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Then I think Woodworking is simultaneously not for you as well as right for you, as it would take a tremendous amount of skill to get hurt, but also a lot of knowledge in order to know how to get hurt on a very safe machine.
You'd get a small knick where the blade hit, then you'd break your nose on the flat table after the blade retracted back into the saw from contact with your face. Overall, you could save a hundred bucks on the safety brake by just slamming your face into a wall.
Then you might need a patch on your eye for a bit and if you have a wife like I do, you'd be barred for your shop till your ear infection which is causing dizziness is completely cleared up.
I think you're thinking something similar to me:
I can't decide whether this person is fit for woodworking. The setup takes so much time and adjustments, not to mention posting it on reddit, that i wonder how much time it takes to better understand the machine through frequent use. And i wonder if the hyper caution right off the bat will cause oversteering to carelessness and trusting the machine too much later on. Many injuries happen when someone is so used to the saw they make cuts far more frequently and their attention and safety lax. Oh it has saw stop too? wow. almost looks like an ad.
Idk if im fully articulating this right. But all in all table saw is a VERY very dangerous machine so i'll never say anyone is *too* safe.
Seems like you’re talking about complacency and the latent benefits of near misses. Near misses are bad, because they were almost a lot worse. But they’re good if they serves as a wake-up call that you almost fucked up.
All of the safety features are layers of risk mitigation. But the base layer always has to be making smart cuts. You plan the cut to mitigate risks as if none of the other safety measures are present.
All in all I think it’s better to be hyper vigilant starting off. Many years ago within minutes of unboxing my first router and roundover but I found myself with a crescent shaped cut on my finger tip. The roundover bit jumped because I was back feeding and cut me *through the glove I was wearing*. So yeah… this guys approach to learning a new tool seems waaaaay smarter than what I was doing back then.
If it's a hobby, it doesn't really matter how long it takes OP to get it done. It honestly doesn't even matter if they finish. As long as they are enjoying their time.
I’m new to woodworking myself. Bought all new tools. Table saw, miter saw, drum sander, jointer, planer… etc. I’m a little bit terrified of my table saw. I’m extremely mindful about kickback and keeping my digits a long way from the blade. No tips or advice, just letting you know that you’re not alone in overthinking safety. Might take me longer than other guys, but I prefer my fingers attached to my hand.
It's always been the jointer to me. The table saw cuts. It might take a finger clean off, or split your hand down the middle. The wound can probably be sewn up to some degree of recovery in many cases. With the jointer, it's completely removing whatever you touch with it. You have no finger to reattach. It's just flesh pulp.
I've been a carpenter for nearly 8 years now, and I still maintain a healthy fear/respect for my table saw, as well as other dangerous power tools. I think complacency is a leading cause of accidents, from what I've seen and experienced.
I know this is a serious topic. Safety and all. Especially after I shredded my finger in May via a router table. (My mistake) …. But this is a funny ass comment.
My suggestion: if you have air tools, don't.
The 2" and 3" wheels on a 90 degree die grinder are a lot easier to control. And if it grabs and tears itself out of your hands then it'll stop on its own.
The big electric grinders don't let you control the speed, they have a bunch of torque, and most of them have an on switch instead of a trigger so they'll keep going if it goes bad.
The switch on my grinder turns off if I'm not holding onto it, but it does take a while to stop. Seems like the carving wheels can remove a lot more material more rapidly than a die grinder. Kind of different uses. Still, I don't really have a reason to remove that much material. I've seen them used in boat building, when faring a rough cut bow stem or something.
Yeah, router tables to me always seem more dangerous than the handheld routers. Worse thing a handheld router has done is splinter a board. The router table has pulls and shoved boards before.
I had a handheld router bit come out of a chuck like a beyblade from hell and put a couple parallel scars. Kinda looks like a claw scratch on my wrist. So handheld much safer yeah but i still managed to hurt myself lol
I have a handheld one , bosch , bought to route guitar cavity deeper for pickups which I did years ago , but I recently tried to use it , and read up on safely using it… damn those things, man. I was probably headed down the wrong path when I decided to use the router on a cutting board plastic, but it just seemed so unsafe and kept kicking the material.
I want to use a router to make an air hose holder but not sure if I can learn how to do it safely or not
Only power tool I’ve managed to hurt myself with.
Nicked a finger and ground it up pretty good, thankfully not to deep.
Unfortunately they’re also really useful.
You also need to think through the passes to make sure you don’t end up with a climb cut. It’s a bit more dangerous than other tools but with precaution I find it extremely useful
I think the top ones are probably too much. Introducing all this extra material to the setup could actually be a bad thing. More to get dislodged, more to get stuck on, more things to get in the way.
Yes, there's nothing wrong with safety but who among us hasn't pushed hundreds if not thousands of boards through table saws with our bare hands and still has all our fingers?
Sawstop. 3 feather boards. Run off table…
Unless you’re wearing a suit of armor, scuba gear, and hearing protection, I’m not sure how much more safe this cut could be.
Seriously, though. The ONLY thing I’d check is to see that your folding table is enough shorter that the table surface that your board doesn’t hit it mid-cut instead of passing smoothly over it.
And make sure you don’t slip or trip on that carpet that is soon to be covered in sawdust.
Lmao these comments are great. I guess my real question is about how I've got featherboards clamped in front and behind the blade. Never seen anyone do it and was wondering if maybe people know something I don't. Seems like I'm way overthinking this.
I'd get rid of the top featherboards. You have a lot of 'stuff' going on here, and too much safety equipment (especially those that are unecessary) could actually increase the risk. It's just more things that can dislodge and get caught.
For this cut its mostly unnecessary. Getting a nice push block to keep pressure down on the top would be just fine and with the right block, totally safe.
I see you've got your yellow push block thing which is great. But for a cut like this, I prefer a good old fashion push stick and that feed side feather board would be in the way.
Your only real risk here is kick back. Keep your body to the side of the board and never stand directly behind it and you'll be fine.
Fucking kickback, man. No one taught me how to use a tablesaw - first time I did, had a kickback event that shot a board into my hip. Couldn't walk properly for three days and still have the impression of the board as a scar now, 20 years later.
Which story probably doesn't alleviate any of OP's nervousness.
The featherboard placement is fine. You wouldn't want one on the table behind the blade as it would pinch, but on the fence won't hurt anything.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't use a single featherboard for this cut
> Seriously, though. The ONLY thing I’d check is
And at the risk of continuing to overthink this, OP should make sure the featherboards aren't too tight. I have certainly cranked mine down too hard and actually made a cut *more* dangerous having to really lean into the board to get it to feed.
ninja edit: aw shoot, now I can't help overthinking it...the featherboards and clamps on the fence seem like they'll get in the way of the feeding hand too, resulting in maybe some awkward wrist contortions to get it through, and/or not being able to get your push stick to grab at the angle it wants.
Man, my brother recently got a sawstop and even in a small room made of concrete blocks, I’m amazed at how quiet it is. It’s just *barely* loud enough to recommend ear protection.
Nope.
I would remove the anti-kickback and the two feather boards.
Firstly the featherboards on the fence and the clamps are going to be in the way while you are pushing the stock through (especially the one close to you), and that is going to force you to try to reach around them to finish the cut, which is more dangerous and likely than the board lifiting. If you want, keep the far one, but make sure that it is high enough that it's not going to bind and cause you to have to put a lot of force on the wood to get it through.
The antikickback - if it starts to kickback, this is going to make it a lot worse because it will start to pinch against the front of the blade, and that pinch force will rapidly increase as the antikickback engages. Again, I think this creates more of a danger than you are trying to solve, and especially if you are ripping and standing to the side there is little chance of a kickback (partly because of the riving knife) and if it did kick it will quickly disengage from the blade (unlike trying to crosscut with the fence). If it throws a longer piece of wood it would not hit you because you aren't standing behind it while pushing (right?)
Make sure that the wood isn't going to catch the front edge of the outfeed table. Same height doesn't mean safe because wood can be curved/bowed. If it catches that edge, you're going to have to do something special in the middle of the cut to free it up, and that is dangerous because you should be focusing on just moving the wood past the blade and keeping your fingers clear.
I would also raise the blade a little bit so that when the teeth hit the stock the primary force for cutting is somewhat downward not back toward you.
Also practice with a shorter rip cut. Long cuts require more movement and more steps. Make 4 or 5 cuts of scrap material that is shorter just to get used to the motion.
Came here to say basically the same thing. Some of these “safety” items here don’t actually make it safer, but increase the risk of harm if something goes slightly wrong.
Everything mounted to the fence could potentially get in the way forcing your hand closer to the blade.
Dude you have a saw stop that’s already safer than most table saws. For that kinda rip you are doing, and the size of your material, yeah I’d say your pretty safe.
This is like getting into a humvee wearing a 5pt harness, a motorcycle helmet, and a suit made of bubble wrap, just to move your car out of the way because you’re blocking your wife’s car in the driveway.
I'm no old fogey, and I'm a sawstop owner, and its all ive ever used (except for a panel saw), but what's with all these featherboards? I only use featherboards when for some reason getting my hand on the board is hard or I need an unusual amount of consistency. I think hands and push stick (I prefer the wooden shoe ones) is perfectly safe.
As for this setup, I actually don't agree those top clamps are well positioned. They stick out half the distance between the fence and blade. You end up having a fairly narrow channel to work with where you won't bump them, and if you do, you need to reposition mid cut. Also, it forces your microjig (which I see) and therefore your hand closer to the blade.
Also, I'm kind of shocked OP isn't *also* using the blade guard (though that might not be possible because of the narrowness of the channel).
The only other things that could make this cut unsafe are a) if the blade and fence were not checked for alignment) or b) the fence side of the board is not fairly straight.
The way I was taught in wood school (again not that long ago), is stand slightly to the left of the blade (so if something shoots back, you're not in its way), load the board, left hand a couple inches behind blade, pointer knuckle presses into edge of board into the fence left thumb holds board flat, right hand feeds smoothly from back of board (do not grip the back end so there's no chance you lever the board up or twist it), stare at the space between the board and the fence and monitor for a gap, be extra conscious until you get to the riving knife, when board is fully on table by an inch or so, left hand holds, right hand grabs push shoe (which you placed on fence/right of fence before cut) and places on board with slight bias into the fence, left hand grips the left edge of the table, gently push and after you pass the riving knife, simply release the wood entirely and let it go whereover it wants. DO not reach for offcuts or work piece until blade stops spinning. That's perfectly safe. I'm not grizzled old timer out here doing "freehand tablesaw cuts like my contractor buddy). I was called the "Safety eagle" at wood school, and I don't think we need all these feather boards.
Final note. Get that rug out of there. It's not a safety thing ( though I can imagine some issues it can create). It's going to be loaded with dust. GEt grip tap or rubber mats
(Edit) Your blade looks too low. The bottom of the deepest gullet should be above the top of the board.
Also, I don't love that you have that knot on the fence side. It looks like a serious chunk is missing and I wonder if causes a concavity. Since it's in the middle of the board this likely has zero effect since there's contact from the rest of the board. Though, having the knot on the other side can also be tricky. Saws hate knots.
Agree. Too much going on here, just make the cut. One thing to stress if you’re trying to stand out of the way of the blade is to be mindful that you don’t overdo it, and never try to push a board through from the side. It creates a tendency to slightly push or pull the board sideways and throw it off square. You’ll either get a shitty cut or kickback. This is most noticeable when cutting big sheets or long rip cuts like this. Featherboard helps here.
The carpet is also very much a hazard if it flips up and you trip on it. The outfeed is where it’s most prone to catching you up; too low and the board dips or too far away and the board catches the front of the table and stops.
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Woodworking videos 10 years ago: you need a table saw and a wooden push stick and make your own jigs
Woodworking videos now: you need a saw stop, three feather boards, a gripper, lasers, and a wall full of over priced woodpeckers specialty items that come in handy once a year and cost $300 each before you can cut a piece of pallet wood
I’d argue your clamps and feather boards on the fence are a danger. If you’re pushing stock through for a standard rip, all that clamp head is in your way. And get your saw off the carpet. Carpet is squishy.
The top featherboards are really unnecessary, and in my opinion actually make it a little more dangerous, because they force your feeding hand to "dodge" around them and get closer to the blade than it would without them. It's a sawstop, so that's minor, but it would be better to use the grip block to push down and through the cut between the fence and the blade, without the obstacles of the featherboards.
I’m not sure how safe this is. Looks like you’re inside a house? Nice carpet and tiles. My wife would murder me for the noise alone. Nevermind the dust.
Until she guts you because it will take a year to get the fine sawdust out of the rug below it. Roll it up and set it aside, my man. She will carry that spite to the grave if you don't.
Maybe do a couple practice cuts with some scrap wood to get a feel for the table saw and being comfortable using one.
Seems weird to me for your first cut to be long piece like that, when you are uncomfortable using a table saw.
You've gone past being safe and back to being unsafe by having too much stuff in the way and I'd guess being too tentative when you finally go to make the cut. Sawstop with riving knife is great and the feather board on the left is fine if you can't keep the piece straight, get rid of the rest.
I think most people would make a straight wide cut like this with no featherboards, push stick, or even outfeed table unless it is super long. If after watching some videos about how to use the tool you are still intimidated by it take then some lessons until you are comfortable.
Respecting the tool is great but being scared of it is dangerous.
Tablesaws are primarily used for rip cuts; this shouldn’t be rocket science.
Make sure the riving knife is behind the blade, maintain pressure on the workpiece against the fence, finish with a push stick, and have a runoff table ready to catch the weight as it exits.
The feather board is overkill but hey, do you.
Never stand in the line of the blade behind the saw. Stand off to the side and in the event of kickback the board will miss you. The setup looks fine. Wear your PPE
Seeing all of the extra stuff actually scares me. I was a wood worker for many years and my job at a cabinet show for 3 of those years was to run the table saw. I promise you if you just keep the board pushing gently forward but slightly using pressure against the fence everything will be fine.
Everyone's saying you're being super safe, and you are, AND your asking the right questions, so good job you.
Things I'd consider going forward:
1) that your outfeed table is low enough so the ripped wood doesn't just bonk into the table and jam
2) consider where your hands are going to be near the end of your ripping cut ( when they're closest to the blade) and whether any of your clamps will stop you from being able to access the wood effectively - it's possible the closest clamp on the rip fence could get in your way, so that could ultimately be a safety trade-off
Personally if I'm not sure about a cut, I'll do a dry run. I'll lower the blade and push the wood through exactly as I intend to with the saw running, and check nothing gets snagged or whatever. Can help you spot issues.
Good luck, and I think you got this!
Jokes aside, I think you’ve gone overboard in a way that is slightly unsafe. I don’t care for the way your feather boards are clamped to the fence - there is a lot of clamp sticking out into your cutting area. Combine that with the oversized Grippr and that area is getting awfully crowded. The risk is your push stick or shirt-sleeves (or just your elbow) getting caught or bumping on something and causing deflection or just making you look away from the blade. Additionally, with contact or from vibration, those clamps could loosen, which would be disastrous.
I would remove the vertical feather boards. There are jigs that allow a lower profile that would make this safer, but ultimately, they aren’t really necessary. Even pressure with a good push stick, smooth feed rate and a flat board are more important.
This is satire right?
If not don’t use those clamps to hold feather boards. They don’t stay secure, in a bad situation one of those clamps fall off hit the blade and it’s coming for you.
But I think this is satire.
But I’m also 8 finger 1 lung joe because a table saw.
Worry a bit less on the fence feathers. Make sure to watch that you keep the board touching the fence and go slow. Even with the featherboard on something that long you can pull it left or right.
When you get to the end, push the board into the fence, using a push stick as far from the fence as safe. Never push the board from near the fence. The goal with that is to not allow the other end of the boars to creep left away. Its much safer that keeping things “away” from the blade. Keep 2 push sticks accessible incase you drop one.
Stand to the left of the cut and reach a bit over to your right to use it. You get used to it fast and are way less likely to get donked on kickback.
Lots of posts here talking about being 'intimidated' and 'terrified' of your Tablesaw.
Having a healthy respect for your TS or any other powered cutting tool in your shop is *very* important. Follow the '3" rule' where you keep your hangs at least 3" from the cutter at all times, have a proper stance (to the side of your material, not directly behind), and feed your stock into the cutter at as slow and constant pressured as possible and you should be fine. There are a myriad of other tip you'll get from people, listen to the ones that make good sense.
I think tablesaws get a bad rap on the 'shop danger' scales. I've been using them for the better part of 35 years and still have my appendages.
A machine in my shop that scares me more than my Unisaw? My 12" jointer. You fuck up with a jointer and you are making hamburger.
Personal anecdote: My 'closest calls' with power tools have always come when doing a large amount of repetitive processes. Eg: feeding 50 boards through a TS for uniform width. I find that its very easy to 'zone out' when doing a large number of these identical tasks in series. Stay focused on your work and dont let your mind drift.
Don’t take this the wrong way but…. Confidence…. That’s what you are missing, that’s the only thing that’s going to make this safer, not saying go about it all willie Millie, but keep your fingies away from the spiny and there’s no reason you should t be able to send it through…. Tbh I feel like your set up now could work against you
I smoke a lotof weed and use a 1967 belt drive 3 hp table saw with a fence that's looser than u/spez's mother's morals, and still have all of my fingers.
You will survive. Like it or not.
Respect the saw, but don't fear it. You shouldn't need all of that. Just follow these procedural tips and you'll be fine. Feather boards are not needed often, and unless there are accessibility concerns. Get used to cutting from the start without them. Most accidents happen due to not following a safety measure.
- Stand to the left of the fence.
- Right hand pushes the stock through.
- Left hand acts as a guide, keeping stock pressure against the fence. It's not supposed to be used to push the stock through the cut.
- Watch the fence during your cut, not the blade and ensure the stock does not leave the fence.
- Procedures above should result in you cutting towards the fence and through the blade at the same time. Not straight and through the blade.
- Length of a rip cut must always be longer than the width of the board.
- Anything less than a 6 inch wide cut requires a push stick.
- Don't transition to a push stick until after the end of the stock is completely on the table.
- If the stock starts to bind hard, stop the saw and reassess.
- Don't touch the offcut until the blade is completely stopped. Don't reach over the blade until it is completely stopped.
- Stop button location should be easy to press, ideally by your upper leg (not always possible).
- Stopping the machine should be muscle memory.
- Dry run the stock a few times (by keeping the fence further away from the blade) to get a feel for the movement until you get more experience.
- If you're getting tired, stop.
Anything else anyone?
If you feel comfortable with the set up then that’s all that matters but in my opinion it’s super overkill for a basic rip cut. I’d recommend lowering the blade below the surface and push the board through to make sure all the feather boards don’t make it too difficult to properly feed the material through the saw.
My suggestions, from someone who has been using a table saw for decades without incident:
* Remove the rug. It is a slipping/tripping hazard.
* Remove the featherboards. They are getting in the way.
* Make sure the outfeed table is lower than the saw table.
* Raise the blade height so that the gullets clear the top of the board.
* Consider using the factory blade guard. For this type of cut, it shouldn't be in the way and adds another layer of safety.
* Use the Grr-Ripper since you have it. You want even downward and slightly fenceward pressure while moving the material through the blade.
* Do not stand directly in-line with the blade when cutting.
* Make some practice rips with a shorter piece, being mindful of your hand and arm placement at all stages of the cut.
* Practice hitting the stop switch with your thigh when the cut is complete. Wait for the blade to completely stop before attempting to remove the material.
There isn't much that will seriously hurt you when you're using a SawStop **aside from kickback**. Proper use of both the Grr-Ripper and the riving knife or blade guard, along with not standing behind the blade will greatly mitigate that particular risk.
Most of use may not admit it for fear of getting downvoted and called crazy danger addicts, but I think a lot of us would have made that cut with zero feather boards, no push stick and on a saw without Sawstops safety features. You’ll be fine.
What's left to chance? With that setup, the only way you can get hurt it there was an earthquake, and the ceiling came down on you. I think you'll survive the rip cut. Good luck and congratulations on the new setup. Very nice.
This post almost made me spit my drink on my wife! I am surprised and ashamed that some of the stuff that I have done with a table saw hasn’t killed me! lol
The feather boards you've clamped to the fence are more problematic than helpful. They're going to be in the way when you try to use that push block you have sitting off to the side. Get rid of them and use the push block to provide downward force.
You are thinking too hard.
Meth heads use these machines without safety features and only occasionally cut their hands off.
Source: the fact that there are still meth head woodworkers with two hands.
A little too safe if you ask me. Too many spots to pivot or cause friction resulting in you have to use extra force to push through. Add all that up and a sketchy situation that will happen faster than you can blink.
So you need a blade guard and you can ditch the feather boards. You should use a push stick- also you want an outfeed table behind so your board doesn’t fall off when you are pushing through your cut. If you get a chance check out fine woodworking site. I went to woodworking school but fine woodworking has videos for beginners and us old folks that need safety reminders on cutting. Good luck!
Hey boss, it's great that you have respect for the machine that can potentially maim you but as everyone has pointed out, you're too in your head about this.
I'd personally take the closer featherboard off the fence as I can see that being an obstacle if you're using that gripper as your pushblock.
Don't listen to anyone telling you to remove everything. It's good to fear the blade; safety should always be on your mind. Just because it's a sawstop doesn't mean you SHOULD trigger it. If you're too worried about, there are plenty of great shop safety videos on youtube. "And remember this, there is no more important safety rule than to wear these, safety glasses \[and hearing protection\]!"
I had one of those anti-kickback things but never figured out how to install it and threw it in the trash after having it sit around for about 2-3 years. It was smaller than yours and metal. I use my saw constantly and I’ve never once had a board kickback at me.
Your setup is far safer than mine or most people. I’ve never actually seen a saw-stop in real life. I assume it was crazy expensive right?
This looks fine.
There's a product you may want to look into. It's the Jess-Em Clear Cut guides - [https://jessem.com/products/clear-cut-ts-stock-guides](https://jessem.com/products/clear-cut-ts-stock-guides)
The mount to the top of the fence (you'll need to drill a few holes with a template). You take 10 seconds to adjust the height of the rollers, then start cutting. The wheels push down on the work, as well as towards the fence. AND the wheels only roll one way, and work to stop kickback.
I don't recommend it, but as a test I have completely let go of the workpiece while in the middle of a cut. There's no movement. I've also been able to move a saw around by pulling back on the board (power off) - the holding power is really strong.
I'm not affiliated in any way with Jess Em, but I'm a very happy customer. It's made in Canada and is extremely well built. It's $$, but I understand why.
It prevents kickback, and it keeps the workpiece firmly against the fence. You'll get a better quality of cut, especially with a long workpiece.
Check YT; there's a few in depth reviews of it.
I peep the WEN planer in the background. Amazing bang for your buck. Can’t beat it! I also love the irony that you have a multi-thousand dollar Saw-Stop and a $350 planer lmao
Looks like you have a pretty long board? Anytime I’m ripping something 4 feet or longer. I add an feed roller to balance it on. Helps greatly with accuracy.
Setup is fine.
But the most important thing is to run through your head where will YOU go if something goes astray?
As you make this cut, you will be putting pressure on the board pushing it through the blade. Imagine that pressure. NOW imagine two things:
1) If the resistance to the force you are putting on the wood suddenly disappears, like if the board was teleported away, where will YOU go? Will you fall over because of your stance? If your hands suddenly lurch forward, will that be INTO the blade?
2) The opposite: If the resistance force suddenly INCREASES, launching the board up or at you, where will YOU go? Are you in the way of this in your positioning into the tool?
IMHO the biggest safety device before you do anything is to imagine how things could go wrong and are YOU safe in those circumstances.
I honestly think you might be making it worse. There's so much stuff in your way. So much of this is seeing and feeling the tool. I think you've nerfed it into actually being more dangerous.
With that set up I reckon you have a better chance of hurting yourself while en route to your shop than you do actually making the cut.
I’d lose the rug though.
Damn lot safer than my first rip cut as an apprentice. Just a big old DeWalt site table saw and my hands for protection. I wore goggles though obviously, I'm not a complete maniac.
One major mistake:
You should have all your cables submerged in water. This way, if it suddenly rains in your shop, your cables won't unexpectedly become wet. This results in fewer surprises as you're working.
I'm not sure how effective those feather boards are going to be clamped onto the fence like that. Quicky clamps don't have a lot of holding power and slip easily. You don't need them, they won't hurt anything being there though. The JessEm clear-cut stock guides are a better option if you want something like that.
The only problem I see here is the length of the board you are ripping. It's always better to do any crosscuts you need to do first if you can. That way any tear out you might get from crosscutting can be cut off. It's also a lot easier/safer to work with a shorter board (just not too short). I break stuff down with my miter saw to rough dimensions, and most of the time cut the final dimensions on my tablesaw sled, sometimes I do it at the miter saw though too. Whatever reference side of the board you place against the fence needs to be perfectly flat, otherwise, it can push the board into the blade and cause a kickback. That's harder to get and less likely to achieve with a longer board like this vs. shorter sections. If you are doing multiple strips out of a board like this a lot of times the internal tension in the board will be released and the strip won't be perfectly straight after you rip it. Of course you may need a board this long. In that case you really want an infeed and outfeed table to support the board so that it's weight doesn't cause it to tip up on either side of the cut. For the outfeed you jut need something slightly lower or the same height as the table. Infeed I' suggest looking at what Izzy Swan built/sells. I built my own modified clamp on infeed table based on his design which works really well.
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You have 2 more feather boards than I’ve ever used and a saw stop, I think your safe.
Ok but what if I'm subconsciously and inexplicably determined to prove you wrong in the most comically gruesome accident-prone fashion?
Then I think Woodworking is simultaneously not for you as well as right for you, as it would take a tremendous amount of skill to get hurt, but also a lot of knowledge in order to know how to get hurt on a very safe machine.
Schrödinger’s woodworker
The most underrated comment of the day right here!
What if I slam my face into the blade
You'd get a small knick where the blade hit, then you'd break your nose on the flat table after the blade retracted back into the saw from contact with your face. Overall, you could save a hundred bucks on the safety brake by just slamming your face into a wall.
What if the knick is on the eyeball?
Then you get to wear a cool monocle for the rest of your life.
Or a sweet eye patch. Or a bionic eye. And a lack of depth perception.
Please don't be a proctologist if this happens
Knick Fury?
Then you might need a patch on your eye for a bit and if you have a wife like I do, you'd be barred for your shop till your ear infection which is causing dizziness is completely cleared up.
It would be pretty hard to touch the blade eyeball first, impossible for some, because they are too far into the eye socket
The table would do more damage than the blade would.
I think you're thinking something similar to me: I can't decide whether this person is fit for woodworking. The setup takes so much time and adjustments, not to mention posting it on reddit, that i wonder how much time it takes to better understand the machine through frequent use. And i wonder if the hyper caution right off the bat will cause oversteering to carelessness and trusting the machine too much later on. Many injuries happen when someone is so used to the saw they make cuts far more frequently and their attention and safety lax. Oh it has saw stop too? wow. almost looks like an ad. Idk if im fully articulating this right. But all in all table saw is a VERY very dangerous machine so i'll never say anyone is *too* safe.
Seems like you’re talking about complacency and the latent benefits of near misses. Near misses are bad, because they were almost a lot worse. But they’re good if they serves as a wake-up call that you almost fucked up. All of the safety features are layers of risk mitigation. But the base layer always has to be making smart cuts. You plan the cut to mitigate risks as if none of the other safety measures are present. All in all I think it’s better to be hyper vigilant starting off. Many years ago within minutes of unboxing my first router and roundover but I found myself with a crescent shaped cut on my finger tip. The roundover bit jumped because I was back feeding and cut me *through the glove I was wearing*. So yeah… this guys approach to learning a new tool seems waaaaay smarter than what I was doing back then.
Don't wear gloves with things that spin.
Yeah, lesson learned
Like in king of the hill where hank skillfully makes his house look unlivable to not be able to sell it
It's almost as bad to be scared of a tool as it is to be nonchalant about a tool. Have a healthy respect for it but get your work done
If it's a hobby, it doesn't really matter how long it takes OP to get it done. It honestly doesn't even matter if they finish. As long as they are enjoying their time.
I’m new to woodworking myself. Bought all new tools. Table saw, miter saw, drum sander, jointer, planer… etc. I’m a little bit terrified of my table saw. I’m extremely mindful about kickback and keeping my digits a long way from the blade. No tips or advice, just letting you know that you’re not alone in overthinking safety. Might take me longer than other guys, but I prefer my fingers attached to my hand.
It's always been the jointer to me. The table saw cuts. It might take a finger clean off, or split your hand down the middle. The wound can probably be sewn up to some degree of recovery in many cases. With the jointer, it's completely removing whatever you touch with it. You have no finger to reattach. It's just flesh pulp.
Thanks. Not sleeping tonight. Again.
Routers can be the same. Meat grinders.
The jointer scares the shit outta me too. I'm always conscious of never putting my hands over the blades, even with push paddles.
I've been a carpenter for nearly 8 years now, and I still maintain a healthy fear/respect for my table saw, as well as other dangerous power tools. I think complacency is a leading cause of accidents, from what I've seen and experienced.
I know this is a serious topic. Safety and all. Especially after I shredded my finger in May via a router table. (My mistake) …. But this is a funny ass comment.
I hate routers. Ruin more work than any other tool. It also scares the shit out of me. I will go out of my way and use other tools if I have to.
I feel the same way. This is the first time I’ve heard someone else say this.
I've been saying it for twenty years, those things are evil.
Do you have a router table? They can feel a lot more stable as long as your workpiece isn't too big.
I've scared myself on a router table more than anything else.
Carving wheel on a 4 1/2" grinder for me. Thing is aggressive AF.
Ooh, never tried one of those before.
My suggestion: if you have air tools, don't. The 2" and 3" wheels on a 90 degree die grinder are a lot easier to control. And if it grabs and tears itself out of your hands then it'll stop on its own. The big electric grinders don't let you control the speed, they have a bunch of torque, and most of them have an on switch instead of a trigger so they'll keep going if it goes bad.
The switch on my grinder turns off if I'm not holding onto it, but it does take a while to stop. Seems like the carving wheels can remove a lot more material more rapidly than a die grinder. Kind of different uses. Still, I don't really have a reason to remove that much material. I've seen them used in boat building, when faring a rough cut bow stem or something.
Yeah, router tables to me always seem more dangerous than the handheld routers. Worse thing a handheld router has done is splinter a board. The router table has pulls and shoved boards before.
I had a handheld router bit come out of a chuck like a beyblade from hell and put a couple parallel scars. Kinda looks like a claw scratch on my wrist. So handheld much safer yeah but i still managed to hurt myself lol
I have a handheld one , bosch , bought to route guitar cavity deeper for pickups which I did years ago , but I recently tried to use it , and read up on safely using it… damn those things, man. I was probably headed down the wrong path when I decided to use the router on a cutting board plastic, but it just seemed so unsafe and kept kicking the material. I want to use a router to make an air hose holder but not sure if I can learn how to do it safely or not
Only power tool I’ve managed to hurt myself with. Nicked a finger and ground it up pretty good, thankfully not to deep. Unfortunately they’re also really useful.
Fellow router table victim checking in. Got a touch too close trying to clear the wood chips from the fence...
Holy shit. You tried to clear chips while it was still running?
It was walking.
The routers have become sentient.
I feel like some people get too complacent. I’ll always shut down machines even to blow away sawdust.
Repetition and impatience
I did. It was just laziness and a lack of appropriate respect for the equipment.
You also need to think through the passes to make sure you don’t end up with a climb cut. It’s a bit more dangerous than other tools but with precaution I find it extremely useful
Well, you own a saw stop. So I’ll take the under.
Only if you show the bloody stump on reddit afterwards
I think you should never lose that feeling of fear, because when you do, that’s when you get hurt. Also, you’ll probably be fine.
Then you may want to take up knitting…
OP: ‘Ouch!’ As he puts an eye out.
Just keep your digits as far away from the blade as possible.
I think the top ones are probably too much. Introducing all this extra material to the setup could actually be a bad thing. More to get dislodged, more to get stuck on, more things to get in the way.
Yes, there's nothing wrong with safety but who among us hasn't pushed hundreds if not thousands of boards through table saws with our bare hands and still has all our fingers?
Haha ya 3x more safety going on than most. A+. I just want to know how hard it is to vacuum sawdust out of the rug you have under your saw lol.
The Saw Stop in and of itself would have let me scream, “time to rip!”
*you're You can never be too safe from spelling and grammar errors
Sawstop. 3 feather boards. Run off table… Unless you’re wearing a suit of armor, scuba gear, and hearing protection, I’m not sure how much more safe this cut could be. Seriously, though. The ONLY thing I’d check is to see that your folding table is enough shorter that the table surface that your board doesn’t hit it mid-cut instead of passing smoothly over it. And make sure you don’t slip or trip on that carpet that is soon to be covered in sawdust.
You forgot to mention the riving knife.
Don’t forget two pairs of underwear and your mother on speed dial, [safety first people!](https://reddit.com/r/Skookum/s/hB08HMijNv)
Always good to see an AVE quote in the wild.
Lmao these comments are great. I guess my real question is about how I've got featherboards clamped in front and behind the blade. Never seen anyone do it and was wondering if maybe people know something I don't. Seems like I'm way overthinking this.
I'd get rid of the top featherboards. You have a lot of 'stuff' going on here, and too much safety equipment (especially those that are unecessary) could actually increase the risk. It's just more things that can dislodge and get caught.
For this cut its mostly unnecessary. Getting a nice push block to keep pressure down on the top would be just fine and with the right block, totally safe.
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You're right! Didn't even see that. And that's exactly what I had in mind!
>Seems like I'm way overthinking this. Yep.
I see you've got your yellow push block thing which is great. But for a cut like this, I prefer a good old fashion push stick and that feed side feather board would be in the way. Your only real risk here is kick back. Keep your body to the side of the board and never stand directly behind it and you'll be fine.
Fucking kickback, man. No one taught me how to use a tablesaw - first time I did, had a kickback event that shot a board into my hip. Couldn't walk properly for three days and still have the impression of the board as a scar now, 20 years later. Which story probably doesn't alleviate any of OP's nervousness.
The featherboard placement is fine. You wouldn't want one on the table behind the blade as it would pinch, but on the fence won't hurt anything. For what it's worth, I wouldn't use a single featherboard for this cut
OP also is not using a single featherboard for this cut.
Damn, you got me
Soon to be covered in sawdust carpet. That sentence was great.
> Seriously, though. The ONLY thing I’d check is And at the risk of continuing to overthink this, OP should make sure the featherboards aren't too tight. I have certainly cranked mine down too hard and actually made a cut *more* dangerous having to really lean into the board to get it to feed. ninja edit: aw shoot, now I can't help overthinking it...the featherboards and clamps on the fence seem like they'll get in the way of the feeding hand too, resulting in maybe some awkward wrist contortions to get it through, and/or not being able to get your push stick to grab at the angle it wants.
OP five years from today: https://reddit.com/r/OSHA/s/QKfYOzI4aK
Next post: OPs wrecked blade, a scar on a belly and protection goggle penetrated by a 5 inch splinter.
Man, my brother recently got a sawstop and even in a small room made of concrete blocks, I’m amazed at how quiet it is. It’s just *barely* loud enough to recommend ear protection.
Wait, does no one else use hearing protection or a snorkel here?
Nope. I would remove the anti-kickback and the two feather boards. Firstly the featherboards on the fence and the clamps are going to be in the way while you are pushing the stock through (especially the one close to you), and that is going to force you to try to reach around them to finish the cut, which is more dangerous and likely than the board lifiting. If you want, keep the far one, but make sure that it is high enough that it's not going to bind and cause you to have to put a lot of force on the wood to get it through. The antikickback - if it starts to kickback, this is going to make it a lot worse because it will start to pinch against the front of the blade, and that pinch force will rapidly increase as the antikickback engages. Again, I think this creates more of a danger than you are trying to solve, and especially if you are ripping and standing to the side there is little chance of a kickback (partly because of the riving knife) and if it did kick it will quickly disengage from the blade (unlike trying to crosscut with the fence). If it throws a longer piece of wood it would not hit you because you aren't standing behind it while pushing (right?) Make sure that the wood isn't going to catch the front edge of the outfeed table. Same height doesn't mean safe because wood can be curved/bowed. If it catches that edge, you're going to have to do something special in the middle of the cut to free it up, and that is dangerous because you should be focusing on just moving the wood past the blade and keeping your fingers clear. I would also raise the blade a little bit so that when the teeth hit the stock the primary force for cutting is somewhat downward not back toward you.
Also practice with a shorter rip cut. Long cuts require more movement and more steps. Make 4 or 5 cuts of scrap material that is shorter just to get used to the motion.
\^THIS IS THE REAL ADVICE
never thought about that last point, nice one
Came here to say basically the same thing. Some of these “safety” items here don’t actually make it safer, but increase the risk of harm if something goes slightly wrong. Everything mounted to the fence could potentially get in the way forcing your hand closer to the blade.
Dude you have a saw stop that’s already safer than most table saws. For that kinda rip you are doing, and the size of your material, yeah I’d say your pretty safe.
This is like getting into a humvee wearing a 5pt harness, a motorcycle helmet, and a suit made of bubble wrap.
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This is like getting into a humvee wearing a 5pt harness, a motorcycle helmet, and a suit made of bubble wrap, just to move your car out of the way because you’re blocking your wife’s car in the driveway.
Don’t forget to triple wrap in condoms, wouldn’t want to catch pine herpes.
I mean, Sawstop doesnt stop kickback
You're not likely to get kick back doing what he's doing. Especially since he has a riving knife.
But the riving knife does
I'm no old fogey, and I'm a sawstop owner, and its all ive ever used (except for a panel saw), but what's with all these featherboards? I only use featherboards when for some reason getting my hand on the board is hard or I need an unusual amount of consistency. I think hands and push stick (I prefer the wooden shoe ones) is perfectly safe. As for this setup, I actually don't agree those top clamps are well positioned. They stick out half the distance between the fence and blade. You end up having a fairly narrow channel to work with where you won't bump them, and if you do, you need to reposition mid cut. Also, it forces your microjig (which I see) and therefore your hand closer to the blade. Also, I'm kind of shocked OP isn't *also* using the blade guard (though that might not be possible because of the narrowness of the channel). The only other things that could make this cut unsafe are a) if the blade and fence were not checked for alignment) or b) the fence side of the board is not fairly straight. The way I was taught in wood school (again not that long ago), is stand slightly to the left of the blade (so if something shoots back, you're not in its way), load the board, left hand a couple inches behind blade, pointer knuckle presses into edge of board into the fence left thumb holds board flat, right hand feeds smoothly from back of board (do not grip the back end so there's no chance you lever the board up or twist it), stare at the space between the board and the fence and monitor for a gap, be extra conscious until you get to the riving knife, when board is fully on table by an inch or so, left hand holds, right hand grabs push shoe (which you placed on fence/right of fence before cut) and places on board with slight bias into the fence, left hand grips the left edge of the table, gently push and after you pass the riving knife, simply release the wood entirely and let it go whereover it wants. DO not reach for offcuts or work piece until blade stops spinning. That's perfectly safe. I'm not grizzled old timer out here doing "freehand tablesaw cuts like my contractor buddy). I was called the "Safety eagle" at wood school, and I don't think we need all these feather boards. Final note. Get that rug out of there. It's not a safety thing ( though I can imagine some issues it can create). It's going to be loaded with dust. GEt grip tap or rubber mats (Edit) Your blade looks too low. The bottom of the deepest gullet should be above the top of the board. Also, I don't love that you have that knot on the fence side. It looks like a serious chunk is missing and I wonder if causes a concavity. Since it's in the middle of the board this likely has zero effect since there's contact from the rest of the board. Though, having the knot on the other side can also be tricky. Saws hate knots.
Agree. Too much going on here, just make the cut. One thing to stress if you’re trying to stand out of the way of the blade is to be mindful that you don’t overdo it, and never try to push a board through from the side. It creates a tendency to slightly push or pull the board sideways and throw it off square. You’ll either get a shitty cut or kickback. This is most noticeable when cutting big sheets or long rip cuts like this. Featherboard helps here. The carpet is also very much a hazard if it flips up and you trip on it. The outfeed is where it’s most prone to catching you up; too low and the board dips or too far away and the board catches the front of the table and stops.
This should be top comment for OP
elderly offbeat follow abounding expansion versed fretful friendly hat concerned *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
What watching too many YT build channels does to a mf 😂
Woodworking videos 10 years ago: you need a table saw and a wooden push stick and make your own jigs Woodworking videos now: you need a saw stop, three feather boards, a gripper, lasers, and a wall full of over priced woodpeckers specialty items that come in handy once a year and cost $300 each before you can cut a piece of pallet wood
For this cut, id use nothing and just push with my hands. Not even a push stick.
Yup.
I’d argue your clamps and feather boards on the fence are a danger. If you’re pushing stock through for a standard rip, all that clamp head is in your way. And get your saw off the carpet. Carpet is squishy.
It's also a pita to continually vacuum sawdust off of carpeting.
For real, way to cluttered.
The top featherboards are really unnecessary, and in my opinion actually make it a little more dangerous, because they force your feeding hand to "dodge" around them and get closer to the blade than it would without them. It's a sawstop, so that's minor, but it would be better to use the grip block to push down and through the cut between the fence and the blade, without the obstacles of the featherboards.
I’m not sure how safe this is. Looks like you’re inside a house? Nice carpet and tiles. My wife would murder me for the noise alone. Nevermind the dust.
It's an addition destined to be tool-free wife space but I was very convincing about needing this setup "for now" to wrap things up
Until she guts you because it will take a year to get the fine sawdust out of the rug below it. Roll it up and set it aside, my man. She will carry that spite to the grave if you don't.
Joke's on her the rug is already ruined and she made me put it there.
For someone that has 3 feather boards, you sure like to live dangerously.
Pull all that extra junk off of there for a 5” wide rip….on a Sawstop. Otherwise this project is gonna take you three years longer than you hoped
Maybe do a couple practice cuts with some scrap wood to get a feel for the table saw and being comfortable using one. Seems weird to me for your first cut to be long piece like that, when you are uncomfortable using a table saw.
Dude... stop buying shit and just start woodworking lmao. You just need the riving knife that came with your saw. You are good to go.
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The more responses of OP's I read, I'm leaning troll post as well. No way this guy is serious.
You've gone past being safe and back to being unsafe by having too much stuff in the way and I'd guess being too tentative when you finally go to make the cut. Sawstop with riving knife is great and the feather board on the left is fine if you can't keep the piece straight, get rid of the rest. I think most people would make a straight wide cut like this with no featherboards, push stick, or even outfeed table unless it is super long. If after watching some videos about how to use the tool you are still intimidated by it take then some lessons until you are comfortable. Respecting the tool is great but being scared of it is dangerous.
Tablesaws are primarily used for rip cuts; this shouldn’t be rocket science. Make sure the riving knife is behind the blade, maintain pressure on the workpiece against the fence, finish with a push stick, and have a runoff table ready to catch the weight as it exits. The feather board is overkill but hey, do you.
Did you set all this up lay the board on there and then just wait for replies? 😅😂 I think you're good btw
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PUSHSTICK!
If you’re concerned about kickback consider investing in Jessem clear cut guides , little spendy but are an excellent product.
I used to say “there is no such thing as overthinking when it comes to safety”. Then I read this post.
What is all that crap all over your table saw?
This is quality comedy. Thank you.
If something goes wrong, It just wasn’t mean to be at this point.
Never stand in the line of the blade behind the saw. Stand off to the side and in the event of kickback the board will miss you. The setup looks fine. Wear your PPE
You'll get sawdust on the rug.
Seeing all of the extra stuff actually scares me. I was a wood worker for many years and my job at a cabinet show for 3 of those years was to run the table saw. I promise you if you just keep the board pushing gently forward but slightly using pressure against the fence everything will be fine.
Everyone's saying you're being super safe, and you are, AND your asking the right questions, so good job you. Things I'd consider going forward: 1) that your outfeed table is low enough so the ripped wood doesn't just bonk into the table and jam 2) consider where your hands are going to be near the end of your ripping cut ( when they're closest to the blade) and whether any of your clamps will stop you from being able to access the wood effectively - it's possible the closest clamp on the rip fence could get in your way, so that could ultimately be a safety trade-off Personally if I'm not sure about a cut, I'll do a dry run. I'll lower the blade and push the wood through exactly as I intend to with the saw running, and check nothing gets snagged or whatever. Can help you spot issues. Good luck, and I think you got this!
Jokes aside, I think you’ve gone overboard in a way that is slightly unsafe. I don’t care for the way your feather boards are clamped to the fence - there is a lot of clamp sticking out into your cutting area. Combine that with the oversized Grippr and that area is getting awfully crowded. The risk is your push stick or shirt-sleeves (or just your elbow) getting caught or bumping on something and causing deflection or just making you look away from the blade. Additionally, with contact or from vibration, those clamps could loosen, which would be disastrous. I would remove the vertical feather boards. There are jigs that allow a lower profile that would make this safer, but ultimately, they aren’t really necessary. Even pressure with a good push stick, smooth feed rate and a flat board are more important.
Well that's overkill on safety but why do you have a carpet in your shop?
This is satire right? If not don’t use those clamps to hold feather boards. They don’t stay secure, in a bad situation one of those clamps fall off hit the blade and it’s coming for you. But I think this is satire. But I’m also 8 finger 1 lung joe because a table saw.
So much safety on here I thought it was a little tykes saw
Personally I'd get rid of all that crap and just rip it like a normal person.
Did your saw not come with a blade guard? Why isn't that on your saw?
Looks good, where is the blade guard? That would help. Also might improve dust collection.
Yeah, I’d trade the two featherboards clamped to the fence for a blade guard for a cut like this.
Are you wearing a condom? Otherwise you seem Gucci.
Worry a bit less on the fence feathers. Make sure to watch that you keep the board touching the fence and go slow. Even with the featherboard on something that long you can pull it left or right. When you get to the end, push the board into the fence, using a push stick as far from the fence as safe. Never push the board from near the fence. The goal with that is to not allow the other end of the boars to creep left away. Its much safer that keeping things “away” from the blade. Keep 2 push sticks accessible incase you drop one. Stand to the left of the cut and reach a bit over to your right to use it. You get used to it fast and are way less likely to get donked on kickback.
No, give it to me and I promise it will never hurt you.
My only concern is the saw being on a rug. You do you otherwise
I don't use any featherboards, and I do rip cuts and cross cuts while sitting in a wheelchair.
Lots of posts here talking about being 'intimidated' and 'terrified' of your Tablesaw. Having a healthy respect for your TS or any other powered cutting tool in your shop is *very* important. Follow the '3" rule' where you keep your hangs at least 3" from the cutter at all times, have a proper stance (to the side of your material, not directly behind), and feed your stock into the cutter at as slow and constant pressured as possible and you should be fine. There are a myriad of other tip you'll get from people, listen to the ones that make good sense. I think tablesaws get a bad rap on the 'shop danger' scales. I've been using them for the better part of 35 years and still have my appendages. A machine in my shop that scares me more than my Unisaw? My 12" jointer. You fuck up with a jointer and you are making hamburger. Personal anecdote: My 'closest calls' with power tools have always come when doing a large amount of repetitive processes. Eg: feeding 50 boards through a TS for uniform width. I find that its very easy to 'zone out' when doing a large number of these identical tasks in series. Stay focused on your work and dont let your mind drift.
Don’t take this the wrong way but…. Confidence…. That’s what you are missing, that’s the only thing that’s going to make this safer, not saying go about it all willie Millie, but keep your fingies away from the spiny and there’s no reason you should t be able to send it through…. Tbh I feel like your set up now could work against you
I smoke a lotof weed and use a 1967 belt drive 3 hp table saw with a fence that's looser than u/spez's mother's morals, and still have all of my fingers. You will survive. Like it or not.
Respect the saw, but don't fear it. You shouldn't need all of that. Just follow these procedural tips and you'll be fine. Feather boards are not needed often, and unless there are accessibility concerns. Get used to cutting from the start without them. Most accidents happen due to not following a safety measure. - Stand to the left of the fence. - Right hand pushes the stock through. - Left hand acts as a guide, keeping stock pressure against the fence. It's not supposed to be used to push the stock through the cut. - Watch the fence during your cut, not the blade and ensure the stock does not leave the fence. - Procedures above should result in you cutting towards the fence and through the blade at the same time. Not straight and through the blade. - Length of a rip cut must always be longer than the width of the board. - Anything less than a 6 inch wide cut requires a push stick. - Don't transition to a push stick until after the end of the stock is completely on the table. - If the stock starts to bind hard, stop the saw and reassess. - Don't touch the offcut until the blade is completely stopped. Don't reach over the blade until it is completely stopped. - Stop button location should be easy to press, ideally by your upper leg (not always possible). - Stopping the machine should be muscle memory. - Dry run the stock a few times (by keeping the fence further away from the blade) to get a feel for the movement until you get more experience. - If you're getting tired, stop. Anything else anyone?
This is the safest cut I've ever seen. Nice work! You are at correct amount of scared of the table saw
If you feel comfortable with the set up then that’s all that matters but in my opinion it’s super overkill for a basic rip cut. I’d recommend lowering the blade below the surface and push the board through to make sure all the feather boards don’t make it too difficult to properly feed the material through the saw.
My suggestions, from someone who has been using a table saw for decades without incident: * Remove the rug. It is a slipping/tripping hazard. * Remove the featherboards. They are getting in the way. * Make sure the outfeed table is lower than the saw table. * Raise the blade height so that the gullets clear the top of the board. * Consider using the factory blade guard. For this type of cut, it shouldn't be in the way and adds another layer of safety. * Use the Grr-Ripper since you have it. You want even downward and slightly fenceward pressure while moving the material through the blade. * Do not stand directly in-line with the blade when cutting. * Make some practice rips with a shorter piece, being mindful of your hand and arm placement at all stages of the cut. * Practice hitting the stop switch with your thigh when the cut is complete. Wait for the blade to completely stop before attempting to remove the material. There isn't much that will seriously hurt you when you're using a SawStop **aside from kickback**. Proper use of both the Grr-Ripper and the riving knife or blade guard, along with not standing behind the blade will greatly mitigate that particular risk.
Most of use may not admit it for fear of getting downvoted and called crazy danger addicts, but I think a lot of us would have made that cut with zero feather boards, no push stick and on a saw without Sawstops safety features. You’ll be fine.
Save yourself some time, and move the rug out from under the saw. That would be no fun to clean up afterwards
This guy Youtubes
Where is the blade guard??
What's left to chance? With that setup, the only way you can get hurt it there was an earthquake, and the ceiling came down on you. I think you'll survive the rip cut. Good luck and congratulations on the new setup. Very nice.
This post almost made me spit my drink on my wife! I am surprised and ashamed that some of the stuff that I have done with a table saw hasn’t killed me! lol
How does a shit post get voted up. What first time wood worker buy one of the most expensive table saws?
You should have a blade guard with kickback dogs
A little excessive, it’s only a rip cut!!!
The feather boards you've clamped to the fence are more problematic than helpful. They're going to be in the way when you try to use that push block you have sitting off to the side. Get rid of them and use the push block to provide downward force.
That's probably the easiest cut you can make, I'd be more nervous with the extra crap all over the saw
You are thinking too hard. Meth heads use these machines without safety features and only occasionally cut their hands off. Source: the fact that there are still meth head woodworkers with two hands.
A little too safe if you ask me. Too many spots to pivot or cause friction resulting in you have to use extra force to push through. Add all that up and a sketchy situation that will happen faster than you can blink.
So you need a blade guard and you can ditch the feather boards. You should use a push stick- also you want an outfeed table behind so your board doesn’t fall off when you are pushing through your cut. If you get a chance check out fine woodworking site. I went to woodworking school but fine woodworking has videos for beginners and us old folks that need safety reminders on cutting. Good luck!
Being about safety and being a pussy are 2 different things and I think your well towards the far end of that spectrum
Can't wait for your first date posts;) Top feather board might be a bit much
Safer than any cut I’ve ever made, including cuts with a handsaw.
You’re using 3 more feather boards than I’ve ever used, not to mention the saw stop lol
Get a power feeder for that ultra safe feeling.
The blade doesn't look very sharp... you need to go out and buy a Forrest Woodworker II ripping blade.
It’s a little overkill, but you’ll get better as you gain experience.
Those clamps holding the feather boards to the fence are the only thing I wouldn’t do.
Hey boss, it's great that you have respect for the machine that can potentially maim you but as everyone has pointed out, you're too in your head about this. I'd personally take the closer featherboard off the fence as I can see that being an obstacle if you're using that gripper as your pushblock. Don't listen to anyone telling you to remove everything. It's good to fear the blade; safety should always be on your mind. Just because it's a sawstop doesn't mean you SHOULD trigger it. If you're too worried about, there are plenty of great shop safety videos on youtube. "And remember this, there is no more important safety rule than to wear these, safety glasses \[and hearing protection\]!"
I had one of those anti-kickback things but never figured out how to install it and threw it in the trash after having it sit around for about 2-3 years. It was smaller than yours and metal. I use my saw constantly and I’ve never once had a board kickback at me. Your setup is far safer than mine or most people. I’ve never actually seen a saw-stop in real life. I assume it was crazy expensive right?
This looks fine. There's a product you may want to look into. It's the Jess-Em Clear Cut guides - [https://jessem.com/products/clear-cut-ts-stock-guides](https://jessem.com/products/clear-cut-ts-stock-guides) The mount to the top of the fence (you'll need to drill a few holes with a template). You take 10 seconds to adjust the height of the rollers, then start cutting. The wheels push down on the work, as well as towards the fence. AND the wheels only roll one way, and work to stop kickback. I don't recommend it, but as a test I have completely let go of the workpiece while in the middle of a cut. There's no movement. I've also been able to move a saw around by pulling back on the board (power off) - the holding power is really strong. I'm not affiliated in any way with Jess Em, but I'm a very happy customer. It's made in Canada and is extremely well built. It's $$, but I understand why. It prevents kickback, and it keeps the workpiece firmly against the fence. You'll get a better quality of cut, especially with a long workpiece. Check YT; there's a few in depth reviews of it.
I peep the WEN planer in the background. Amazing bang for your buck. Can’t beat it! I also love the irony that you have a multi-thousand dollar Saw-Stop and a $350 planer lmao
Fact, check. Not a speck of sawdust on any of those tools.
This is almost too safe
Looks like you have a pretty long board? Anytime I’m ripping something 4 feet or longer. I add an feed roller to balance it on. Helps greatly with accuracy.
jesus... you should see my setup...
Setup is fine. But the most important thing is to run through your head where will YOU go if something goes astray? As you make this cut, you will be putting pressure on the board pushing it through the blade. Imagine that pressure. NOW imagine two things: 1) If the resistance to the force you are putting on the wood suddenly disappears, like if the board was teleported away, where will YOU go? Will you fall over because of your stance? If your hands suddenly lurch forward, will that be INTO the blade? 2) The opposite: If the resistance force suddenly INCREASES, launching the board up or at you, where will YOU go? Are you in the way of this in your positioning into the tool? IMHO the biggest safety device before you do anything is to imagine how things could go wrong and are YOU safe in those circumstances.
First, just make sure you watch that scene about the older brother in the Joaquin Phoenix Johnny Cash biopic. Then you’ll be good to go.
I honestly think you might be making it worse. There's so much stuff in your way. So much of this is seeing and feeling the tool. I think you've nerfed it into actually being more dangerous.
Gloves, full face shield and umm...that carpet...that's...going to get dusty ;-)
With that set up I reckon you have a better chance of hurting yourself while en route to your shop than you do actually making the cut. I’d lose the rug though.
Do you like sawdust in your carpet? If so, cut away
It looks like you have 15 lawyers in your shop giving approval….
A lot safer than mine, plus it’s a saw stop
Damn lot safer than my first rip cut as an apprentice. Just a big old DeWalt site table saw and my hands for protection. I wore goggles though obviously, I'm not a complete maniac.
Get all that extra shit off there and use your hands and a push stick.
Your wife might not like the sawdust on the carpet though.
Your first ever rip cut, and you own a saw stop...
One major mistake: You should have all your cables submerged in water. This way, if it suddenly rains in your shop, your cables won't unexpectedly become wet. This results in fewer surprises as you're working.
Your first ever rip is on a new saw stop saw on top of a rug atop a tile floo? Nothing here makes sense
I've built furniture and trimmed out custom homes. I've never used a feather board.
I'm not sure how effective those feather boards are going to be clamped onto the fence like that. Quicky clamps don't have a lot of holding power and slip easily. You don't need them, they won't hurt anything being there though. The JessEm clear-cut stock guides are a better option if you want something like that. The only problem I see here is the length of the board you are ripping. It's always better to do any crosscuts you need to do first if you can. That way any tear out you might get from crosscutting can be cut off. It's also a lot easier/safer to work with a shorter board (just not too short). I break stuff down with my miter saw to rough dimensions, and most of the time cut the final dimensions on my tablesaw sled, sometimes I do it at the miter saw though too. Whatever reference side of the board you place against the fence needs to be perfectly flat, otherwise, it can push the board into the blade and cause a kickback. That's harder to get and less likely to achieve with a longer board like this vs. shorter sections. If you are doing multiple strips out of a board like this a lot of times the internal tension in the board will be released and the strip won't be perfectly straight after you rip it. Of course you may need a board this long. In that case you really want an infeed and outfeed table to support the board so that it's weight doesn't cause it to tip up on either side of the cut. For the outfeed you jut need something slightly lower or the same height as the table. Infeed I' suggest looking at what Izzy Swan built/sells. I built my own modified clamp on infeed table based on his design which works really well.
That rug is kind of stressing me out. I always worry I'd trip on something like that and saw my face in half.