How-To Articles Want to learn about Hand and Power Tool safety? Just click on the links in my Looking For Answers column. I have added two new articles to the column this week. A really good read is the article on using a tablesaw. It covers all the basics along with a few safety tips to follow. For those of you new to carpentry tools, and even those who aren't so new, check out the article on Circular Saws. Table Saw Safety:
A table saw was designed primarily to rip boards lengthwise and secondly for cross-cuts. Since so many of us have a table saw in our shop or garage and using it is so easy, we tend to forget just how extremely dangerous this tool really is. Fortunately it comes with safety equipment that, if left in place and kept adjusted, will almost eliminate accidents and help save your fingers and eyes.
• Always use a sharp blade. When I have to replace a blade, I have it sharpened at a professional saw blade sharpening service before I use it. It will make a smoother and cleaner cut than a factory edge.
• Blade Guard. A blade guard is an assembly that includes a splitter and an anti-kickback pawl. This device is standard equipment on all table saws. When ripping a board the splitter prevents the wood from pinching the blade and hurling it back at you. The anti-kickback pawls add a lot of additional safety to that feature. So if you have removed this important piece of safety equipment and “stored” it beneath a bench, get it out, clean it up and reinstall it right now!
• Adjust the blade height. Do this before you start the table saw. Lay the board next to the blade and raise or lower until the full tooth kerf is showing above the board. No more, no less.
• Never, ever, make any adjustments while the blade is turning. When you are adjusting the saw, you are not paying full attention to the blade and even a blade that is about to stop will cut your fingers a multitude of times.
• Inspect the blade (with the power disconnected) and keep it sharp and clean. Make sure the teeth are not chipped or missing. Unplug the saw and hang the cord across the table so you can see that it is unplugged and safe.
• Do not wear gloves. This is not the time to try to prevent a callous. Gloves can catch on a corner of the wood or the blade and yank your hand into it. You also loose the “feel” of the wood and not realize how hard or how little it is being pushed through the blade.
• Proper eye and ear protection. Standard eyeglasses or sunglasses are not the same as safety glasses. They will not protect your eyes from a projectile flung into them at 90 mph. Hearing loss is a funny thing. You don’t know you are losing it until it is too late. And there is no reversing that situation. I know deaf carpenters. I don’t know any blind ones.
• Use a push stick or block to cut pieces of wood less than 6” wide. I use my thumb and forefinger with my little finger behind the fence to push wider pieces.
• Good Housekeeping. That says it all when you are talking safety around a tool with an extremely sharp blade spinning at 3500 rpm and we are sticking our hands in front of it. Do not have pieces of wood or electric cords running on the floor in front of the table saw.
• Appropriate clothing. Sure, that tie is really spiffy but you can’t wear it while you are running a saw. Ties, loose fitting, baggy clothing or dangling jewelry can catch on the blade or a moving part of the saw and create quite an incident to tell your ER doc while waiting to have your fingers sewn back on.
• Stand in a comfortable, wide stance and well balanced position while operating a table saw. This makes it easier to maintain control over the cuts and simplifies taking a step or two while making a long rip. If it feels uncomfortable while making a cut, then reposition yourself. Don’t take the chance of falling onto the saw blade or the table.
• Wear the appropriate footwear. Now is not the time to be cool and wear flip-flops or go barefoot.
• Correct position. Don’t stand directly in front of the blade. The anti-kickback pawl will stop almost all kickbacks, but just in case, move over.
• Do not release or move the push block until the wood has gone past the blade. Use table extensions or stands to catch the wood when it has gone past the blade.
• Always give the blade a little spin prior to starting the motor. If a piece of wood or a tool has dropped in and caught on the blade, it can either damage the motor or fling it at your head.
• Use a stop block when cross cutting pieces and using the miter gauge and fence. Grip a short 1x to the fence and adjust it to the correct length. Make sure the cut piece clears the stop before it reaches the blade. The wood can bind between the fence and the blade and kickback at you.
• Use zero clearance inserts to prevent thin drops from falling beneath the table and reduce the splinters and rough cuts associated with a standard blade insert. You can make your own for a few cents or buy a ready made one for a few bucks. Either way is a very good investment.
• Never, ever operate your table saw with the insert missing. Wood, fast spinning saw blades and huge gaping holes are not a good combination.
• Keep your table top clean. I clean, wax and buff mine with a high quality car wax. This prevents rust and makes the wood just glide through the blade.
• Check the adjustments on the rip fence. Make sure it is parallel to the blade. I like to set my fence so it is about 5 thousandths of an inch wider at the outfeed end (back of the table) than at the infeed side. This prevents any binding between the blade and the fence.
• Use the fence or miter gauge when making any cuts. Table saws weren’t made for free-hand cuts.
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