New Woodworker’s kickback video
PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT YOUR SHOP! SAFETY IS A PARAMOUNT CONCERN, AND YOU DON’T WANT TO INJURE YOURSELF!
Nothing is more terrifying to a woodworker than the possibility of being injured in his or her shop. One of the most potentially gruesome injuries could occur if the piece you are cutting on a table saw gets caught up and kicked back at you. I don’t care how small your saw is – because of the dynamics of how the blade cuts, it can happen. I remember once having a piece kickback on me while using a powerful Delta Unisaw. While I wasn’t hurt, I did need to change my drawers…
Tom Hintz of New Woodworker.com does a tremendously foolish – yet valuable – thing for all woodworkers by purposely causing a kickback and capturing the results on video. Even knowing the kickback was coming didn’t prevent a violent reaction from taking place. The results of the video will leave you feeling a bit sick to your stomach (Look at how freakin’ close his hand comes to the saw blade), the video disproves some long-held beliefs many woodworkers have about this kind of accident (I don’t need a splitter or riving knife, I can hold the board down and ride out the kickback, etc.).
Please, watch this video if you work with a table saw. These accidents happen in the blink of an eye and can carry tremendous force. Remember – your hobby shouldn’t have to cost you a trip to the hospital.
And, Tom – please don’t ever try this again… OK?
as a result of making this video Tom is now in possession of SawStop table saw. I dont think he will be making anymore Kick Back Videos.
I watched that video and cringed big time when I saw how close a call Tom had.
I know he does a lot for the woodworking community, and I appreciate it, but dang, THAT was too close !
(I think those shorts just had to be thrown out! lol)
Just as a heads-up, the SawStop feature would have stopped the blade only had his hand made contact with it. He still could have been terribly injured had the piece flown back and hit him. That’s why it’s critical to also use the splitter or riving knife.
Even though the SawStop mechanism would not prevent a kickback, had his hand made contact with the blade, the SawStop mechanism would have saved him a possible amputation. Also, the SawStop had a riving knife long before it was mandated, which is when all the other manufacturers added riving knives to their table saws, which makes SawStop a leader in kickback prevention as well.
An excellent point. Having that roving knife or splitter is critical to prevent kickback. If you work without one, you are tempting fate.