# Who says bandsaws have no kickback?



## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Well, it finally happened. I had my first full blown "go to the emergency room bleeding all over the place accident" tonight. All from stupidity too.

After dinner I decided to cut up a 10 foot 16/4 board of cherry into bowl sized turning blanks. I cut the wood with my circular saw into 16" lengths, then started cutting the 16" lengths on my bandsaw. I have on my 1" rake tooth blade, so I'm all set.

Put the first 16" on the bandsaw, cut in half like butter. Rounded both sides off. I then measured the true thickness and it was 5" not 4". SOOOOOO, I said to myself, "Self, just resaw the bowl blank to 4" and you have a 1" piece for a plate to match." Uh oh. I put the almost round blank up against my resaw fence, put it up to the blade and ZINGO, that very heavy piece of cherry bounced off my chin/cheek/mouth/nose in about 1 nanosecond. I used to box as a kid, and I never took a right as bad as this one hit.

I stood there for a second, dazed, wondering what the heck had happened. Then I felt some warm stuff on my mouth, nose and face, and I came inside. Looked in the morror. Ouch. It had put my teeth through my bottom lip on the right hand side. It cut my upper lip inside and out and caused my nose to bleed. No loose teeth though!  I'm bleeding like a stuck pig, so I grabbed a towel, headed out the door, and went to the ER. There I met a most gorgeous Physicians Assistant who stitched me up. She found a nice cherry splinter inside the laceration and in my mustache!  When she went to inject the lidocaine, it squirted right through my lip from the outside to the inside. Man, that stuff tastes really bad.

Patched me up, sent me on my way, and gave me a script for antibiotics. It's throbbing, but it's a good reminder of how stupid I was.

Needless to say I won't be doing any resawing of a round bowl blank ever again.

Be careful folks, there IS such a thing as kickback on a bandsaw. And it happens instantly.


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## brianinpa (Mar 16, 2008)

Wow, what a bummer. Must be a combination of the blade size and the round stock. Glad to hear there weren't any lost body parts. Skin heals and lessons are learned: thanks for sharing your misfortune with us all so that we all learn.


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

Yeah, bandsaws pull down. With round stuff that presents a problem.

I'm sorry you got hurt, but am very glad it wasn't any worse.


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## tooldad (Mar 24, 2008)

Do you get to go back for a checkup?  Hope the healing goes well, and sorry to hear about your unfortunate circumstance.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

Oh man that sounds painful

I guess the blade tried to spin the stock and it rolled forward into your face?

I bought a polycarb face shield two weeks ago after another LJ posted a picture of his face getting whacked, and I use it for just about all operations - even those that "seem" safe. About half the time I wear reading glasses while I work and a face shield doesn't care what I am wearing beneath it.

I don't know how much it would have helped you, but maybe it would have been the difference between cuts or bruises.

As Peter said, glad it wasn't worse.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

*Doh*!!! resaw *before* cutting the round corners. I,ve actualy seen this done at my old work, thankfully without the gore. It,s was all over in a milisecond and luckily the guy had nothing more than a stunned look on his face. Get well soon mate, and just tell people you got it in a knife fight with some bikers, it sounds more impressive!


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

And I've always wondered how Sam Maloof cuts parts on the bandsaw WITHOUT HOLDING THE PIECE DOWN TO THE TABLE TOP. Man that guy must be strong (or stupid??)!!! I've seen him sculpt entire chair parts without the wood touching the table…and no kickback. But his cuts weren't on round stock either.

Sorry to hear about the accident. You did good to get yourself to the ER. I'd have passed out as soon as I saw the blood…what a wimp…

Oh, and by the way, don't cut 4" pvc dust collection pipe on the bandsaw either. You won't quite get right-hooked in the face, but you'll sure have two smashed thumbs!!

I also apologize for laughing out loud as I read your story. It was well written. I must be a real sicko !! ;-D


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

alanealane, remember that SAM is missing the tip of one of his fingers also!

Thanks for your story Padre, I have been getting too comfortable with my bandsaw of late, time to rethink what I'm doing.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Holy Cow! I don't remember when I was boxing waking up and feeling like this!! I did play hockey from pee-wee through college graduation (with time out for Uncle Same, drafted in '71), and I was a goalie, but I wore a mask. HMMMMM, I wonder where that mask is now?? 

I did brake my nose 6 times, well, actually 8 if you count the surgery to correct the first 6 and then getting blown up in a truck while I was in the service and walking away with nothing more than a broken nose. Not all hockey either. Actually the count was: hockey 3 - nose 0. fight 1 - nose 0, water polo 1 - nose 0, football 1 - nose 0, surgeon 1 - nose 0 and truck 1 - nose 0.  The nose never seems to win. Kinda' like the Buffalo Bills and the Super Bowl. (Yes, I am a Bills fan.)

Last night at the ER they told me to rinse after eating. They did NOT say that eating would feel like pulling porcupine needles out of the base of your nose!!! So no need to rinse since I can't eat. LOL.

My nose has gone on complete strike and is doing nothing more than issuing forth various different bodily fluids of various colors and consistencies.

I am staring to look like a dalmation in the facial area, and I am only talking out of the left side of my mouth since the right side looks and feels like it has been permanently shut with CA glue. 

I still have all my teeth though. And no broken nose.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Padre, all the assistant gave you was "a script for antibiotics" ? dissapointing… next time you should aim for more damage…;o)

glad to hear all teeth are in place… I had a similar thing happen to me, and I can only relate to your experience, and on the same note -to the stupidity of the case - after hearing so much that the bandsaw is the 'safest' tool of them all, it's easy to lower your guards when working with one. I had cut 10" off of the end of an apple log, did that on the bandsaw, since the entire log was large and heavy, it was easy for me to stand to the side of the blade (2 feet away) hold the log and move along with it through the blade - the problem was when I was about to clean up the 10" cutoff piece… for some unknown stupid reason , I didn't think of putting the straight cut face on the table top, and instead kept it on it's rounded bark…. that thing flew like a torpedo, luckily for me, I was still to the side of the saw, and not behind the piece… only caught my fingers - and damn that hurt. left some serious marks on my cast-iron table that took me a lot of elbow grease to clean up (aka impact was severe).

hope recovery is fast, and the nuisances that accompany it will be mimimal ,and pass quickly.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

Padre,
I before I was your follow up post, I was going to say that I took a cross check to the mouth that put my teeth through my lower lip when I was baout 1/2 as old as I am now. Didn't knock out any teeth, but did knock em pretty crooked, and only about 3 months after my braces had come off. As I see it, the score is:

Bandsaw 1
Hockey 1
Us 0

Hope you feel better. The mouth has a lot of nerve endings. Very painful spot to get injured.


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## jack1 (May 17, 2007)

I just got off the bandsaw about 30 minutes ago thinking, "Hey, this is the safest piece of equipment made". Serendipity… 
Hope you are doing well. I had a router table incident about a year ago, know what you are going through. Hang in!


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your situation. I've had bandsaws grab a log that I was trying to cut into smaller chunks. I didn't have any damage done other than a bent bandsaw blade.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Prayers for a quick recovery. Mentioning boxing reminds me of a Milwauke Hole Hog with a large wood auger hanging up that got away from me. Came around and hit me squarely on the jaw! Didn't knock me off the ladder, fortunately ;-)


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## jack1 (May 17, 2007)

Thank you for your thoughts and sympathy. It's been a few months and while the finger looks normal, I have no feeling at the tip (which was routered flat). It could have been worse but I have a wife that first drives fast, asks questions and scolds me after I feel better! lol


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

Sheesh! I had no idea that could happen, and I've been looking forward to resawing when my new blades get here next week (Timber Wolf 1" 2TPI and 3TPI). I am positive I would have tried pushing a log through the blade sideways by hand at some point pretty soon. Thanks for taking one in the face for my knowledge! I'm going to live with all of my teeth in place thanks to you 

Also, I'm glad you'll be alright.

I understand what happened, and how, but it's still hard to imagine that it can. I almost feel like we should all have cameras all around our shops, always recording, and then whenever something goes bad, we can all pass around multiple angles, like a football game replay, and analyze together what went wrong.


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## TheHarr (Sep 16, 2008)

Padre, WOW! Sorry to hear about the accident, but you kept your humor. 
It's important to learn and laugh about the accident. You put a great spin
on the human side of your expierence. Your graphic discription has cautioned
me that this can happen. I do have a bansaw in my shop so your post has
made me aware.

Get well soon, and watch those fingers.
TheHarr


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## JDL (Sep 19, 2008)

Just so that we can make sure that this doesn't happen again… Was it the combination of the fence and round object that caused the incident or would this happen if I was moving a round piece across an unfenced top? With other tools it seems like when you get kick back it is more related to the lateral pressure from a clamp or fence creating a pinch point.

You have our prayers for speedy recovery!


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

Thanks for sharing! We can all use the heads up on safety.


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## willmego (Mar 27, 2008)

And lido does taste terrible. I had a throat thing a few years back and amongst the things given to me was a bottle of that to "gargle" with. The pain was pretty bad, and I did all the other stuff they gave and told me to do, so I figured I'd finish the evening with a nice gargle, looking forward to some relief from the pain…so I poured out the measure of that clear fluid into the little plastic cup, and blithely tossed it back…and promptly spat Lidocaine all over the walls of the bathroom. I don't even know how to describe the feeling, and after 2-3 minutes of gagging, I don't think I need to. Worst thing I've ever had in my mouth, no question.


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## jstegall (Oct 9, 2008)

I tried cutting something round on my BS shortly after I got my first one…again, I got very lucky. Just the busted blade that was stuck into the wood. I am guessing that the cause is the round stock as my blade was a 6 tpi.
I hope you skip any infections.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I'm sorry about your accident. I'll bet that;s the biggest puck you were ever hit with.

I've always been cautious when using a bandsaw, because of some of the horror stories I've heard about them.

One, that I've mentioned before, was a student was stabbed by a flying blade while standing on the side watching

someone else sawing. the blade broke, & ricocheted off the table, & hit him in the chest.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Wow, thank you all for your warm thoughts and prayers.

I feel a LOT better today, and actually went out and cut up the rest of the bowl blanks on the table saw!


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Dick, did the student survive?


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## griffith (Apr 29, 2008)

I just did a search for "bandsaw kickback" on Google and this was the first link that came up. 
I just had something kick back on me a couple days ago. I'm making a bandsaw box with heart shaped drawers (actually leaves that are shaped like upside-down hearts). I set up the fence to slice off the front and back of the drawers, placed the first drawer so the two "lobes" of the heart were firmly on the table, and proceeded to slice off the back of the first drawer. Less than 1/4" in the blade grabbed the piece and bounced it up with a loud bang. Luckily it missed me and only damaged a mostly unseen area of the piece that I can fix with some filler. 
I ended up clamping each drawer firmly in a handscrew clamp and sliding the whole assembly across the table. That worked real well and I'm going to keep it in mind for all cuts on smaller pieces, not just the ones that might kick back.

To answer Jay's question about what causes it… The fence has nothing to do with it. It's like when you step on a tennis ball… not square on the top of it, but off to the side. The pressure will make the ball come shooting out from under your foot. The bandsaw blade catches and pushes the workpiece down the same way as your foot on the tennis ball.

Thanks Chip for an eye-opening story and I hope you're all healed up now, a month later.


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

Wow, that sounds most painful. I wonder how much a full face shield would of helped in this scenario. Probally would of skipped the splinter at the minimum. Get well soon!


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

LOL, a full face shield, in my opinion, would have prevented a trip to the ER. I purchased a full face shield immediately and wear it religiously now. I also purchased a Trend Airshield Pro and love it. Use it all the time on the lathe.


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## AGC (Jan 28, 2009)

Hey Chip. Just around the corner in Meriden. Was reading about your ordeal. Sounds like you really lucked out. As bad as it was, your post will help us, and you, down the road. Glad to hear you're doing well. Stay safe!!!! Al


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

that's crazy wow I glad you came out of it alive


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## jack1 (May 17, 2007)

Glad you made it. As soon as you are able, get back in the saddle and strap on that helmet! There's too much wood that needs working…


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

*Padre,

Sorry for the late answer.

I don't remember if he survived, this was told to our class by our instructor.

It's lucky I remembered the story, it was so long ago.*


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## BlairH (Jan 19, 2009)

Sorry to hear that, I'm glad you're alright. I too have had an accident on a bandsaw. I ended up with 5 stitches in my left thumb. Who would have thought… an accident on a bandsaw?


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Brian, well, at least we are in 'exclusive' territory. It's not just anyone who can get hurt on a bandsaw!


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## Mogebier (Feb 4, 2010)

I had my band saw grab a piece of wood and just jam it up with a violent "POW" noise. Scared the poopy out of me and bent my blade but nothing else.


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

It's been almost a year since this post started and the lessons never stop.

A month or so ago I wrote about a kickback on my bandsaw. Just like what happened to Mogebier. I thought that was all it was, too.

Then I noticed the table.









So now I am looking for some zero clearance inserts.

A lot more force there than I had thought.
Lee


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Holy Cow Lee! Glad you weren't hurt!


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## dusty2 (Jan 4, 2009)

One of the great values of this forum is the information that we gain without seeking it out. However, on this one what I have learned is that there is an accident waiting to happen in my shop.

Just exactly what is being done that sets up this kick back on the bandsaw. I cut round stock a lot and I am now concerned that I am missing something.


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## woodcrafter47 (Nov 24, 2009)

Padre : Wow ,glad you are healing ,will take a while though.
Hey when slicing 1/4 stuff keep you push finger back An accident waiting to happen. I know 1- 1/2 slice 
in index finger , E/r only used super glue and tape . Got a scar to remind me everytime I use band saw.


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## lwoodt (Dec 22, 2008)

man,glad it wasnt any worse get better soon.


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## griffith (Apr 29, 2008)

Dusty2… see my tennis ball analogy above. The important part is not to have the blade exposed below the stock being cut, unless the stock is supported such that it can't be pulled down (or rotated, in the case of something round) by the blade. The blade can catch and slam the stock down to the table (by rotating the stock towards the blade) and then it (the stock) will bounce back up at you.


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