–
Do not perform any operation “freehand”.
Always use either the rip fence or the mi
tre gauge to position and guide the work
piece.
“Freehand” means using your hands
to support or guide the workpiece, in lieu of
a rip fence or mitre gauge. Freehand saw
ing 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 lev
el.
A long and/or wide workpiece has a ten
dency to pivot on the table’s edge, causing
loss of control, saw blade binding and kick
back.
–
Feed workpiece at an even pace. Do not
bend or twist the workpiece. If jamming
occurs, turn the tool off immediately, un
plug 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 in
side 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.
3) Kickback causes and related warnings
Kickback is a sudden reaction of the workpiece
due to a pinched, jammed saw blade or mis
aligned line of cut in the workpiece with respect
to the saw blade or when a part of the work
piece 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 opera
tor.
Kickback is the result of saw misuse and/or in
correct 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 in
to 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, dado
ing 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 minimise the risk
of saw blade pinching and kickback.
Large
panels tend to sag under their own weight.
Support(s) must be placed under all por
tions of the panel overhanging the table
top.
–
Use extra caution when cutting a work
piece that is twisted, knotted, warped or
does not have a straight edge to guide it
with a mitre 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 kick
back.
–
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 restar
ted.
–
Keep saw blades clean, sharp, and with
sufficient set. Never use warped saw
English
27
