Table saw alignment, cant get it quite right

[Tom M King]

I remember one saw I had a long time ago, I changed the lock washers from split to star before I could ever tighten the bolts down without screwing up the alignment.

[ed vitanovec]

I really do not think .003 misalignment caused the kickback, more than likely the wood tension pinched back onto the boards. Do you have a splitter or riving knife on your table saw that may be out of line with the blade? How much of the blade do you have above the plywood you are cutting?