On 7/4/2013 12:05 AM, Bill wrote:
Lew Hodgett wrote:
SonomaProducts.com wrote:

A blade too low leads to kickback? That's news to me.
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"Leon" wrote:

Kickback occurs when for some reason the leading edge or underside
of the board catches a tooth on the blade. This can be caused by the
wood pinching between the bade and fence for various reasons such as
bad feed method, stressed wood, expanding wood from blade heat, etc.
If the blade is low it is easier for the rising wood to get over top
of the blade and missile into your crotch in a literal millisecond,
maybe bringing a few fingers along with it if your real unlucky.
Yes a higher blade is safer in terms of avoiding kickback but has
other dangers if you don't have a proper guard system, etc.

IME raising the blade simply decreases the chance for burning. The
lower the blade the fewer exposed teeth. It is the pinching at the
back of the blade that starts the dangerous situation, the reason
the riving knife is used to help prevent that.
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SFWIW, Cerritos College teaches:

TS blade exposure = material thickness being cut + max gullet depth +
1/2".

Designed to minimize injury damage.

Just curious whether anyone can validate Lew's technnique. It's more
blade exposure than I would have thought required.


Use the height you are most comfortable. You can get a kick back any
time you are cutting wood on a TS. The only written suggestion that I
have seen was by Systematic, IIRC it suggested that the bottom of the
gullet should be just above the top of the wood.