# ouch.. kickback.



## Ads (Jun 8, 2008)

Hi,

I haven't done many projects where I've needed to rip lumber down, but I'm starting to get into that part of things. Today I planned on ripping about 30 pieces to varying widths of 3,4,5,and 6 inches. However, the blade seemed to be binding up on almost every cut about 20 inches in or so. At one point there was kickback and i think my future children might have been at risk the way the board hit me. I know I know, don't stand in the way of the board. But, what I'd like are some clues about what I need to do to get these boards ripped. I checked the blade and it seems to be square and running parallel to the fence. There is no splitter on the saw (its not mine..) and the blade on there right now is a 7 1/4" finish blade.

I'd appreciate any advice.. aside from the brief nausea and pain, the smell of burning walnut is pretty discouraging.

Thanks!


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## moshel (Apr 25, 2008)

Ouch! a word of advice: never stand in the way of the board 
two things you should try:
1) when the blade start binding, stop the saw. see if the kerf is closing after the saw. if it is, then either you have tension in the wood or the fence is a bit pointing "in".you can check this by using auxiliary short fence on your fence. this will remove the pressure on the board if there is one after the blade. if its tension in the wood, a splitter will do wonders. you can use zero insert with splitter (i think someone posted this not long ago)
2) try a rip blade. thats a very good thing to do for ripping. finish blades heat and burn the wood.


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

Also if you don't have any kind of splitter, you'll have to put a small wedge in the saw kerf toward the end of the board, to keep the cut from closing back up. It's safer if you have a helper to do this for you. If not, just stop the saw and put it in.


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

i would think that maybe the fence could have a bit of bow in it. it will be set correctly and go in good but then when it starts to get pushed toward the blade because of the bow and that would cause kickback. just a thought


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

If you have checked your fence alignment, the most likely culprit is moshel's #1 above - tension in the wood. Check that first before you go crazy trying to adjust your saw.


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## fredf (Mar 29, 2008)

good info at http://lumberjocks.com/topics/2313 see niki's post (the 7th more or less) re making sure blade parallel to miter slot, then check to see if fence is parallel to miter slots. (some set fence to slightly veer away from fence at rear by a couple of thousands


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

As mentioned above a splitter might do the trick.

Here is one that I use all the time.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/2303


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

Also make sure that the thinner piece is on the outside and not against the fence if possible. This will help reduce the binding also.


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## SteveKorz (Mar 25, 2008)

I used to have problems like that every once in a while, then I bought a really good blade. I found that if I did a lot of ripping, the blade would heat up and want to "warp" slightly. That would bind things up. Also, you need a fence that is parallel to the blade, and good support on the back of the saw to catch the workpiece. If you find that this persists on occasion, then you may want to buy a $25 foot pedal for the saw. Get the type where you have to hold your foot on the pedal to keep it on, then lift your foot off to turn off the saw. That way, you can keep both hands on the workpiece, and turn the saw off when it starts to bind. That foot pedal is one of the most uesful safety devices I have in my shop.


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## Ads (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks for everyone's advice. I ended up renting a saw this afternoon (the Ridgid contractor style..) with the splitter, blade guard, and the anti-kickback teeth. Different blade too. Huge difference. Once everything was aligned, everything was ripped in a matter of an hour or so. I ended up with the pro-rated fee rather than a full day. Good times.

Thanks again for everyone's advice. As a professional musician, the safety of my hands and ears is paramount, and the information here goes a long way.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

Steve, while I am wanting a deadman's switch for my scroll-saw, I never contemplated on on the TS. That's thinking outside the box!


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## JoeDusel (Mar 9, 2008)

The splitter is one of the most important safety devices on a table saw. I would NEVER use a saw without a splitter. Not only do you run the risk of a board whacking you, or going right through you (like Johnny Cash's brother), but very often you end up with your hand in the blade. I have always used a splitter on ALL of my saws and I have never once had kickback. I also have always had machines with splitters that were properly designed to track the blade.

By the way, the anti-kickback pawls are just a goofy idea designed to compensate for a poorly designed splitter. Have you ever seen these on a European machine?


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## AndyDuframe (Jul 27, 2008)

I've been reading some pretty scary stuff about kickback with a circular saw, too. Guess I've been especially lucky all these years. Don't even want to think about the crazy stuff I used to do with that tool. Lately I've been much more careful to get my boards clamped down first, before I ever turn the switch on.


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