5 - English
TABLE SAW SAFETY RULES
Never use a damaged or cut push stick. A damaged
push stick may break causing your hand to slip into the
saw blade.
Do not perform any operation “freehand”. Always
use either the rip fence or the miter gauge to
position and guide the workpiece. “Freehand” means
using your hands to support or guide the workpiece,
in lieu of a rip fence or miter gauge. Freehand sawing
leads to misalignment, binding and kickback.
Never reach around or over a rotating saw blade.
Reaching for a workpiece may lead to accidental
contact with the moving saw blade.
Provide auxiliary workpiece support to the rear
and/or sides of the saw table for long and/or wide
workpieces to keep them level. A long and/or wide
workpiece has a tendency to pivot on the table’s
edge, causing loss of control, saw blade binding and
kickback.
Feed workpiece at an even pace. Do not bend or
twist the workpiece. If jamming occurs, turn the
tool off immediately, unplug the tool then clear the
jam. Jamming the saw blade by the workpiece can
cause kickback or stall the motor.
Do not remove pieces of cut-off material while the
saw is running. The material may become trapped
between the fence or inside the saw blade guard and
the saw blade pulling your fingers into the saw blade.
Turn the saw off and wait until the saw blade stops
before removing material.
Use an auxiliary fence in contact with the table top
when ripping workpieces less than 2 mm thick. A
thin workpiece may wedge under the rip fence and
create a kickback.
KICKBACK
Kickback is a sudden reaction of the workpiece due to a
pinched, jammed saw blade or misaligned line of cut in the
workpiece with respect to the saw blade or when a part of
the workpiece binds between the saw blade and the rip
fence or other fixed object.
Most frequently during kickback, the workpiece is lifted from
the table by the rear portion of the saw blade and is propelled
towards the operator.
Kickback is the result of saw misuse and/or incorrect
operating procedures or conditions and can be avoided by
taking proper precautions as given below.
Never stand directly in line with the saw blade.
Always position your body on the same side of the
saw blade as the fence. Kickback may propel the
workpiece at high velocity towards anyone standing in
front and in line with the saw blade.
Never reach over or in back of the saw blade to pull
or to support the workpiece. Accidental contact with
the saw blade may occur or kickback may drag your
fingers into the saw blade.
Never hold and press the workpiece that is being
cut off against the rotating saw blade. Pressing the
workpiece being cut off against the saw blade will
create a binding condition and kickback.
Align the fence to be parallel with the saw blade. A
misaligned fence will pinch the workpiece against the
saw blade and create kickback.
Use a featherboard to guide the workpiece against
the table and fence when making non-through
cuts such as rabbeting, dadoing or resawing cuts.
A featherboard helps to control the workpiece in the
event of a kickback.
Use extra caution when making a cut into blind
areas of assembled workpieces. The protruding saw
blade may cut objects that can cause kickback.
Support large panels to minimize the risk of saw
blade pinching and kickback. Large panels tend to
sag under their own weight. Support(s) must be placed
under all portions of the panel overhanging the table
top.
Use extra caution when cutting a workpiece that
is twisted, knotted, warped or does not have a
straight edge to guide it with a miter gauge or along
the fence. A warped, knotted, or twisted workpiece is
unstable and causes misalignment of the kerf with the
saw blade, binding and kickback.
Never cut more than one workpiece, stacked
vertically or horizontally. The saw blade could pick up
one or more pieces and cause kickback.
When restarting the saw with the saw blade in the
workpiece, centre the saw blade in the kerf so that
the saw teeth are not engaged in the material. If
the saw blade binds, it may lift up the workpiece and
cause kickback when the saw is restarted.
Keep saw blades clean, sharp, and with sufficient
set. Never use warped saw blades or saw blades
with cracked or broken teeth. Sharp and properly set
saw blades minimise binding, stalling and kickback.
TABLE SAW OPERATION
Turn off the table saw and disconnect the power
cord when removing the throat plate, changing
the saw blade or making adjustments to the riving
knife, anti-kickback pawls or blade guard, and
when the machine is left unattended. Precautionary
measures will avoid accidents.
Never leave the table saw running unattended.
Turn it off and don’t leave the tool until it comes to
a complete stop. An unattended running saw is an
uncontrolled hazard.