Originally Posted by
Steve Demuth
John,
You're entitled to your point of view, but if you honestly believe what Martin wrote - that "Kickbacks only happen when you are doing something stupid." - you're going way out on a limb about a lot of good, competent people. Kick-back is indeed made far more likely by poor practice, but good practice does not eliminate the possibility. You've got a material that is not entirely predictable, and are working with forces and timing that exceed what you can control when things go South. Humility is called for in these situations.
This is not limited to table saws, BTW. I work in my day job with surgeons and anesthesiologists that are among the best in the world. Their skills and attention to detail is astounding, and they have process checks to verify that they don't overlook anything known to be an issue (that is, they don't do stupid things at all often). Their results are the envy of their peers. But they still lose from time to time in cases where the wrong set of circumstances come together. The reason is basically the same - unpredictable material, and forces we can't fully control.