KICKBACK, OUCH THAT HURT!

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Woody, I winced just reading this - get weel soon. It's hard to imagine how a ( I presume ) square ended piece of wood could cause a wound requiring so many stitches.


Andy
 
Woody

Wow! that is one nasty accident, glad it seems to have avoided all vital organs, and any other organs of which you're fond. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I think we are all aware of the dangers of kickback happening but perhaps worry about it less than actually sawing something off. A lesson for us all of the true danger.

Regards

Roy
 
ouch, ouch, ouch :shock:

27 stitches :? I assume it went in pretty deep? you must of been very lucky it didn't do any internal injuries :shock:

If you don’t mind could you tell us a bit more about how it happened? How big was the piece of wood?

Hope you have a speedy recovery…
 
Glad to here you're ok Woody,

I was cutting some beech Sunday on my TS and I was only taking about half inch off a short plank when suddenly the thin offcut caught, snapped and then came over at a great rate of knots and canned my hand... :cry: Which in reality is what I deserved for not concentrating properly... :wink:

We've all been there mate...
 
Be glad you are not one of Nature's 'vertically challenged'? Think of where the E-type offcut might have ended up....

Seriously though, not just saws but routers too can cause ruction and hurt. Look back through some of Terry Porter's articles in either "The Router" or "Routing" to see some piccies of router propelled damage to a wall - it makes for sobering thought and the immediate installation of a splitter or equivelant feather board.
 
christ woody i hope it heals up asap, did you not have feather boards in place ?. i think i will have to make some AND use them ,get well soon old son .
 
Ooh, that just sounds so nasty! Hope you start to feel much better very soon.
Best wishes for now.

SF[/i]
 
Nightmare :shock: :shock:......i,ve been on the recieving end of kickback myself,but no where near as bad.

hope you get well soon.
 
Many thanks to everyone for your kind words.

Some of you have asked me to try and explain what happened, so here goes.
Lately a few friends have asked me to make them a snooker cue and one in particular wanted his made with a spalted beech shaft, a rosewood butt, inlaid with birdseye maple (flash git). I was not to happy about the spalted beech and told him that ash would be a much better choice for the shaft as this part of the cue flex's a bit, but what the client wants the client gets, only in this case he was not a client as he wasn't paying for it, and i was the one who ended up getting the beech "literately", ok, ok, but if i don't laugh about it i will end up feeling sorry for myself.

Anyway before turning the shaft i set the table saw up to cut the corners and this is where SWMBO walked in. All i can say is that because i was talking to her i was not taking care and instead of standing to one side i was actually standing in direct line with the blade. Then all of a sudden there was a loud crack and a bloody stabbing pain in my side. When i looked down there was a 12 inch piece of beech sticking out of my teeshirt. In the end it looked a lot worse then it was, because the timber had gone in the fatty outer layers of the skin and then back out again.

As to what caused the kickback, well there was a knot inside the length of beech which was completely hidden until the blade hit it, and when it did the knot broke in two, with one half being sent my way.

Although i have seen this sort of thing in spalted beech before, and even found bark in the middle of a plank, i had no idea, or anyway of knowing that there was a knot inside this length.

This has really taught me a lesson, and it is only when this sort of thing happends that you remember how dangerous the machines we use really are.

Regards

Woody
 
Is the piece of timber that kicks back always the piece that lies between the fence and blade or can it be either piece of timber depending on circumstances?
 
Jeeze, Woody, sounds like you were a human kebab! :shock: Any reason for not using the bandsaw for the job? Just curious.

Cheers, Alf
 
Cripes Woody - I think you're even luckier than I realised, now that you've given us that detail: in essence, you got to let us know how it feels to have a very strong caveman try to stab you to death with his wooden spear...:shock:

Devon - in theory it can be either piece. Kickback is simply what happens when part of the stock comes into contact with the rear of the spinning blade: as this bit is accelerating it 'up' and 'back' (toward you), it can, if it grabs the piece effectively enough, do just what it did here. In reality, it 'tends' to be the inner (ie between fence and blade) piece which is more dangerous, because it gets 'stuck' between the 2 for one reason or another, and the resultant 'explosive' release is rather exciting...

That said, in either case, the first line of defence is a properly fitted riving knife (aka 'splitter'), which will hopefully stop the blade being able to get a good 'bite' on the potential missile. The second is an overhead blade guard: not specifically aimed at kickback (more about keeping your hands out of the blade area), but it 'may' help slow the emerging missile down. The third is featherboards/hold in wheels etc. They'll help feed everything in properly, and should stop any 'twisting in' to the back of the blade. And, without being rude to woody in any way (we've all been there :roll: ), the last is to stand to one side without distractions... Easy to say, hard to keep in mind at all times.

I had one that left me actually trembling/shaking yesterday. I was using a chop saw to cut off some lengths of pine - about 1" by 2" cross section.

Because it was quick and dirty 'carpentry' rather than cabinet work, I wasn't clamping the lengths in for absolute accuracy - all I wanted was 'good' square ended cuts. In a hurry, hold first piece against the backstop with left hand (long end to the right): think safety - yes, my flesh is a good 6" from the blade. Make cut - no probs. Push right hand length 'in' to the left for the next cut. Grab projecting waste with left hand, lower saw with right - "BANG SMASH INTENSE PAIN IN LEFT THUMB _ WTF????? :eek: :eek: "

For a split second I thought I had somehow cut my left thumb off.. I was scared to look, and felt sick. Looked down and nearly cried with relief - still there, so what on earth had happened??

The 2" long cut off from the first cut had been lying on the chop saw 'table' (the round platform), but forward and clear of the fence area. As I lowered the running blade, the general vibration moved it into the path of the blade. It got grabbed, and spun/accelerated into my thumbnail, and then into the piece I was cutting, ruining the end. Gonna lose the bruised nail - small price for carelessness...
 
A well tuned TS goes some way to making things safer too - blade and fence parallel to mitre slots.

Noel
 
Not nice Woody commiserations.

Not a solution for your experience but I have been thinking of a foot switch for my saw as whenever doubt sets in regarding what is going on at the spinning end I invariable have to lean past the line of fire to reach the OFF button. I usually work on the right of the blade and the switch is mounted on the left, not something I considered when buying the beast.
 
I usually have a small sheet of ply leaning against the off button on my table saw-just need to tap it with my knee to turn the beasty off.
TightPhilly :D
 
Philly":a6lod6eb said:
I usually have a small sheet of ply leaning against the off button on my table saw-just need to tap it with my knee to turn the beasty off.
TightPhilly :D
Great :idea: , having just been informed by the boss that I need to get on with tasks for today I will go investigate the equivalent.
 
Back
Top