tom wrote:
How big is/was your workpiece, and the cut-off? Sounds like something
got kicked up into the blade, but I've never had such a catastrophic
result. Glad you're okay!

The workpiece was approx a 1" x 2" x 24" leg to a stand. I held the
piece on the right side of the saw and came in from the left with the
blade. The cutoff was less than a half inch.