Tablesaw Kickback

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Dave_M

Dave_M

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2005
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769
Location
Clovis, CA, USA.
I've been using a tablesaw off & on since the 5th grade. I've seen kickback happen once but never had it happen to me personally... until today. Wow!

Cutting a piece of 1/4" ply and bang! It was nice today for a change so I moved the saw outside to do my cutting. I should have been mindful of the direction I was facing. I actually thought about it for a half second but never experienced kickback so I ignored the thought and started my cutting.

Threw a 4" X 14" piece of that 1/4" ply into the exterior wall of my house and it went through stucko into the sheet rock inside the house. I usually stand just to the side of the direction of travel just in case. Glad I did. I felt that ply just graze my stomach as it shot back at me. I couldn't believe how fast it happened. No warning. Saw was cutting fine and then surprise!

I should have taken a pic of that board sticking in the wall but taking a pic was the last thing on my mind at the time. Maybe I'll take a pic of the hole and post it later. Next time I'll use the wide open yard as my backstop. Oh... I also removed the anti- kickback guard while back to cut an odd sized piece and I was too lazy to put it back on today. Lesson learned.
 
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Did you look to see what caused the kickback?
Is it fence pinch?
Were you trying to cut something with the rip fence that was wider than the feed length?
Did you torque because you stood to the side?

Something caused it to happen.
 
I had a similar thing happen to me this summer. My truck stopped it though and there is a huge dent on the tailgate to prove it. I'll repeat the same ole cliche, it happened so fast I didn't even know what happened.
 
I caught a piece of treated lumber just below my rib cage when I was a teen. Not something I will forget for the rest of my life. I think the table saw is the most dangerous tool we use.
 
I had something similar happen also Now I am missing half of one index finger and it's nearly impossible to render a proper one finger salute to rude motorists any more since it also cut through the tendon of my middle finger. Same as you I'd been using a table saw off and on for 50 or 55 years. It's not an If thing it's a When thing, because it will happen, Glad you weren't hurt your self.
 
Last edited:
Dave_M said:
Oh... I also removed the anti- kickback guard while back to cut an odd sized piece and I was too lazy to put it back on today. Lesson learned.
Click to expand...

As you had to remove it to do a specific cut, I'm assuming it is just splitter and not a riving knife?
Why not find out if there is an option to swap it for a proper riving knife to suit your TS? That way, you'll never have to take it off and therefore permenantly get rid of one of the reasons for kickback.

Glad you're ok though:biggrin:
 
A few years ago I was at a woodworking show and took a class from Marc Adams and when he came to the part of the class that dealt with the table saw and kick back. I pulled up my shirt and showed them a black and blue mark about a foot in diameter. A 3/4" piece of plywood 12" x 12" kicked back. No internal damage but sure looked bad. Have a healthy respect for a table saw now!
 
I sport a half inch wide scar in the middle of my gut just above the belly button ... oh, and it was embedded 2+ inches deep. Missed every thing inside me, but is sure did ruin my jeans when I looked down and saw this in me.

The weapon ... a piece of oak panel scrap about 1/4"x1"x8". It is amazing how fast it was going.

Same piece of wood is still in my tool box some 30+ years later as a grim reminder of what can instantly happen. I hit it often with my hammer just to show it who is boss. As for that particular saw, let's just imagine how evil it feels as it sits rusting away in some scrap heap! :wink:
 
Dave,

Man, that was close. Hope your foot is healing ok . . . . . and you knee is healing ok . . . . . and you dodged this bullet.

Hey, I have a friend that sells insurance if you are interested.

Glad you are ok.
Ken
 
JerrySambrook said:
Did you look to see what caused the kickback?
Is it fence pinch?
Were you trying to cut something with the rip fence that was wider than the feed length?
Did you torque because you stood to the side?

Something caused it to happen.
Click to expand...

Hard to say because the cut was smooth and effortless. Amazing how fast it happened. I would guess that I torqued it at the very end in part because I was standing slightly to the side and I tried to rush it.
 
Thanks Steven,
It's actually a real deal riving knife attached to the splitter. I removed the whole thing last time I used it. It's a quick disconnect setup so no excuse for not putting it back on. Sure wish I had it on. Now I have a hole to fix.

Plus I have a broken foot and I wasn't supposed to be on my feet doing anything. I figured I could get outside and get some work done and no one would have to know. It was kind of hard to hide that hole in the wall from my wife so I was busted.

skiprat said:
Dave_M said:
Oh... I also removed the anti- kickback guard while back to cut an odd sized piece and I was too lazy to put it back on today. Lesson learned.
Click to expand...

As you had to remove it to do a specific cut, I'm assuming it is just splitter and not a riving knife?
Why not find out if there is an option to swap it for a proper riving knife to suit your TS? That way, you'll never have to take it off and therefore permenantly get rid of one of the reasons for kickback.

Glad you're ok though:biggrin:
Click to expand...
 
bitshird said:
I had something similar happen also Now I am missing half of one index finger and it's nearly impossible to render a proper one finger salute to rude motorists any more since it also cut through the tendon of my middle finger. Same as you I'd been using a table saw off and on for 50 or 55 years. It's not an If thing it's a When thing, because it will happen, Glad you weren't hurt your self.
Click to expand...

not to make light of an occurrence that probably happens to all of us "kickback" ,it's scary and dangerous, but hey on the positive side...now Ken isn't just from Tenessee..he looks the part! :redface::smile:
 
Let me guess, You're not sure who but somebody crapped in your shorts. :eek: It's not the scary tools that hurt people, it's the ones that get used every day. Glad you are OK
 
Dave,
Sure glad that you were able to dodge that kickback. What with your knee and foot you can't afford to have any more damage to your body. Please take care and stay off your foot and just rest. Hard to do, but real important to your healing.
 
I've only had one kick back that I remember, but I do remember it well... and because of it, I stand to the side just in case... I was ripping a small length of board and the piece inside between the blade and the fence kicked back.:eek:..I spoke in a higher voice for a little while...:eek: hit just above the place you don't like to be hit...:biggrin: initially thought I had been cut, but luckily just a bad bruise.
 
Just had one this week myself using a Dado for the first time getting it set up. I did not realize the wider blade plate made narrow wood unstable! I know now!!! Bout a 12 in diameter black burise right above the hip in the Fat!!!! I knew that gut would come in handy!!!
 
Had one not long ago

I had a kickback not long ago - didn't cut me but the bruse mark is still there on my belly. Fortunately I had a long piece of wood and was close to the saw so it didn't get up a lot of speed before it hit me.
 
A couple of years ago I bought one of those "wonder blades" that they hawk at the woodworking shows. Claims of perfect cuts that you don't need a joiner. It did make a nice cut but I noticed that the pitch of the teeth caused a vacum to form on the side of the blade and more than once I would notice a cut piece of wood move towards the blade. I had finished a cut and the piece on the right of the blade was sitting on the outfeed table but I must of left it to close to the blade. As I was bending down to turn off the saw the wood kicked back and impailed its self in a cabinate door 10 feet behind the saw. A couple of inches either way and it would have been my head. The blade went into the trash can that day.
 
If you fed a router table the wrong way, it can grab the wood and make it into a rocket. Now I never did this, but a very close friend did! DAMHIKT
Charles
 
I just got punched in the gut, last night.

Cutting a piece of 1/4 walnut ... pushed the good side through and as I was dragging the waste back, for another cut, the blade caught the corner and pinwheeled it into my gut!

Luckily, I had enough pressure on it, and it didn't fly, only spun.

Still hurt like hell!
 
happened to me today. It was was push rod as I was pushing it and catching it from the side. My push rod got side ways and kicked back and poppd me in the wrist, made me do the ow it hurts dance for a while. Like everyone else I have years of experience on one.

Phil
 
Wow, glad you are OK. This happened to me a few years ago on a small piece of trim. Fortunately, I was to the side and it hit my workbench.

A few bits of information to ponder!
Blade revolution of table saw is about 4,800 rpm.
That is roughly 150,000 inches per minute.
And that is about 140 miles per hour. Will a little variance of the actual mechanics of the blade and wood contact, it still comes out to 120 MPH.
OUCH!
 
I have a 16" Jet planer, I was planing some walnut and there was a nail that must have been in the tree and the tree grew around it. It was not exposed at all, but it shot out the back of the planer. I still have the scar on my hand, and it just nicked me. I think most of our tools have potential to hurt us severely!
 
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