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SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS FOR CIRCULAR SAWS
Cutting procedures
DANGER
Keep hands away from
cutting area and the blade.
Keep your second hand on auxiliary handle,
or motor housing.
If both hands are holding
the saw, they cannot be cut by the blade.
Do not reach underneath the workpiece.
The
guard cannot protect you from the blade below
the workpiece.
Adjust the cutting depth to the thickness
of the workpiece.
Less than a full tooth of
the blade teeth should be visible below the
workpiece.
Never hold the workpiece in your hands or
across your leg while cutting. Secure the
workpiece to a stable platform.
It is important
to support the work properly to minimize body
exposure, blade binding, or loss of control.
Hold the power tool by insulated gripping
surfaces, when performing an operation
where the cutting tool may contact hidden
wiring.
Contact with a “live” wire will also make
exposed metal parts of the power tool “live” and
could give the operator an electric shock.
When ripping, always use a rip fence or
straight edge guide.
This improves the
accuracy of cut and reduces the chance of
blade binding.
Always use blades with correct size and
shape (diamond versus round) of arbor
holes.
Blades that do not match the mounting
hardware of the saw will run off-center, causing
loss of control.
Never use damaged or incorrect blade
washers or bolt.
The blade washers and
bolt were specially designed for your saw, for
optimum performance and safety of operation.
Kickback causes and related warnings
Kickback is a sudden reaction to a pinched,
jammed or misaligned saw blade, causing
an uncontrolled saw to lift up and out of the
workpiece toward the operator; When the blade
is pinched or jammed tightly by the kerf closing
down, the blade stalls and the motor reaction
drives the unit rapidly back toward the operator;
If the blade becomes twisted or misaligned in
the cut, the teeth at the back edge of the blade
can dig into the top surface of the wood causing
the blade to climb out of the kerf and jump back
toward 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.
Maintain a firm grip with both hands on
the saw and position your arms to resist
kickback forces. Position your body to
either side of the blade, but not in line with
the blade.
Kickback could cause the saw to
jump backwards, but kickback forces can be
controlled by the operator, if proper precautions
are taken.
When blade is binding, or when interrupting
a cut for any reason, release the trigger and
hold the saw motionless in the material until
the blade comes to a complete stop. Never
attempt to remove the saw from the work or
pull the saw backward while the blade is in
motion or kickback may occur.
Investigate
and take corrective actions to eliminate the
cause of blade binding.
When restarting a saw in the workpiece,
center the saw blade in the kerf so that the
saw teeth are not engaged into the material.
If a saw blade binds, it may walk up or kickback
from the workpiece as the saw is restarted.
Support large panels to minimize the risk of
blade pinching and kickback.
Large panels
tend to sag under their own weight. Supports
must be placed under the panel on both sides,
near the line of cut and near the edge of the
panel.
Do not use dull or damaged blades.
Unsharpened or improperly set blades produce
narrow kerf causing excessive friction, blade
binding and kickback.
Blade depth and bevel adjusting locking
levers must be tight and secure before
making the cut. If blade adjustment shifts while
cutting, it may cause binding and kickback.
Use extra caution when sawing into existing
walls or other blind areas.
The protruding
blade may cut objects that can cause kickback.