# Another stupid person not using splitter



## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Well its been a while since i've logged in. Wish it was because I completed something fun, but I had a close call today. shot a 8" piece of malamine 15 feet into my drywall. Its the small hole to the right of the 2 electrical boxes on the back wall. Left a pretty mark on the board too. Pretty sure i've seen this same exact arc cut from another guy on this forum when he shot a piece of wood into his belly. I was wearing saftey goggles so i guess i'm not completely stupid.

I'm thinking about buying a shark guard splitter now.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Glad you weren't hurt. I love my SharkGuard, but the time from order to delivery was an eternity when I ordered mine.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

I was looking at some other posts and learned about the gripper by microjig. Looks like a pretty nice safety tool. I need to put a splitter on as well.

Funny how I just read that a push stick can raise the front of the piece causing it to want to kick back, which is exactly what I did.


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## BroncoBrian (Jan 14, 2013)

would a riving knife have prevented that? I am considering a Back saw for small boards like that to prevent the higher risk of kickback.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

I have always distrusted the push sticks that are no more than a notch in the end of a stick. If your pusher doesn't hold down the board, the leading edge wants to climb the saw blade (strange but true, especially with short material). I only buy or make push sticks that have a significant extension going over at least 6 inches of the stock so I can hold it down at the beginning of the cut. Gives much better control, in my experience. You can make a very serviceable push stick with 1/4" (or thicker) ply. Cheap and disposable. Put a handle on that elevates your hand well above the blade.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

http://microjig.com/products/grr-ripper/index.shtml would have prevented that.

They also make an after market splitter


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## MonteCristo (May 29, 2012)

Not using a splitter is only part of what went wrong here. At 8", the piece of melamine is too f'in short to rip safely of a TS . . .


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## Cosmicsniper (Oct 2, 2009)

Bingo, MC. I'm using my miter sled for that cut.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Cosmicsniper and montecristo, can you point me to a good miter sled, or did you guys just make your own?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

http://lumberjocks.com/search_results?cx=016283335483199634424%3A4na88symhay&cof=FORID%3A9&safe=high&q=home+made+miter+sled&sa.x=0&sa.y=0


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## don1960 (Jan 16, 2011)

I feel your pain…..literally. I think I may be the guy you're referring to that got hit in the belly. It does happen fast doesn't it? I have the piece hanging on my garage door (shop door) to remind me all the time not to do stupid things. Here's a picture.










That little piece of red in the middle of the cut is my DNA. I don't know about the shark splitter, but have heard of the microjig splitter. Seems to be popular. Bottom line, get anything to help. My solution was to finally get a new tablesaw with a riving knife (Ridgid 4512). To be fair, my other tablesaw was a piece of crap.

Oh, and I see waho609 has posted a link to cutoff sleds. Definitely make one of those. Not only safer, but makes very accurate cuts easily. Very easy to build.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

I don't think a splitter would help in this case. Perhaps one of those splitters that curves way up over the leading edge of the saw blade would keep it from catching the teeth of the saw blade and circling back on the user?

Frankly, I don't see how a sled would help either unless the sled has a clamp to lock down the piece as you are cutting it. It doesn't look to me like the piece was "pinched" against the fence. As runswithscissors noted, there is always a tendency for a board to want to "climb" at the front end of the saw blade since the blade is traveling up at that point. Once it climbs a little, the teeth of the saw catch and turn the piece to throw it back at the user. The circular pattern on the bottom of this piece is pretty good evidence that is what happened. And a sled won't help with that.

I haven't used Grrrippers but I quite often use a featherboard on the fence to keep the stock tight against the table. I think that would have helped more in this case than a splitter or sled.


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## lj61673 (Oct 31, 2011)

A properly installed riving knife prevents this from happening. No other add on gimmick or hold down can do what a riving knife does.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

A splitter is a good idea whenever possible. So is a ZCI…


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

It could have been worse…. you almost damaged your air conditioner!


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## SamuraiSaw (Jan 8, 2013)

There are folks on here that brag about having a saw for years and the splitter and guard have never been out of the package. One of the reasons I updated my saw was to gain the riving knife and an improved guard.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Oh, and…* Happy Birthday!*


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## Stephenw (Nov 14, 2011)

My saw has a riving knife. I always thought push sticks were a little dicey, even when used with a feather board.

I just purchased a GRR-Ripper off Amazon and put it together last weekend.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Mr. Wussy here 'cause I use Board Buddies, splitter, pawls, push shoe, and all the fear I can muster. So far, so good.
Man you dodged that bullet. Glad ya weren't hurt worse.
Bill


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

You should hang an empty frame around that hole in the wall - would be a nice reminder of what can happen. Glad to hear you were not hurt.


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## GT350 (Dec 22, 2012)

I'm glad you weren't hurt. Wouldn't a blade guard have stopped this? My 1970's Craftsman has a blade guard and the arm (you can't hardly call it a splitter) comes up behind the blade and would prevent this piece from twisting and it also has some fingers which stop a piece from shooting straight back.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Wow ,I'm Glad you ok . I'm not sure a splitter would help in this case but it couldn't hurt.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Yeah i'll definately check out that sled.

I don't think a feather board would have worked in this case as the piece I was cutting was only 8" long. i should have just gotten out my miter saw, but then i'd have to move the car, and carry the heavy thing off the shelf. In hind sight, woulda been the smarter choice. I'm going to look into a riving knife and those grippers. Watched about 40 minutes of commercials on them last night. Look pretty nice.

I would have been pissed if it hit the air conditioner. Nice addition to my shop, 25,000btu, cools the garage down from 90 in summer to 70 or so in like 25 minutes.

I like the frame around the hole in the wall. Eventually I was going to mount a TV there for football parties and UFC/Boxing PPV with buddies. Wouldn't that have been a sight as it destroys a $1000 tv.

Knotscott, what would a zero clearance insert have helped this error? I didn't mean that to sound rude, but i'm just not sure where that would have benefited.

Don, i'm pretty sure it was you, and hell yes it happens fast. Shot off the table like a bullet. For anybody that hasn't seen this happen, you don't want to. I remember helping my dad in his garage as a kid. There was about 2 foot of space to walk around the table saw as he packed everything into that garage (no space to move around also very unsafe). Imagine your child getting hit in the head by that. it landed about 2 feet above the table. I'll never let somebody stand behind the saw again.

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. in the least, hopefully this talk helps even 1 person avoid this situation.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I think splitter could have prevented this but also, common sense, don't rip short pieces on the table saw. It is too easy for a piece shorter than the saw blade to get caught and rotate into the rear of the blade. I have had this very thing happen to me several times and it always happens on a short piece. I have learned my lesson never rip anything shorter than 12" on the table saw, that is what the bandsaw is for. Make your self a ZCI w/ splitter, they are easy to make or buy one. Most of all be careful, so glad that you weren't injured.


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## GT350 (Dec 22, 2012)

I didn't notice it was only 8", My suggestion wouldn't work because it is fully cut before it passes the blade. I never really thought about short pieces which I do cut on the table saw, but I made a push stick or handle that has about 10" setting on the wood. My miter saw only does about 6 or 7"" and my bandsaw doesn't cut as smoothly.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I've had one kickback and it scared the hell out of me. Fortunately I wasn't injured. I'm glad you weren't either.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

I use this and I am very happy with it:

http://www.microjig.com/products/mj-splitter-steel-pro/


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

Hey, I have a piece of wood with the same "design". Glad you made it out alright.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

I see nothing wrong with cutting an 8'' piece on the table saw. I've cut plenty of pieces that size and even smaller over the last 35 years.

I learned a long time ago the only time I ever get a kick back is if I fail to keep the work piece against the fence.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Well I thought I would share the finished product of what I was creating. I just wanted to have 2 nice rectangular boxes so my mother in law could cover them with cloth. My wife and I are starting our own Bake Shop, and we had a fundraiser event this Saturday. The boxes turned out great, and the baked goods were amazing. Raspberry peppin with chocolate ganache in an almond flour tart shell. My fav.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Say, i'm using photobucket for the first time, normally I use imageshack and i've never had this problem. The 2 pictures above were taken in landscape, and it looks like either photobucket or lumberjock's site clipped the picture almost in half. Is there a setting i'm not doing right? I used the direct link to the pictures, and when I paste that direct link into the browser it shows the whole picture, but not on the post above.


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

Glad you did not get seriously hurt.
*EEngineer* You say it close. I would not say "pinching" that implies the space between the fence and blade gets smaller. This is a whole 'nother danger. I would call it binding. It happened because friction at the back of the blade pulls the piece away from the fence. At a point it binds against the front corner of the piece and the back of the blade, coming up out of table. Next the blade lifts the piece, and continues to pull it away from the blade, As described, spinning and throwing the piece. A properly sized and positioned riving knife, would have prevented the piece from being able to pull all the way into the teeth at the back of the blade, preventing the binding, and the accident. The knife needs to be the same size as the blade kerf, and as close to the back of the blade as possible. A sled would back the piece on both sides and at the back of the cut. Backed this way there is resistance to the piece turning into the back of the blade. Hold downs or feather boards would also help. Sharp blades help as well. The most dangerous part of any rip cut is the point at which the guide, or guide hand leaves the piece, when the cut is being finished. This is because the primary purpose is to resist the rotational force created at the back of the blade. Longer pieces help because the additional mass at the end of the piece helps resist this force as well. Shorter wider pieces (crosscuts) are pulled into the blade more easily because the torque created by the friction at the back of the blade is larger. (this is a function of the length of the diagonal between the back blade corner, the front fence corner, and the angle of the diagonal to the blade. The longer, and more parallel to the blade this line is, the less force at the back, up-spin side of the blade) This makes a small square piece the most dangerous to cut, on a rip fence or a mitre/crosscut fence. A sled helps the most. Push sticks that contact the back edge only move the hands away from the failure. Push stick designed to contact the piece at the back edge AND extend forward to provide anti rotational downward force near the back of the blade, while getting the hands out of the path of the blade during failure (several are mentioned above) are better. The sled, riving knife, clamps, hold downs, the number of teeth on a rip blade, are all designed to resist or mitigate this force. That is not to say a failure is not possible with these devices in place, but GREATLY reduced. I am sure this may have been covered in one of the videos or by one or more of the previous posters, but bears repetition. 
IMO it is important to clearly understand the physics behind the failure.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

The bottom of the hexagon aquarium stand I built for SWMBO - has that same nice pretty arc cut into it.

Stupid move, there wasn't enough of a flat to stay tight against the fence so it launched it but I was still able to use the top. But that is my one and only face to face with kickback.

My HS shop teacher in the early 80's would demonstrate kickback with a pice of 1 inch thick styrofoam…. he would start the saw then "pull" the foam 1/2 way into the cut from the outfeed side of the saw…. then with a fingertip "scootch" the foam away from the fence…

It definitely got everyones attention.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

Good Point Joey, "The most dangerous part of any rip cut is the point at which the guide, or guide hand leaves the piece, when the cut is being finished. This is because the primary purpose is to resist the rotational force created at the back of the blade."

I totally screwed this up with the dumb push stick I was using, didn't have adequate pressure on the piece to hold it against the fence. I just didn't think about the cut before making the cut.


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## steffen707 (Feb 14, 2012)

"My HS shop teacher in the early 80's would demonstrate kickback with a pice of 1 inch thick styrofoam…. he would start the saw then "pull" the foam 1/2 way into the cut from the outfeed side of the saw…. then with a fingertip "scootch" the foam away from the fence…

It definitely got everyones attention."

That is very cool. I never took a woodshop class in HS, but wish i had. And I agree with Joey, to understand the physics behind the accident, it makes me more aware of how I screwed up and what to not do again.


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