Kickback on Camera

[johnny means]

As a caution to all who read this, please be aware that a splitter or riving knife will NOT prevent kickbacks.

Actually, a properly installed riving knife should make a kick back impossible.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Actually, a properly installed riving knife should make a kick back impossible.

I agree, with the caveat that you have to be cutting a piece long enough to span the length of the exposed blade and reach the riving knife before the cut is complete. My kickback injury (posted earlier in this thread) happened while my riving knife was installed, but it was because I was cutting a very short piece of wood (really really stupid!!). It kicked back before it reached the riving knife.

[Tom Hintz]

Note: The requests for the kickback video have far exceeded our ability to deal with individually. I am working around the clock to get a DVD (Blu-Ray also I think) put together and into production that we are going to sell through our store at the lowest price we can and still cover the cost. As soon as this is done we will have it listed in my on line store. We simply cannot handle this on a one-on-one basis anymore.

[Dave Wagner]

Yes, that is awesome video. I have had the kickback happen 2 times, once almost took off a finger (small chuck of skin) and the second left a good bruise on my chest from the piece of wood flying, it ended up in the back yard about 50 feet AFTER hitting me...never again!

[Alan Lightstone]

I've become a huge fan of the Gripper, and use it constantly. I still have a similar scar on my abdomen from a kickback incident last year. Outfeed table slightly too high caused it. I'll never forget it.

I've taken care of many people over the years with severed digits from table saws. Breaks my heart every time I see it. I really wish there was a foolproof safety measure that eliminates kickback. We've gone a long way with the riving knife, and the SawStop gets big credit for saving digits it's way, but we still have some way to go.

Tom, you really do get serious points for posting the video. In medicine, occassionally there are very instructive case reports caused by someone doing something notably bad/dumb. The easiest course in maintaining your ego is to just to never publish the case. The whole world doesn't have to associate your name with a bizarre complication (the classic medical one is the NG tube in the brain). So huge kudos for having the intestinal fortitude to perform the public service and post the video. Hats off to you.

[Henry Ambrose]

Actually, a properly installed riving knife should make a kick back impossible.

"should"

Trust me, its does not.
Rely on a splitter or riving knife at your peril.
They help but are not a cure-all.

[Chris Fournier]

Please don't produce a "hand gun cleaning" video; although your posthumous sales would likely be a record breaker.

FWW covered this topic years ago and enough thought was put into the production of the piece that no one was hurt or looked foolish. The video posted in this thread is not instructional but cautionary.