Injured Lefthanded Newcomer

I would highly recommend either purchasing or making a splitter or riving knife. Sometimes when you cut wood, you relieve stress within the board and it can move on you just enough to make contact with the back of the blade, which will grab it and throw it at you, somewhere around 110-MPH, as per your experience above.

Are you also using a featherboard to help hold the wood against the fence as you’re ripping it? If you’re not using one, that’s another safety device to add to your setup. I really like the Magswitch featherboard, as opposed to the ones that ride in your TS miter slot because they’re so easy to use. They make several different types. The Magswitchs are a bit more expensive, but in my opinion, they’re worth it.

I can’t answer the left-handed question for you, but now I’m wondering where you stand? Are you using your right hand and standing to the left of the fence?

It’s good that you’re using a push pad. I’m just sorry to hear about your run-in with kickback. With that being said, welcome to LumberJocks!

-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."

Welcome DCarrier. My first question is, do you need to go to the hospital?

I agree with Jonathan. If nothing else, you need a splitter or riving knife. A lot of people swear by this one although you can also make your own. I also suggest the Magswitch.

Most people stand off to the left, but I stand off to the right as much as possible, so I’m never behind the blade.

I hope you feel better. :o(

-- When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.”   Theodore Roosevelt

Jonathan,

Thanks for the quick reply!
I use my left hand to push the wood through so i stand slightly left of the blade and almost centered on the rip fence. I don’t think my old saw supports a riving knife I’ll have to research how to add a splitter.

-- Don

Seawitch,

As of now no hospital required. Bleeding has stopped and the brusing is about basketball size. Hellva a lesson! I’ll look intp the MJ splitter. My problem is I have an old Grizzly 1023 left tilt and do not have a zero clearance insert.

Don

-- Don

Don, I’m sure others will chime in here shortly. There are several aftermarket splitters/riving knives available that attach to the trunnion and not the insert. You can also make a zero clearance insert to stick a splitter in, but you would have to change it out if you tilt the blade.

I’m more concerned about your injury. Sorry to be a sissy but a blow like that to the abdomen in no joke. Keep an eye on it, and if you have blood in the urine>>>>>>HOSPITAL.

-- When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.”   Theodore Roosevelt

DCarrier SAID: My saw does not have a splitter or riving knife

Problem solved. GET A RIVING KNIFE at a minimum. You did not say how old your G1023 is, so CALL Grizzly and get the appropriate one for your model of the G1023 TS ASAP, as if your life depends on it (it does).

I also use a pair of Yellow Board Buddies, and do NOT forget to get the 24in Board Buddies Track to mount them onto the fence, in combination with the riving knife. This allows me to have the protection of an overhead splitter without the hassle. This is the riving knife on MY Grizzly G0690.

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

Welcome to the wonderful world of wood working!

Sorry to hear about your little mishap, I’m just glad it wasn’t any worse.

Now…. Lefthandedness….....

I’m also a 6’ southpaw, and I usually stand to the right of the blade because my left hand is dominant, stronger, and I have better feeling and control with it. I had some nerve damage in my right hand and it doesn’t work as well as it use to.
Yes, it is a little bit awkward to reach over the fence at times, but unless I have a tall feather board mounted to the fence, I feel safer. The on/off switch paddle is also on the right side of the saw and if I stand on the left it’s not easy to reach.
I can also stand on the left side of the blade, and do when using feather boards or the miter sled, just make sure you don’t use the fence and the miter at the same time.

I agree with Jonathan, get or make a riving knife or splitter. I have mine off right now because I have a dado blade on but otherwise it will be back on as soon as I go back to a regular blade.

One thing I would recommend, and I tell this to a lot of my friends who have never used any table saw but mine…. THINK AHEAD. Don’t be in a hurry to make a cut. Look at the cut you want to make and THINK about what it will take to make it look like you want it to. THINK about how you need to set up for the cut. THINK about what all can go wrong and change your setup to minimize any potential danger or problems.

Above all, don’t be in a hurry. The wood will get cut, the project will get done and you will remain uninjured for a much longer time. If you get in a hurry things become un-square, parts don’t fit and you have a good chance of putting more of your hard won blood sweat and tears into the project than you wished.

Good Luck

DF

-- Improvise.... Adapt...... Overcome!

Mike, I don’t believe a riving knife is possible on a Grizzly 1023 (I think it’s ten years old) I’m researching now but so far no one offers on including Grizzly. Grizzly’s splitter is intregral to the balde guard for this model and it’s a beast. My saw has the stock shop fox fence (biesemeyer clone). Do the board buddies work with this fence?

I really do get that my life depends on it. As of now it looks like a zero clearance guard from grizzly and the splitter suggested by Seawitch. I’ll keep looking. I’m in no hurry to go back to the shop ;)

Don

-- Don

I hope that you heal quickly.

There was a pretty lengthy discussion of the positioning question a while back:
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/11398

-- "I hope that women never find out about duct tape. Once they do, men will no longer serve any useful purpose." - Dave Barry

Yes, I believe the Board Buddy Track can be mounted directly on top of the Shopfox fence. Then the Board Buddies can be moved fore and aft for the best fit for what you are cutting at the time. I mount mine just before the cut and just aft of my riving knife so that it does not interfere with making very then cuts (otherwise it can get in the way of the blade).

Get better! FYI, I used my hot tub to help dissipate my bruising when I fell off a 20ft ladder last year (lower right side of back). Not counting broken bones, the hot tub rick really helped me very quickly.

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

I’m a 6’ southpaw that long ago learned to adapt to a right handed world. Which hand were you using for your push block? How wide was the board?

If you were standing to the right of the blade and pushing with your left hand close to the fence, you may have “steered” the board away from the fence and caused the kickback.

I’m most comfortable with the fence to the right of the blade while I standi to the left and use my right hand to push the board. I usually use my left hand to hold the board against the fence. I also push as close to the cut line as I can. Another good practice is to use a featherboard to hold the board tightly to the fence so your pushing doesn’t steer the board away from a straight line.

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.

Sawkerf,
I was using my left hand and standing slightly right of center. A close inspection of the projectile indicates your diagnosis is spot on. It looks as though I pushed the board away from the fence. This was so late in the cut a feather board would not have helped, I am assume a splitter would have prevented my error.

-- Don

I know it can be a pain, but I use my OEM Craftsman blade guard as much as possible. It has the anit kickback pawls. My contractor saw is about 30-40 years old and have had minimal kickback with it. Get a riving knife or a blade guard as soon as possible, again your life may depend on it, but I pray not.
-Jim

-- My Boss was a carpenter

A splitter or riving knife might have helped, but pushing with your left hand probably had you in an awkward position that caused you to “steer” the board away from the fence.

I suggest that you teach yourself to push with your right hand while using your left hand (or a featherboard) to keep the piece against the fence.

A couple of years ago, I helped my right handed daughter and left handed son in law make a cabinet. Since neither of them had ever used a table saw, I lowered the blade, set the fence, and had them make several dry runs with the power off while they learned to keep the board against the fence and maintain steady push pressure while shifting their foot positions as the board moved thru the saw.. After several practice runs, they were ripping boards like they had done it all of their lives.

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.

Welcome to LJs DCarrier, sorry to hear about your table saw accident.

The use of a feather-board, push sticks, ZCI and having a riving knife are all good advice. I’m also a southpaw and like Sawkerf I stand to the right of the blade with the fence to the right side of the blade pushing the wood with my right hand while my left hand is ether holding pressure to the fence or holding the push stick. I use a scrap piece of wood for a push stick. Because pushing it through the blade clears both sides of the spinning sawblade of material that can come flying back at you. I have had the material left of the blade come shooting back at me but not since I began pushing all of it clear of the blade.

I too use a table saw without a riving knife. My saw is between 45/50 years old. To overcome this I sometimes have to stop a rip cut and insert a small wedge into the cut behind the sawblade to keep the blade from being pinched by the wood passing over the blade. I don’t like stopping mid cut like that but you already know the alternative.

Probably the most important lesson you will have learned is the importance of paying 100% attention to what you are doing when using power tools. I know we all become complacent from time to time but that’s when the injuries occur.

Another 2¢ DCarrier. I like using a clear full face shield that flips up like my welding hood when using the table saw, routers, weed-eaters, anything that is throwing lots of debris around. If you wear eyeglasses, the face shield is the way to go.

-- Darrell, making more sawdust than I know what to do with