Thanks Jeff...
First of all, thanks to you Jeff for the original post. I've only begun to get serious about my woodworking over the last year, and this exact question was bugging me too. I too felt "I should know this or be able to figure it out" and thought I'd post when I had a little more experience.
All of the good responses have helped clarify the how, and more importantly, the WHY, in my head. My goal is to develop good safe habits early rather than have to unlearn bad ones.
One of the reasons this topic bugged me is that I'm a southpaw, and I wondered if that made any difference. Certainly it means that some operations initially feel more foreign to me with my right hand than others.
I couldn't help but notice that many of the replies included the fact that the poster was right handed, as if that makes a difference. I believe the proper safe technique is the same (given the same saw setup) whether you are right or left handed. Let me explain why, and please speak up if you see flaws in my logic. Here goes:
The saw geometry doesn't change just because the user's handedness changes. I'm purposely leaving aside (for now) the fact that in theory you can set up a saw with the fence rails biased to the left OR the right. Pretty much every saw I've ever seen is set up with the extension table and majority of the fence rails (and the rip fence itself) on the right.
In this saw configuration, when ripping, you always want the work tight against the fence and tight against the table, and you never want to stand directly behind the blade. You could stand to the left or the right. If you stand to the left, it is very easy to bias your hand pressure toward the rip fence. You are pushing in that direction a little bit, using your stance, weight, and arm pressure. It's easy to use both hands, the right to push and the left to guide.
If on the other hand you stand to the right of the blade, it is much more difficult to apply force to keep the stock tight against the fence. You either have to pull (harder to do and not very effective), or lean way to the left to try to push. Either way it seems awkward, and we all know (at least in theory) the penalty for allowing the rear corner or the wood to move away from the fence. I can't see at all how you would feed sheet goods standing to the right of the blade. This position does have the advantage that you are out of the way of wood kicking back over top of the blade CCW to the left, but it seems the chances of kickback are much greater with this stance.
Now for me I'm mostly ambidextrous (can't write with my right hand, but can do just about anything else) so standing to the left works. If I had a stronger bias toward my left hand I think I would have to set up my saw with the rails and rip fence to the left (and get a right tilt saw) to get the same effect safely.
Does that make sense or am I missing something?
-Dan D.
Ray's rule for precision:
Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an axe.