I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.

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! Tom
Todd the wood junkie wrote:
I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.

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.

Todd the wood junkie wrote:
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.

My guess is that the cutoff got swept up into the guard and blade
housing. I've had that happen with small pieces but it never mangled
the saw, just made a godawful racket.

R

"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message

I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


Only advice I have is to keep clean underwear handy. Glad you can still
count to ten.

RicodJour wrote:
Todd the wood junkie wrote:
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.

My guess is that the cutoff got swept up into the guard and blade
housing. I've had that happen with small pieces but it never mangled
the saw, just made a godawful racket.

That would be my supposition as well--I'm thinking the vacuum system
was perhaps the culprit here. Possibly it had sufficient suction to
hold the small offcut piece up and carried it into the blade path?
I've never used the rear suction port, only a hood on the back of the
table so can't really judge for sure, but I'd worried about such events
being possible...

"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


whew... Like others have stated, if the waste piece is not where it should
be after the cut, it probably flew up and did the damage. The smaller the
waste the more likely it will move around after the cut is complete. When
the waste piece is situated between the blade and fence, the acute angle
side of the set up, a kick back type situation is more likely.

"Leon" wrote in message
om...

"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


whew... Like others have stated, if the waste piece is not where it
should be after the cut, it probably flew up and did the damage. The
smaller the waste the more likely it will move around after the cut is
complete. When the waste piece is situated between the blade and fence,
the acute angle side of the set up, a kick back type situation is more
likely.

It sounds like a perfect situation for a clamp. And if that is not
possible, stand clear of the potential projectile. He should be grateful
that this little peice just damaged his saw. It could have been much worse.

It's pretty hard to clamp a piece that's only a half-inch long, especially
with a compound cut... Trying to rig up some sort of zero clearance back
and side base for the saw might be productive, though. But I probably
wouldn't have thought about it till reading this thread.

Just my $0.02.

Clint

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
. ..

"Leon" wrote in message
om...

"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


whew... Like others have stated, if the waste piece is not where it
should be after the cut, it probably flew up and did the damage. The
smaller the waste the more likely it will move around after the cut is
complete. When the waste piece is situated between the blade and fence,
the acute angle side of the set up, a kick back type situation is more
likely.

It sounds like a perfect situation for a clamp. And if that is not
possible, stand clear of the potential projectile. He should be grateful
that this little peice just damaged his saw. It could have been much
worse.

Clint wrote:
It's pretty hard to clamp a piece that's only a half-inch long, especially
with a compound cut... Trying to rig up some sort of zero clearance back
and side base for the saw might be productive, though. But I probably
wouldn't have thought about it till reading this thread.

IThere really should be some sort of mechanism to block entry into the
blade housing. I get pieces up there more than I would prefer. No
injury or damage so far (fingers firmly crossed).

R

"Clint" wrote in message
It's pretty hard to clamp a piece that's only a half-inch long, especially
with a compound cut... Trying to rig up some sort of zero clearance back
and side base for the saw might be productive, though. But I probably
wouldn't have thought about it till reading this thread.

Just my $0.02.

Nothing keeps those small pieces from flying around like making a partial
cut with the SCSM, then finishing up the cut with a handsaw ... the Japanese
saws work real well for this.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/13/06

On 15 Aug 2006 06:45:44 -0700, "Todd the wood junkie"
wrote:

I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


When a cutoff is small it can be thrown anywhere and faster than a
blink of an eye. I suspect the cutoff jammed the blade--yes this has
happened to me. Another reason to be certain your stock is firmly in
place, your hands are a safe distance from the blade, safety glasses
are worn, and the operator is in sound mind with safety first. Glad
you were not hurt!

RicodJour wrote:
Clint wrote:
It's pretty hard to clamp a piece that's only a half-inch long, especially
with a compound cut... Trying to rig up some sort of zero clearance back
and side base for the saw might be productive, though. But I probably
wouldn't have thought about it till reading this thread.

IThere really should be some sort of mechanism to block entry into the
blade housing. I get pieces up there more than I would prefer. No
injury or damage so far (fingers firmly crossed).

R

I saw a tip in one of the WWing mags a while back that had you push a
thumbtack through one end of a rubber band into the scrap to be. Make
sure the point of the tack will not be hit by the blade. Tack the other
end of the rubber band about 1 1/2 times it's length from the scrap to
the fence. this keeps it from bouncing back into the blade. Haven't
tried it though.
Joe

In article , wrote:

When a cutoff is small it can be thrown anywhere and faster than a
blink of an eye. I suspect the cutoff jammed the blade--yes this has
happened to me. Another reason to be certain your stock is firmly in
place, your hands are a safe distance from the blade, safety glasses
are worn, and the operator is in sound mind with safety first. Glad
you were not hurt!

One small correction: instead of safety glasses, a face shield.

There are other things on your face besides your eyes that need protection.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Those little pieces that disappear, let alone do this kind of damage, are
the best case imaginable for wearing safety glasses!

Ronb


"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was doing a 45/45 compound cut when out of nowhere the saw mangled
the piece I was working on and stopped with a grind. After I looked at
the damage to the piece (and doing a finger count), I also noticed the
saw blade had bent the rear blade guard, broken the vacuum attachment,
and ripped into the aluminum side frame of the saw itself. The force
had to have been tremendous. I put on a fresh blade and noticed that
it wobbled. I fear the shaft is also bent.

I took the saw today to the dewalt dealer and it is still under their 3
yr warrenty so I think I am covered.

Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.

"Todd the wood junkie" wrote in message

snip


Has this ever happend to anyone? There were no nails in the wood
(common ash), and didn't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary
in the cut. I have only had a CMS for a year and a half, and don't
consider myself an expert in it's usage so any advice is welcome.


Todd,

Has happened to me - and on my list is a zero clearance sacrificial
fence for my SCMS to stop this very thing, little bit gets twisted on
withdrawal of blang and "kaching.........."

Regards
Mike

"RicodJour" wrote in message
ups.com...

Todd the wood junkie wrote:
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.

My guess is that the cutoff got swept up into the guard and blade
housing. I've had that happen with small pieces but it never mangled
the saw, just made a godawful racket.


I'd go along with that too. I had a similar thing happen on my Delta CMS. It
destroyed the blade guard and jammed the saw up. In my case I traced the
problem to blade with positive rake on the teeth. With negative and zero
rake blades I've never had a problem.

John