About.com’s Top 12 Table Saw Safety Tips
Well, it happened to me Wednesday night. I was trying to make the proverbial ‘last cut’ of the night, was feeling tired, using the saw incorrectly and I got distracted when WHAM… I had a kickback.
I’m OK, just a few cuts up my arm where the board flew up and a bruised left index finger… but it could have been much worse.
That’s why it’s a great time to review the basic table saw safety tips. Read through this list and honestly assess what you do when you work at the saw. It just might save a finger or two…
Hey Tom I am glad you are OK…
Table saw safety is a topic that should never be forgotten, kickback can occur at any time, my last was at 1100 AM after a good night sleep, it is insidious and will happen when you least expect it. I had just finished ( almost) ripping some walnut and I got careless with the last off cut, it was just there so I push it while the blade was still at maximum RPM it slid off the push stick and landed on the blade… luckily my body was to the left of it and it missed me. The plastic shelf behind me was not so fortunate and now bears the scar of a walnut bullet. The only time a table saw is safe is when it is stopped and unplugged.
Keep your eye on the blade and your stick on the ice.
Tom, Glad you didn’t get much damage. I’m sure you will get a lot of response from the post because I don’t know of anyone that hasn’t had it happen. My last one was a shot to the ah … near groin area. I now talk and type an octave higher. I was lucky as well an only received a softball (no pun intended) bruise. Shortly thereafter I bought a SawStop. Not that you can’t get kickback with a Sawstop but saftey took on new meaning after the kickback I described.