"Paul D" wrote in message
...
Lets say we have a 30" deep saw bench, with say a fence of matching
length running a 12"blade running at full height. You would only have
approx
9" clear of the front of the blade which would mean you could have a
maximum
of a 9" piece of timber remain in full contact with fence. I don't know
about you but it would be very rare for me to be working with such short
pieces of timber.
When I commented I was referring to ripping long lengths of stock. The
two types of fence are designed for 2 different purposes. A short fence is
designed for ripping rough stock and a long fence is primarily designed
for
cutting panel stock.

Ok, I do not recall seeing your refernece about only ripping long board in
yout OP but I do agree with yout comments concerning long board ripping.

Actually I have had to guard against more "starts of a kick back" with an
under powered saw. With my cabinet saw and regular kerf blade the blade
seldom shows any sign of binding as the saw has the power to power
through
the cut. In my experience the more HP the safer all cuts are.
I agree totally about more power the safer. Its like the sharper a
tool/knife the less dangerous it is. But the reality is that a majority of
saw benches sold aimed at the domestic market are usually underpowered for
the size they are capable of cutting.

Snip

Just as I would be totally lost if I lost a
part of my anatomy and not able to do what i enjoy most, I feel you would
be
the same.

Actually you learn to adapt to loosing a part of you anatomy. :~) I lost
part of my left thumb on the TS 17 years ago and I was not performing a
cutting operation at the time, other than my thumb.