33
E N G L I S H •
User’s manual
KICKBACKS
A kickback occurs during a rip-type operation
when a part or all of workpiece is thrown back
violently toward operator.
Keep your face and body to one side of the saw
blade, out of line with a possible kickback.
Kickbacks and possible injury from them can
usually be avoided by:
• Maintaining rip fence parallel to saw blade.
• Keeping saw blade sharp. Replace or sharpen
anti-kickback pawls when points become dull.
• Keeping saw blade guard, spreader, and anti-
kickback pawls in place and operating prop-
erly. The spreader must
be in alignment with the saw blade and the
pawls must stop a kickback once it has started.
Check their action before ripping.
• Not ripping work that is twisted or warped or
does not have a straight edge to guide along
the rip fence.
• Not releasing work until you have pushed it
all the way past the saw blade.
• Using a push stick for ripping widths less than
6 inches.
• Not confining the cutoff piece when ripping
or crosscutting.
For rip or rip-type cuts, the following end of a
workpiece to which a push stick or push board
is applied must be square (perpendicular to the
fence) in order that feed pressure applied to
the workpiece by the push stick or block does
not cause the workpiece to come away from
the fence, and possibly cause a kickback.
• During rip and rip-type cuts, workpiece must
be held down on table and against fence with
a push stick, push block, or feather boards, as
applicable. The push stick and push block ex-
amples shown below are useful for keeping
hands and fingers away from saw blade during
ripping, rabbeting and dadoing. Apply down-
ward pressure and push workpiece through
the cut and past the blades. Several other con-
figurations may be suitable for safe operation.
Featherboards are used to keep the work in
contact with the rip fence or table during the
cutting operation. Use of feather boards can
help to prevent kickbacks and binding. Feather
boards should be used for all “non thru-saw-
ing” operations.
• Never reach in back of the cutting tool with
either hand to hold down or support the work-
piece, remove wood scraps, or for any other
reason. Avoid awkward operations and hand
positions where a sudden slip could cause fin-
gers or hand to move into a saw blade or other
cutting tool.
• Do not perform layout, assembly, or setup
work on the table while the cutting tool is ro-
tating.
• Do not perform any operation freehand—
always use either rip fence or miter gauge to
position and guide the work.
• Never use the rip fence when cross-cutting
or the miter gauge when ripping. Do not use
rip fence as a length stop. Never hold onto or
touch free-end of workpiece or a free-piece
that is cut off, while power is ON and/or saw
blade is rotating.
• Shut the saw OFF and disconnect power
source when removing the table insert, chang-
ing the cutting tool, removing or replacing the
blade guard, or making adjustments.
• Provide adequate support to the rear and
sides of the saw table for wide or long work-
pieces.
• Plastic and composition materials (like hard-
board) may be cut on your saw. However, since
these are usually quite hard and slippery, the
anti-kickback pawls may not stop a kickback.
Therefore, be especially attentive to following
proper setup and cutting procedures for rip-
ping. Do not stand, or permit anyone else to
stand, in line with a potential kickback.
• If you stall or jam the saw blade in the work-
piece, turn saw OFF and remove the workpiece
from the saw blade.
Check to see if the saw blade is parallel to the
miter gauge grooves and if the spreader is in
proper alignment with the saw blade. If rip-
ping at the time, check to see if the rip fence
is parallel with the saw blade. Readjust as re-
quired.
• Do not remove small pieces of cutoff mate-
rial that may become trapped inside the blade
guard while the saw is running. This could en-
danger your hands or cause kickback.
Turn saw OFF and wait until blade stops.
.Use extra care when ripping wood with twist-
ed grain or wood that is twisted or bowed—it
may rock on table and pinch saw blade.
SM1010 manual.indd 33
03/08/16 9:46 a.m.