Is there really a technique for free handing on a table saw?

[Michael Yadfar]

It's kind of ironic because I have thread going related to tool safety and I'm asking this. Anyway, I've never tried it, and don't really plan to, but I've heard of people free handing wood on a table saw. We were obviously forbidden to do it, but in high school my teacher told me that some of the guys who are experts at woodworking free hand, and they have a technique. He doesn't do it himself, but he was telling me that you follow the line and slowly pull the wood apart at the back of the blade.

I don't know if people actually do this though because it seems dangerous. I've free handed with foam board insulation, but that cuts so easy it doesn't kick back no matter how far I push it off the line, I've never done it with wood and don't plan too. Another thing my teacher told me was that he purposely let a guy go who was doing it because he needed to be taught a lesson, and the guy got hit in the forehead and was apparently never seen again (this was early 80s so people were a bit less uptight)

[Kelly Cleveland]

I have never heard of this and I don't really see an advantage over using the fence. I have learned to free hand rip at the band saw and it allows me to work very quickly, but I can't imagine it being worth the risk at the table saw.

[glenn bradley]

Outside of the obvious dangers why would anyone want to use a tool that is designed from the ground up to cut straight, to cut freehand? The nature of the beast uses a straight feed path. Granted we can make that straight feed path do interesting things like cut cove molding but, the tablesaw is not a bandsaw. I can't wait for the first post with a "I've done this fer forty years and yadda, yadda"; they always come with these types pf threads.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Guys do it on job sites all the time to cut tapers quickly. These are the same sorts of guys you meet who have fingers missing.

[Michael Yadfar]

When I free handed the foamboard I did it because I didn't have a big enough fence/table. I typically use a circular saw when I have to do this for plywood

[Rich Engelhardt]

One of the names for the freehand technique is - "notaroundme" .

I

[Mark Bolton]

Guys do it on job sites all the time to cut tapers quickly. These are the same sorts of guys you meet who have fingers missing.

Of course anything can happen at any time but I am 46 years old and I have been operating table saws since my teens (not that thats a long time by any stretch) and I have ten fingers and ten toes, two eyes, and so on. I have free handed cuts on the table saw more times than I can count. Tapers, curves, and of course yes, goofy stuff that should never have been attempted.

I am in no way bragging or saying its fine but the simple fact of the mater is can it be done? Yes. Can it be done safely? Yes. Should it be done? The answer is likely no because there are alternatives however many of us have to operate in the world of time and money and you rely on a firm grasp of your individual capacity when you do things that are, shall we say, sketchy.

The simple fact of the matter is accidents happen when you exceed your capacity, or you take the tool for granted. The vast majority of people I know that have cut off a digit were either doing something very very stupid (and they knew it beforehand) or they were doing something the have done a thousand times and simply took the tool for granted and it bit them in the digit.

It can happen to anyone at any time. That doesnt mean free handing a scribe or any other non-straight cut is deadly, it just means its deadly for some.

[Don Jarvie]

I've done it with 1/4 ply but that's it. Thicker boards I wouldn't since there's more chance for kickback.

[Phil Stone]

It's called "free-handing" because there's a good chance of liberating your hand from your wrist.

[Art Mann]

My reply is precisely the same as Mark Bolton's (except I have about 14 additional years on him). In the building trades around here, it is done routinely by most crews who work by the job and not by the hour. I do not recommend that anyone else do it because you will get kickbacks unless you do it just right. There are always other ways to get the job done, although it might turn a 30 second cut into 20 minutes of setup and execution. Here lately, I have been using a track saw rather than freehand table saw cutting for those applications where it will work. That is a good compromise between speed and safety for me. I don't work in a competitive environment.

[peter gagliardi]

I'm with Mark and Art on this one. I have done it many a time, though less so now in the shop, as I have a bigger arsenal of tools. Understanding exactly what the physics are of what you are attempting is of utmost importance.

[John T Barker]

Using tools properly is always the best idea. If I had to do what you are describing I would do it on the bandsaw. The only person I saw do that was the same guy who let his work partner put his hand into the table saw blade. figured the second one was as stupid as the first.

[John A langley]

Can it be done yes, should be done no, have I done yes ,by the way I have 24 years on Mark


and 10 years on Art.I possibly look for another way before I did that one again.

[Bill Orbine]

I do freehand on table saw when the occasion calls for it. But I try to avoid it whenever possible... most of the time but not always the case. Will I teach you? NO. This is a technique where skill (as well as stupidity and balls) really comes into play! 25 years... I'm counting this with 10 fingers.

[Albert Lee]

I must and should free hand on my mitre saw, this is recommended by the manufacturer

its a dual pneumatic mitre saw by Omga...

the cutting is controlled by your foot (like an accelerator in a car)

here is the photo of it being transported, its arriving on Monday

IMG_7875.jpg