As many of you know from my other thread regarding the purchase of my first TS, I'm a rookie to this dangerous power tool.
I have watched countless videos and read countless websites and magazines about how to safely use a table saw. I started off respectful but confident, but recently, having come across numerous harrowing tales of injury and carnage resulting from table saws (sometimes the internet can be a bad thing!), started getting a bit more nervous.
My question is this - does a riving knife and proper feed method (that keeps your hands away from the blade, e.g. GRR-ripper) basically guarantee you won't experience an injury? Are there any types of kickback that can happen DESPITE having a riving knife or splitter installed? Are there other dumb things you should make sure never to do, like never letting go of the wood you're feeding through the blade? What about boards that aren't very flat, or properly dried - does a riving knife keep things safe in those circumstances? Is it as simple as "keep the kerf open, no kickback."
I'm sort of embarrassed to ask this, but figured you good folks wouldn't be TOO hard on me.