Shopsmith Forums

I had a scary kickback incident the other day that surprised me and has confused me. I just don't know how it happened. I wasn't injured or anything, but it was very close.

I was using my Craftsman table saw to crosscut a piece of Mr. Cabinetmaker's African Mahogany. I had resawed it and planed it and ripped it down to 4" wide x 11" long x about 1/4" thick. I was cutting off a 4" x 4" block.

I had the fence on the right side of the blade and set to 4". I was using a shoe to hold and push the piece against the fence. The blade height was set so that the teeth were about 1/8" above the workpiece. The left of the blade was totally clear. No obstructions. No blade guard.

I was standing to the right of the blade, out of the direct path. Using the shoe to push the piece through the blade and leaving the cut off piece free. Just as I was about to completely clear the blade with the 4"x4" piece, the 4"x7" cut off piece went flying, just to my left, barely missing me. I swear I felt it graze my shirt. Scared the doodoo out of me.

But I don't understand how the kickback happened. The cut off wasn't wedged between the blade and fence. The cut off piece was the only thing on the left side of the blade. How did it kick back?

My first thought was that you didn't use a splitter and the grain of the wood simply twisted the wood back into the blade as stress was released. But when I re-read that this was a cross cut, that made me nix that thought.

I'm kind of confused as to why you were cutting this way. Push stick and fence on a crosscut? Why not a miter gauge, or a miter sled, or something like that? Or am I not understanding what happened?

What kind of push aid (supported on both sides of the cut, like a Grripper, or just one side like a shoe, or just one point like a stick)?

My other thought was that maybe the last 1/8 inch or so of wood broke (rather than cut) and the break somehow spun the waste into the blade?

Sorry - that's about the best my mind can come up with - any other info you can share about the incident?

At this point I can only say that I am thankful that you did not get hurt.

I don't think that I have ever experienced the cut off being kicked away from the blade but I don't use a shoe either.:eek:

A better (and much safer) way to cut a 4x4" piece off of a 4x11" board would be to use the miter gauge. Attach a fence to the miter gauge, then attach a stop block to this fence that's set 4" away from the saw blade, Then crosscut the piece using your right hand to push the miter gauge and your left hand to hold the stock in position. This assumes that you're using the left hand miter gauge slot in the table and don't have the miter gauge safety grip.

If you use the rip fence to cut a 4x4" piece, you are essentially ripping a 4" piece of wood and there is no safe way to do that. Ripping wood that's shorter than 12" is arguably dangerous.

I'm going with freak accident. Good on ya for standing in a safe spot. I am a little concerned that you are using the fence at 4" to make a 4" cutoff piece.
I would have held the piece that flew with a miter gauge and set the repeatable 4" with a block at the front of the fence. Butt the piece against the block, squeeze the fine SS miter gauge clamp, and Slide the cut through. The 4" piece must pass free of the block before it contacts the blade. One of the things I like the most about my unifence is that you can slide it back so it only sticks out a short way onto the table. That allows me to use the fence scale on the saw to set my 4" without a spacer block.

Paul M

Believe me, I've thought a lot about how it could have been done better and safer. But I still just can't figure out how the piece kicked back to begin with.

Remember, I was using my Craftsman, not the SS. So no safety grip. The SS was set up with the dado blade to put a rabbet around the 4"x4" pieces.

I typically would have used an extension on the miter gauge with a stop block clamped to it. But, my miter gauge extension is getting a bit torn up (material choice and design flaws). Although I used it for other cuts, it just didn't feel right for this one. I didn't trust it. The miter gauge without the extension would have been rather awkward because not much of the actual material would have been against the miter gauge. I should have just made a new extension.

I was using a shoe, not a push stick. It was made from a piece of 2"x6". The shoe was holding the 4"x4" piece down on the table and against the fence.

I really don't think the cut off piece hit the back of the blade. Until the piece just "disappeared", it was sitting right at the front of the blade.

I'm not even close to an expert, but when I cut small pieces, which is often, I use a sacrificial fence attached to the miter gauge. The fence might be 3 or 4 inches tall and I run it through the blade with the piece being cut, leaving 2 or 3 inches of wood to support the fence with each cut. Hope that makes sense.
As for your scare, I sort of guess that the 4" block caught on a slightly out of vertical blade and the teeth just did the rest. Glad it was only a scare.

Am I to understand that you held/fed the 4" piece and left the '7"' piece to go wherever it wanted?

You were surprised that the 7" piece did so?

May not be'correct', but I would ave been holding/feeding both pieces! One hand on each.

Understand the fence/blade piece is more prone to misbehaving, but the free 'flowing' cutoff is also, just not a potential pinch situation.

I think the back side of the cutoff was 'picked up' by the back of the blade and slung as you described.

heathicus wrote:I had a scary kickback incident the other day that surprised me and has confused me. I just don't know how it happened. I wasn't injured or anything, but it was very close.

I was using my Craftsman table saw to crosscut a piece of Mr. Cabinetmaker's African Mahogany. I had resawed it and planed it and ripped it down to 4" wide x 11" long x about 1/4" thick. I was cutting off a 4" x 4" block.

I had the fence on the right side of the blade and set to 4". I was using a shoe to hold and push the piece against the fence. The blade height was set so that the teeth were about 1/8" above the workpiece. The left of the blade was totally clear. No obstructions. No blade guard.

I was standing to the right of the blade, out of the direct path. Using the shoe to push the piece through the blade and leaving the cut off piece free. Just as I was about to completely clear the blade with the 4"x4" piece, the 4"x7" cut off piece went flying, just to my left, barely missing me. I swear I felt it graze my shirt. Scared the doodoo out of me.

But I don't understand how the kickback happened. The cut off wasn't wedged between the blade and fence. The cut off piece was the only thing on the left side of the blade. How did it kick back?

Let me see if I can help - It's all mccabinetmakers fault!:eek: After all it was his wood!:rolleyes: Just kidding!

Now, seriously - there were a couple (maybe 4) things in your operation that caused the kickback.

1) (Although this item, by itself didn't cause the kickback -) - It must be said that it not a totally safe operation to trap a piece of wood between the rip fence and the saw! I know you had that piece held down to the best of your ability so it would pass by the saw blade without incident. Even so, the only time this should be done is with non-thru cuts.
2) You didn't have a splitter, or riving knife in place to separate the cutoff from the 4" piece you were holding.
3) The cutoff piece was 7" long by 4" wide - very thin and light weight. It would not take much of a hit to propel this light weight cutoff.
a) This cutoff could have easily vibrated into the blade (mentioned earlier)]b) [/B]Drag on a non-slick saw table could have put a drag on the cutoff to when freed from the 4X4 piece could have twisted enough so the corner got caught by the blade.
4) There may be one or more teeth on that saw blade that are bent a bit to the left. It would only take one to cause the kickback

Any combination of the above could have caused the kickback.

Here's how to fix - If you are going to crosscut - use a miter gauge! This way you can stand farther away from the front of the blade. If you could not safely hold the 4" piece safely on the miter gauge, then put the remaining 7" piece against the miter gauge. You could always use an extension on the miter gauge. Also use a splitter or riving knife. An upper blade guard is also a good idea!

Also, using the miter gauge would allow you to use the rip fence equipped with a spacer block to set the cutoff length. In this way, the workpiece must pass the spacer block before it cuts any more than a sliver into the workpiece.

In every crosscut I've ever made the cuttoff piece is always of concern to me. There are several different actions the cuttoffs take when freed from the workpiece. One action is of the most concern and needs immediate removal.

-Most of them seem to twist, with the cut end toward the back of the saw.
-Some make a hop away from the blade.
-Some make a short journey back toward the middle of the blade, but slightly away from the blade. these are the most scary, and I think that's what happened to your flying piece. But at the same time, drag or vibration, or a tooth, caught the piece, causing it to twist into the blade and get thrown.