# Cutting Dados on the table saw



## Barkley (Jun 28, 2019)

I've been woodworking for over 35 years and I finally did it.
Cutting multiple dodos 1/4' wide X 1/8' deep without a push block (what a idiot). What could go wrong?
Had a kick back. The ring finger is now about 1 & 1/2 inches shorter and the tip of the pinky got mangled. I still can't believe I did it! I did go back out this AM and hose out the shop & vac out the table saw. I usually cut all dados with a router. Please don't be stupid (like me)!,


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Oh man…so sorry. Thanks for the reminder to be safe.


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## ArtMann (Mar 1, 2016)

I don't know what happened in your case but I consider a table saw to be a safer tool for cutting dadoes and grooves than a router.


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## cowboyup3371 (Nov 10, 2017)

I had a similar event the other day and though it did kick back I was out of the way. I even used a push block on top of the board but not one behind it. I cut it again with two push blocks but yea, I'll go back to using my router for any dadoes


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Heal up well.

I try to see every cut before I make it. It helps with surprises. TS and router can both offer challenges. Keeping your options open for the particular cut may have either one as the best option, depending on all of the factors involved.

I do agree with your awareness to use something beside your finger to push the stock, unfortunately carry through wasn't there.


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## Ripper70 (Nov 30, 2015)

That's a helluva first post, 2Goober. Sorry to hear about your accident.


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## Barkley (Jun 28, 2019)

What can I say….it was a STUPID accident. You can bet I'll be a LOT more careful when cutting dados with a router or table saw. I guess it goes back to the way you first learned might be the way you are most comfortable with. 
Does Stumpy Nubs have all his fingers? My son just calls me stumpy now.


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## TEK73 (Mar 15, 2019)

Hmm, I'm a bit baffled here.
Actually not sure I understand the risk, and what causing it.
So, I'm probably in danger of duing something really stupid…

Does anyone have some references on the right and wrong way to do a dado cut on a table saw, as well as what causes risky situations?


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## Barkley (Jun 28, 2019)

Stupid #1, a 1/8" deep X 1/4" dado doesn't pose a kickback risk.
Stupid #2, I wasn't using a push block. I was using my hands. (that's the moron part), I know better than that.
The added risk on my part was stupidity. Cutting dados on a table is safe on a table saw. There are several table saw sleds on the internet. I especially like Stumpy Nubs design with a replaceable zero clearance insert that you could use on dados or regular blade cuts. Stumpy (David Hamilton) has been a excellent resource as has The Wood Wisperer and the Down To Earth Woodworker. Man….you can find all kinds of great info/ideas from these guys.


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## Ripper70 (Nov 30, 2015)

> Does Stumpy Nubs have all his fingers? My son just calls me stumpy now.
> 
> - 2Goober


Having watched many of Stumpy's YouTube vids, it appears he does, in fact, have all his digits intact. Unless he's using a hand model for the close-ups.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I have always been aware of danger all my 84 years (well not the first few), in everything I do, whether it be building a fire, shooting a gun, driving or wood and metal working. I don't think about safety; it becomes natural with me. If an action strikes me as potentially dangerous, my survival instinct kicks in. This I believe has kept me safe all these years. How many people run towards danger when they hear a gunshot! I go the opposite direction. Sure, I'm curious, but I put my own safety ahead of anything else. If I were a cop or soldier, that would be a different case. Instinct makes us do what we need to do. That is why I can't understand why others have accidents. Maybe it's because they are unfamiliar with a saw that can do much damage. The more one understands the tool, car or gun they are using, the better they can stay safe.

A favorite story of mine involves a winter day in Boston. My neighbor went and bought his first snow blower. The first thing he did was; he started the engine and the next thing he did was to stick his hand down the chute. Needless to say, his hand came out less a few fingers. That snow blower never got used, at least not by him, because I bought it and used it with never a concern. Don't use snow blowers anymore, as I now live in Ms. This incident occurred about 60 years ago.

Yes I do things others might consider risky and there are those who say there is a first time for everything and I'm living on borrowed time. I am comfortable with the way I conduct my life, but don't get me wrong; I recognize danger when danger exists and take precautions deemed necessary to the situation.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant. I'm just trying to understand other points of view and maybe I can understand the root cause of an accident.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

So sorry to hear of this incident, I'm glad it wasn't worse. No matter how experienced we are we sometimes get in a hurry, or forget, or get distracted. This is why I decided to buy a Sawstop, even though it was a big investment I felt it was great insurance. I know many feel this investment is beyond their budget but I feel it's worth the financial stretch versus the potential consequences of a painful and expensive accident, this is why I always recommend SawStop to my students.

https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos


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## TEK73 (Mar 15, 2019)

Is this an unsafe cut?









This is from this video:


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

So sorry, my worst fear. As I am getting started in woodworking I find myself often thinking that the cost ost of whatever push block, micro jig etc. is expensive but the cost of not having it is potentially more. I can remember seeing a YouTube of a woodworker deliberately causing a kickback to demonstrate the danger. His fingers came within an inch of the blade. Thank you for sharing, it makes me stop and look at safety before each cut.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> Is this an unsafe cut?
> 
> - TEK73


I don't know, the video is 15 minutes long with numerous cuts.


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## farmfromkansas (Jun 16, 2019)

I make all my push sticks from wood. Also feather boards. Ash makes excellent feather boards. Much stronger than plastic, but plastic makes a great pattern.


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## TEK73 (Mar 15, 2019)

> Is this an unsafe cut?
> 
> - TEK73
> 
> ...


I'm referring to the cut shown in the upper right on the picture. It's from 4:24 minutes out in the video.
He cuts a dado pushing the biard over the dado blade with his hands on top.
I would probably do the same, not thinking about it as unsafe as the wood is a quite large piece and it id not obvious what should cause an accident.
But it seems to be the same that TS did when he got injuried.

Just trying to figure out if doing it as shown at 4:24 in the video in general is a bad and unsafe practice, or if there were other factors at play that caused TS to get injuried.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

I don't pass my hands over any spinning cutters. That's what all of those "Sacrificial" do dads are for. Doesn't matter to me if it's a through cut, or not.

If your fingers were there, and the board suddenly wasn't…..that could be a problem. Usually when the board suddenly vanishes, your first instinct is to keep pushing.

Boards kick out, crack open, split, and do a number of other vanishing acts. Nobody starts a cut planning for that. But it happens often enough.


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## Sark (May 31, 2017)

Sorry for your accident. And thanks for the posting… reminders that we all need to hear. When I've hurt myself though tool misuse, I generally had a premonition that I wasn't engage in a safe activity.

A perfect example is trying to cut a relatively small piece of wood I was holding in my left hand. I was cutting it with a full size skill saw. And the premonition that it wasn't safe hit my brain but I kept on cutting right into my left index finger. Fortunately I got away with only a permanent scar. And the sense expressed by 2Goober, which is 'how could I be so stupid?'

And I worked in Worker's Compensation for a number of years and saw an endless stream of injured workers. And many of the accidents were totally preventable…but some were beyond improbable. Not in a million years would you think that a person could be injured in such a way. Of course its the preventable type that we focus on, and pray we don't run into the other kind.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> And I worked in Worker s Compensation for a number of years and saw an endless stream of injured workers. And many of the accidents were totally preventable…but some were beyond improbable. Not in a million years would you think that a person could be injured in such a way. Of course its the preventable type that we focus on, and pray we don t run into the other kind.
> - Sark


I worked in ER's for 25 years, and have still not seen an injury with power tools that wasn't preventable.

It's the gun argument. When has one ever jumped up, and attacked someone without human intervention? It just doesn't happen. Table saw blades, router bits, bandsaw blades, heck even sanding belts. They pretty much just sit there, and wait for someone to come along, and stick their hand into them. Actually saying "hand" limits the craziness. I've seen body parts that no one would ever think would be involved with a saw cut, but there they were.


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## PaulDoug (Sep 26, 2013)

Sorry for you accident, but I thoroughly understand. I just got healed up, several stitches, lost nothing but gained a nice reminder scar on the back of my left hand. You can bet my saw is now tricked out with all the safety features I could put on it now. Things that should have been added long ago.

Hope you heal quickly.


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