What's so deadly about this contraption?

[Gregory East]

Collecting up the necessaries for cab building I came up with the idea of a home made table saw top jig'umiwhatsit. Figuring it's probably been done before I had a search and came up with this beauty: http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1227

I had in mind a hybrid of this and Bills panel jig to go on my foldup vice table, (two 3/4 ply slabs with one on worm screws to make a vice). The Dave style regular fence arrangement solves a lot of potential alignment problems so I'm drawn to that. But it doesn't guarantee square panels unless the sheet is square to start off. So depending on how square NZ ply is I might need the panel jig to go over top of similar homemade table attachment.

Now, not being a woodworker, I fail to see how this thing can kill you. Can it spit a slice of wood at you? Harley made a post about that but I gathered he turned it on without having hands on the timber. Chop a hand off, I get it. Bill's table jig has the push plate to get your hands out of the firing line, much safer. I can see it would be a good idea not to fall on top of it. Hmmmm, anything I'm missing?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Can it spit a slice of wood at you?

It can. Kickback is the #1 source of table saw related injuries. With a panel cutting jig the rear stop prevents kickback, and it allows one to square panels as well.

[bgavin]

Ask Harley about getting piezo pieces spat at him. A number of guys think that melded array building is most dangerous operation of the bunch.

[Harley]

.. Harley made a post about that but I gathered he turned it on without having hands on the timber. ...?

Yes, that was when I was setting up the saw...BUT...it goes to show how dangerous a table saw can be and without hesitation it will fire wood at you quicker than a Malcolm Marshall delivery during ANY part of the cut.

I am a super cautious table saw operator and yet I still get surprises now and again.

[bgavin]

A thick sheet of Plexiglass might be just the ticket for these operations. Mounted such that it could be placed or removed easily, it might serve well as a see-through scatter shield.

[SoundInMotionDJ]

Yes, that was when I was setting up the saw...BUT...it goes to show how dangerous a table saw can be and without hesitation it will fire wood at you quicker than a Malcolm Marshall delivery during ANY part of the cut.

Is that some kind of obscure sporting reference?

I have managed to kick back a board out of a tablesaw about once every 24 months. I've been in the path of those boards three times. Only once did I need a trip to the ER.

But, every time it happens, I walk away from the tablesaw and drink all the beer in the fridge. That helps to build in a "natural pause" following my own stupidity. I have *never* had wood kick out when I was actually using the safety guards and paying attention...I think there is a lesson in there somewhere.

In all my years in shop class, I never met an "industrial arts" teacher who had all his fingers. That alone was enough of a lesson to give me an enormous amount of respect for all tools...but especially the ones with tails. I have my share of nicks and cuts, but I have yet to meet anyone stubborn enough to take off a finger with a hand saw.

--Stan Graves

[Gregory East]

Can it spit a slice of wood at you?

It can. Kickback is the #1 source of table saw related injuries. With a panel cutting jig the rear stop prevents kickback, and it allows one to square panels as well.

I guess #2 is operating without the drop down shield thingie and slicing off the thumb

I have *never* had wood kick out when I was actually using the safety guards and paying attention

More than one guard missing from the Dave special? I only see the drop down thingie.

Does the rear stop make it idiot proof or just complacency proof? I guess I'm asking for a rundown of the right way to operate it and what happens when you don't do it the right way. Why does it kick back without warning? I've had a circular saw bounce back at me but nothing that I'd consider potentially catastrophic.
It looks like small stuff is the most likely to break and go flying and it would be a bad idea to be trying to cut right at the limit of the saw blade's height, but I read that you get the cleanest cuts there?

I am a super cautious table saw operator and yet I still get surprises now and again.

Surprise I can handle, blood on the floor I cannot.

[gdougherty]

Read on some woodworking site that a cheap and/or dull saw blade makes things more liable to kickback. I use firm hand pressure or push blocks at all times and a good sharp quality blade. I favor the Freud Diablo's of the ones that the local HD and Lowes carry. The Porter Cable razors are also sweet blades as a combination rough cut/finish blade that cuts fast but leaves nice edges.

[Harley]

Is that some kind of obscure sporting reference?

Malcolm Marshall - West Indies Fast bowler.

You mean to say you've never heard of this guy?

If you played cricket, this was the last bowler you'd ever want to see coming at you - his fast deliveries were absolutely devastating and I'd hate to have to count how many batsmens' toes he broke with his in-swinging yorkers.

[Harley]

...and a good sharp quality blade.....

Absolutely!

I have 80tooth tungsten blades - they cost around $NZ200 ( $US 130 ) but are more than worth it in the long run.

[SoundInMotionDJ]

If you played cricket,

Is that some kind of "game" that I should have heard of? Is it like tiddledy winks?

--Stan Graves

[bgavin]

Cricket (like football) is most often played by guys holding beer bottles.

[Harley]

Cricket (like football) is most often played by guys holding beer bottles.

You missed the 'seated in Lay Z Boys with ice cream in the other hand, screaming "put another log on the fire" '

.....isn't that how you guys do it up there?

[bgavin]

Nope.

Up here, we first get really stuffed at the dinner table. Pass a napkin please, my face is dirty from the bloody steak. After that, we gather around the TV and root for our team. And everybody flashes that V-For-Victory hand sign when their team scores.

Yep... that is how it is done on this end.

[Gregory East]

Circular saw arriving in a day or two, anything I need to know to not chop my fingers off?