# RAS kickback on crosscut?



## danielmatt (Oct 30, 2009)

Hey all, was hoping someone might be able to help me with my RAS. It is an old DeWalt 740 that I was given. However, it has started kicking back on me during cross cuts, throwing the wood into the bell housing and throwing the saw back at me. I'm about to throw it in the trash  But I thought maybe you guys had some ideas as to why could be happening. I have an idea or two, but curious as to what you all think.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

I had a RAS for a while and I installed a negative hook blade to help control it. A little bit of a positive hook on the teeth can make for a fairly aggressive RAS.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Two things come to mind. Mostly kicks occur when your wood is not squarely up against the fence and when you cut the wood it tries to pull itself straight and slams the wood. The other problems with RAS are the slider
not being locked down so that the head rocks side to side or worn out bearings causing the same problem. plus the two areas Dave and Skeezics brought up.


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## danielmatt (Oct 30, 2009)

tHanks for the replies! Blade is a dewalt cross cut 60 teeth if Im remembering correctly. My theory was the fen e or j square wood as was suggested. Guess i misjudged the actual importance of those factors. Pretty foolish in
hindsight. Wanted to just make quick roughcuts before squaring wood and such; easier to joint with handplanes than ten footers


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## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

Daniel,
I have a Dewalt 1251 which has a spring loaded cable between the rear post and the moving head. I had some issues similar to what you describe, and I largely corrected them by adjusting the spring to pull back harder. With the sprung cable partially preventing the saw from coming towards you, the less chance there is of a runaway.

Good luck, and let us know what your solution is.


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