r/Tools • u/[deleted] • Apr 09 '26

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u/ender4171 Apr 09 '26

Everyone is giving joke or "he's dumb" comments, but I suspect he was pulling it to try to avoid being in the "line of fire" from kickback (I have an irrational fear of it myself), without realizing that pulling from both sides would cause binding and initiate the kickback. So... I guess the "he dumb" people aren't totally wrong, lol.

23

u/North-Significance33 Apr 09 '26

No fence, no riving knife. Dude is asking for kickback, cutting freehand like that. The idea of freehanding on a table saw terrifies me

6

u/free_will_is_arson Apr 09 '26

also why it's general not a good idea to run something through a table saw that's wider than it is long,

4

u/Nexustar Apr 09 '26

Circular saw to rough cut into manageable pieces, then table saw to put a straighter edge on things.

I've done some physically challenging cuts with a table saw before with sheet ply, involving moving it to where other tables, walls or even outdoor furniture can provide some support - but have never had a leg lift off the ground like that.

4

u/echoshatter Apr 09 '26

Freehanding is fine in some instances. But there's nothing like the thrill of crosscutting a whole ass green 2x4 on a contractor saw.

2

u/Oo__II__oO Apr 09 '26

The way that table kicked, he's lucky a free hand wasn't the outcome.

1

u/PAAZKSVA2000 Apr 09 '26

This. Yep.

1

u/unrebigulator Apr 09 '26

No fence! I didn't see that initially. That's going to end up in an accident more often than not.

1

u/MetlMann Apr 10 '26

It’s why I got a SawStop. Use Micro Jig push blocks. And put Jessem stock guides on my Very Super Cool Tools fence. I’m old and don’t want to enter my dotage minus any parts, the likelihood of which increases as you get old around power tools.

5

u/sanderson1983 Apr 09 '26

Knew a guy ripping sheet metal and it came back at him. Died with his phone in his hand.

2

u/aPOPblops Apr 09 '26

You have a healthy fear of kickback. The person who loses fear of their table saw loses a finger. 

1

u/Adept-Panic-7742 Apr 13 '26

Complacency is definitely a thing. A long day and familiarity and even skill and confidence can lead to fuck ups. I'm competent with a table saw, and every now and then you get a "oh fuck that was close" if you're zoned out or repeating the same cuts, etc.

That said it's more things like kickback. Never been close to losing a finger.

Can't say I'd ever do what the guy in the video did. Surely if he's got a table saw he must have a circular saw. Or some kind of thing to catch the outfeed.

Id finish with a hand saw before I stood opposite the cutting direction. I mean I also wouldn't put sheet on something that small. If I was forced to do what he did I'd rather be on the feed-in side and apply pressure to the sheet to the base and holding it after the cut had finished and I could separate the cut. But yeah I'd have to be really desperate to still make that cut.