Table saw safety is of utmost importance to power tool woodworkers. In fact, table saw injuries far outnumber those from other power tools in your typical workshop. Whether you use your table saw every day or only occasionally, it’s critical to use table saw safety equipment. While newbies may not incorporate best practices into their workflow, veteran woodworkers run the risk of becoming too comfortable with the saw. Either way, the potential dangers of injury without table saw safety accessories are real and should be taken seriously.
Some table saws have safety stops, like SawStop with their finger-sensing technology. But if not careful, you can still suffer an injurious kickback if you don’t take the proper precautions. Following the double dozen tips below will help you avoid most table saw injuries.
Get Personal with Your Protective Gear
Do not wear gloves while operating a table saw. Knowing how to work with wood safely often begins with common sense. There is a loss of tactile sense when donning gloves, which is critical to knowing just where your fingers are in relation to the spinning blade. For proper table saw safety, firmly gripping the workpiece is critical. With some gloves, you could lose your grip, leading to the possibility of your fingers slipping off the workpiece. And loose gloves offer tasty bits to snag in the teeth of a hungry blade.
Do not wear loose clothing or other accessories. Loose sleeves, ties, and dangling jewelry tempt the beast. Any of these items might catch in the blade and yank you into it before you can react.
Wear proper eye protection. Safety glasses are among the most accessible table saw safety accessories. Eyes need to be protected from damage by projectiles. No, standard eyeglasses don’t do the job.
Wear proper hearing protection. Hearing protection is something every woodworker should start with and continue. Hearing loss creeps up on you without warning, and often without symptoms, until it’s too late to reverse the procedure. For suggestions on which muffs or plugs are best for your shop, check out our 21st Century Solutions for today’s woodworker.
Get serious about sawdust. One of the most important aspects of table saw safety equipment is quality dust collection & air filtration tools. And that includes dust masks!
Reliable Rips and Careful Crosscuts
Use a push stick to cut stock 6" wide or less. A hand that isn’t close to a blade isn’t likely to get cut. Generally, a 6" minimum distance to the blade is considered good table saw safety practice. Shoe-style push sticks are easy to make and provide maximum control while keeping your fingers clear of the blade. Aftermarket push blocks, like Microjig’s GRR-RIPPER 2GO are also great options.
Keep the rip fence parallel to the blade. This is so stock doesn’t bind on the blade and cause kickback. Some woodworkers prefer to keep the outfeed end of the fence “toed out” (away from the blade) by 1/64". This is aft the cut and therefore has no bearing on your workpiece. If your fence is toed in (toward the blade), it could cause your workpiece to burn, or worse, kick back.
Use your saw’s blade guards, splitters, and anti-kickback pawls. For some crosscuts and thin rips, you need to remove the blade guard and pawls. But never operate your saw without a splitter or riving knife — critical pieces of table saw safety equipment. Always check the action of these items before starting work. Mark Spagnuolo has three methods for cutting thin strips at the table saw.
Use a stop block when crosscutting short lengths. Clamp a stop block to your rip fence before the blade. This keeps cut-offs from binding between the blade and the fence.
Don’t use the fence and miter gauge together. Except for when using stop block as mentioned above. Since the stop block is before the blade, an offcut is less likely to get trapped.
Never make freehand cuts on a table saw. Guide stock through the blade using your rip fence, miter gauge, or a crosscut sled. Always.
Maintain Your Table Saw for Ultimate Safety
Keep the floor in front of the saw clear of cut-offs and dust. Table saw safety goes beyond just operating the saw. Tripping or sliding into a running, or even stopped, saw blade creates serious problems. You could also run the risk of slipping and banging your head against the cast iron table. Wear footwear with non-slip soles.
Keep the tabletop smooth and polished. A dirty or rough table requires you to use more force to push the stock through the blade. Cast iron tops are prone to rust, further reducing the saw’s effectiveness. Read these tips for taming table saw rust.
Never operate a table saw without an insert. Wood fed into a gaping hole can drop down and get caught on the blade. Even when using a sled, be sure to have a throat plate. Just make it a habit.
Use zero clearance inserts. These important table saw accessories reduce the chance of slender offcuts dropping inside the saw or catching the blade and speeding toward your head. They also reduce tear-out. For more, check out the ABC's of ZCI's.
Make sure the blade is unobstructed before turning on the power. This is especially helpful after you make changes or adjustments. In other words, spin the blade without power a time or two to make sure there are no scraps or tools touching it.
Always disconnect the power before performing any maintenance operation. It doesn’t matter if you’re changing the blade or just waxing your saw’s surface, always unplug it first. Draping the plug over your fence rail is an instant indicator that the saw is unplugged…or not.
General Practices to Keep You Safe
Check stock before cutting it. This is especially true of reclaimed wood projects. Look for nails, knots, screws, or stones. Such fun items may become projectiles. If they hit, they hurt and may cause serious injury. They can also damage carbide-tipped blades.
Practice good balance. Good table saw safety calls for a proper stance. Stand comfortably, with your feet far enough apart for a solid foundation. This is always important, but more so when you’re cutting stock long enough to require several steps towards the saw to keep the feed going. Doing so builds momentum and you want to be able to stop easily.
Stay out of the line of fire. Position your body so that it is not in line with the blade. This keeps sawdust out of your face, and more importantly, keeps you out of the line of most kickbacks. Preventing table saw kickback is a simple matter of understanding the forces at play.
Release the workpiece only after it’s past the blade. Letting go too early is an invitation to kickback.
Never reach behind or over the spinning blade. While this may seem safe, it is almost never a good idea to retrieve an offcut before the blade stops spinning.
Make sure the blade has stopped spinning before making adjustments. A blade spinning to a stop still has several sharp teeth that can do damage. Even minor setup tweaks made while the blade is spinning risks putting your hands in danger. Make a table saw kick switch as a safety stop to turn off the saw while maintaining control of the workpiece. This is a surprisingly useful table saw safety accessory.
Avoid awkward operations. If you feel uncomfortable with a particular procedure, don’t make the cut. Take a step back instead and come up with another way. This not only prevents possible injury, but it also forces you to thoroughly think through the operation at hand. And that’s just good practice.
Exercise extreme caution with non-standard cuts. Some specialty operations, such as resawing at the table saw, require extra steps and precautions. In these cases, always ensure the workpiece is secured, and employ well-made jigs.
Don’t set the fence while the saw is running. Your focus could drift from the blade to the fence, leading to damage or injury.
Think before you act. Before every operation, take some time to think things through. Always consider the safest approach. Faster isn’t always better.
As a general rule for all tools and techniques in a wood shop, if a procedure feels unsafe, it probably is. Be creative and find another way.
We all love this craft. Taking table saw safety seriously only helps us do what we love that much longer. Pay attention, do good work, and stay safe out there.