on my 520 fence and it works for like 95% of the rips that I do without being in the way. It both pushes down and pulls the board into the fence due to the 5° angle on the rollers. I just have to get a push stick to start the board and go up and over the rollers with it, but it has worked well for me.

I also have Jessum Clear-Cut TS (Table Saw) Stock Guides mounted on my 520 fence and, while they are expensive, they are absolutely great and one of the best accessories I ever purchased for my 520. I can't recommend them enough. They not only push down on the table and into the fence, as RFGuy points out , but the rubber wheels only roll in one direction. With them properly adjusted, one would have to really try to cause a kickback and I doubt the conventional headstock would have enough oompf to overcome the stock guides and fling the work piece back at the operator. I'm not sure the PowerPro would, either.

The biggest issue, as RFGuy points out, is maneuvering the push stick over, under, or around the Jessum roller on the infeed side. I will say that the guides control the stock so well that it is possible to stop pushing momentarily with the saw still running and reposition the push stick without adversely affecting the cut, even on stock that is prone to burning, On occasion, I have even left the saw running and moved to the back of the machine and pulled the stock (which is already some distance past the blade) through the rest of the way. I am not recommending anyone else try this if they aren't comfortable, but it works for me.

I have found the guides are also great for conical disc sanding. One of the issues when using the conical disc is that one has to tilt the table toward the disc that roughly 4 degree angle so that gravity wants to pull the work down onto the conical disc. It can be hard to control the stock by hand and keep it tight to the fence if the piece is narrow or if it is long. The Jessum guides keep the work piece tight to the fence during this operation, even with narrow or longer work pieces so that one only has to push the stock forward.

[DLB]

The latest video is interesting to me. From my perspective I always use a push stick for narrow parts to rip like that. A push stick, not a push block. I would never, ever use a push block on TS operations. Jointer, router, etc. sure, but never TS. Is anyone using a push block on TS operations and if so can you explain the logic behind it to me? I see a push stick, for narrow workpiece rips, as a safe method, but if there is more room and the workpiece is larger I would use my bare hands making sure to keep them well away from the blade and centerline of the axis of cut. Thoughts?

I recall using push blocks on the TS for some non- thru cuts only, but not since I went to stock guides. I kind of understand the attraction of the Grr-Ripper style (Microjig) but think they are incompatible with the Stock Guides because IIUC they ride against the fence. They are possibly better than the fence straddler style for narrow cuts (?), I've never been comfortable that the straddler pushes from so close to the fence and could feasibly allow the workpiece to wander away, especially if you're not using a riving knife.

My preferences are a riving knife combined with stock guides for almost all rip style cuts and a sacrificial extension on a miter gauge for cross-cuts. I admit to rarely using the full upper saw guard due to incompatibility with a sacrificial fence extension and limited compatibility with the outfeed stock guide. I use a sled or Miter Pro for some specialty cuts. I have a SS non-through cut riving knife and a slightly taller (through cut) version that I made from an Upper Saw Guard riving knife. I sometimes use a SS push stick with the stock guides.

- David