Kickback on Camera

[Sam Murdoch]

HOLY SMOKES . You are one crazy dude! Thanks for a great and dramatic/never to forget lesson, but PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN Riving knife good - push pad bad!

And now to promote a great controversy: My only push stick for the past 20 years has been this or something like it

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It is a 9" long soft metal "spike", this one made from an old paint roller frame. You could do it in such a way so that the paint roller handle is still attached but over the years I have come to prefer this. The metal is soft enough that if you do run into your blade the tip will snip off easily BUT DON'T DO THAT!

IMPORTANT NOTE I keep the tip pointed but not so sharp that it sticks so well in my wood that it doesn't release. I like it to hold the wood but not to stick in. The push stick has allowed me great control over my work. I can completely control the end of any piece passing through the saw (or jointer). No other push stick design has ever given me the complete sense of security (and real control) that this design allows. Yes, it leaves a tiny pin prick in all my work. 98% of the time that is eliminated by the next cross cut, but when the hole needs to show I call it a trade mark of safe work. The idea of a pointed stick like this freaks people out until they try it, so you too, please don't be freaked out - this thing really does an important job very well. Yes, I have all my fingers, eyes etc. after nearly 35 years behind a table saw. But, like all of us, I have some stories... Take care out there - keep your wits.

[Steve Ryan]

Quick rule of thumb (or lost thumb as the case may be). 10" blade running at 4000 rpm is about 120 mph. By the time you see it happening and send the impulse to move your hand it is over. I rip with thumb and index finger and ALWAYS hook the other three around or over the fence. Not really a fan of those push pads for everything. You have all of your fingers wrapped around the thing and if something really bad kicks back it will be your fist that goes into the blender. Prob stop halfway to your elbow. You cannot depend on the pad staying in your had, vid shows that. Pad also prevents spare fingers from hooking onto the fence.
Still got ten.

[Peter Quinn]

My word, that is just nuts. I've been on the receiving end of a kick back that missed my face by so little I could feel the breeze going past my ear. Don't think I'd try to recreate that without wearing depends. You sir are motivated in a manner unencumbered by logical thought. Now I've seen crazy TS tricks, idiots trying to wrestle a metal lathe, and I work with a guy that lost most of his hand to a shaper kick back, so I know how that looks. Its like watching one of those police chase shows, what will come next, a man trying to stop a BS with his teeth?

I've never used one of those rubber lined teeter totters they call push blocks any where near a TS and your excellent video shows why. No control, no feedback, nearly lost a finger there. I don't think you can possibly hold back a kick back once its started, that may have been a large part of the danger there. Oh, and where the heck is your splitter?

[Pat Barry]

I appreciate you posting this video. It was very enlightening. Not the kind of kickback I have been concerned with and I hope I never have that happen to me. Now, where can I get a riving knife for my Ridgid tablesaw or do you make them?

[Larry Frank]

I can not believe that anyone would be dumb enough to do that. While it is somewhat instructional, it is just dumb. He came so close to cutting his finger.