Filter
Top Products
23
sawing operations, the cutoff section must NOT
be confined.
Always keep your hands out of the line of the
saw blade and never reach back of the cutting
blade with either hand to hold the workpiece.
Bevel ripping cuts should always be made with
the fence on the right side of the saw blade so
that the blade tilts away from the fence and
minimizes the possibility of the work binding and
the resulting kickback.
Rip Sawing
Ripping is where the work piece is fed with the
grain into the saw blade using the fence as a
guide and a positioning device to ensure the
desired width of cut (Figure 30).
Figure 30
Before starting a ripping cut,
be sure the fence is clamped securely and
aligned properly.
Never rip freehand or use the miter gauge in
combination with the fence.
Never rip workpieces shorter than the saw
blade diameter.
Never reach behind the blade with either
hand to hold down or remove the cutoff
piece with the saw blade rotating.
Always use the blade guard, splitter and anti-
kickback pawls. Make sure the splitter is
properly aligned. When wood is cut along the
grain, the kerf tends to close and bind on the
blade and kickbacks can occur.
Note: A caution decal is installed on the guard
and splitter assembly warning of the hazard of
misalignment.
Figure 31
The rip fence (A, Fig. 31) should be set for the
width of the cut (C, Fig. 31) by using the scale
on the front rail, or by measuring the distance
between the blade (B) and fence (A). Stand out
of line with the saw blade and workpiece to
avoid sawdust and splinters coming off the blade
or a kickback, if one should occur.
If the work piece does not have a straight edge,
nail an auxiliary straight edged board on it to
provide one against the fence. To cut properly,
the board must make good contact with the
table. If it is warped, turn the hollow side down.
In ripping, use one hand to hold the board down
against the fence or fixture, and the other to
push it into the blade between the blade and the
fence. If the workpiece is narrower than 6" use a
push stick or push block to push it through
between the fence and saw blade (Figure 32).
Never push in a location such that the pushing
hand is in line with the blade. Move the hand
serving as a hold-down a safe distance from the
blade as the cut nears completion. For very
narrow ripping where a push stick cannot be
used, use a push block or auxiliary fence.
Always push the workpiece completely past the
blade at the end of a cut to minimize the
possibility of a kickback.
Figure 32