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Kickback contusions and conclusions: I'm still hurting from this one

5K views 44 replies 27 participants last post by  BigMig 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was ripping about an 8" piece of 2×4, and was using a push block, though the cut was a fairly wide 3". Evidently I didn't finish pushing past the blade, and that piece of wood kicked back straight into my push block with enough force to bruise my palm, slightly sprain my wrist and torque my shoulder.

Then the projectile bounced off the push block, smacked my stomach, leaving a 4" gash and lots of black and blue bruising just above the waist on my right side. The 2×4 ended up somewhere across the garage.

As is typically mentioned in such cases, it was over before I knew I was injured. A week later the palm of my hand still has a big sore lump, shoulder hurts more and the gash on my stomach is healing nicely but it will be weeks before the bruising goes away. Looks really nasty but doesn't hurt anymore.

Conclusion: using the splitter would have prevented this accident. But the older Unisaws do not have an integral splitter. I have the Delta add-on splitter which needs to pushed down if you are making an angled cut, narrow cut or a cut which does not extend all the way through the wood. Which is to say, the splitter stands proud and is frequently in the way and thus does not get used to full potential. No good carping about the stupidity of this manufacturer and its short sided decision to not provide such an integral splitter until way too late in their company lifecycle. Delta has already been severely punished by the market-place for this omission.

Second conclusion: Time to shop a new saw with proper safety features. SawStop is calling.
 
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#2 ·
If you think that sort of thing can't happen with a sawstop you need a new hobby. You have an excellent saw, we have a member here who has developed a riving knife you can add (assuming it's a right tilt I'm not sure if he has a left tilt version and I seem to recall it makes a difference).
You may also want to look into a grripper push block which will push both sides of the material.
You were ripping a piece of construction lumber which is extremely unstable and liable to pinch back together, yes even on an 8" board. Always pay attention and adjust or stop accordingly.
I hope this is the worst injury you ever get, stay safe friend
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a similar story that happened to me 4 months ago, however it will effect me the rest of my life probably. I have been woodworking for over 40 years, and I considered myself to be very safe. On the forementioned day I was in a hurry and cutting some 3.5" x 3.5" blocks out of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood to put under the legs of a new bed. Instead of using a miter gauge I was using the rip fence for the final cuts. Wham! On the last piece, kickback. I had a huge gash in my stomach from the block of wood that tore through my short and t-shirt, and a bruise the size of a large dinner plate. I don't think anything of it other than it bled for 3 days and hurt very badly for a week. On day 8 after the incident I woke up early in the morning with a splitting headache. I got out of bed to take some Ibuprofin and realized that I was having a stroke. Evidently when the piece of wood hit me my head snapped back tearing a vertebral artery in by brain stem. I had no idea this had happened. As it healed, a clot formed and was released while I slept and blocked the flow of blood into my brain. I spent almost 2 months in the hospital and in rehab learning how to walk and get around again. Don't think that his can't happen to you, because IT CAN! And some day IT WILL! I am one of the luckiest stroke victims that I know because 4 months later my life is back to about 90% normal (back to work, driving, wood working, etc.). I may never get that other 10% back however. By the way, I have a SawStop now and like a previous poster said, they won't prevent kickback, only you can prevent that. There is an upside to this story, the stroke occurred 2 days before the U.S. shutdown for Covid-19 so I didn't have to fight at the grocery stores for toilet paper, canned goods, hand sanitizer, etc. I came out into a different world that's for sure. It did suck that I couldn't have visitors for 6 weeks while in the hospital and in rehab.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
But the older Unisaws do not have an integral splitter. I have the Delta add-on splitter which needs to pushed down if you are making an angled cut, narrow cut or a cut which does not extend all the way through the wood.
- Sark
I am confused by this statement… all Unisaws since their introduction in the late 30's, had a splitter and guard. And they all tilt with the blade, so could be left in place for angled cuts, including the disappearing splitter it sounds like you have. The only time they need to be removed (or lowered) is for non-through cuts. I have the disappearing splitter on mine and rarely lower it, and usually when I do, it's in a situation where a splitter/riving knife would not do any good anyway (like when doing dado's or using a molding head cutter).

Cheers,
Brad
 
#9 ·
But the older Unisaws do not have an integral splitter. I have the Delta add-on splitter which needs to pushed down if you are making an angled cut, narrow cut or a cut which does not extend all the way through the wood.
- Sark

I am confused by this statement… all Unisaws since their introduction in the late 30 s, had a splitter and guard. And they all tilt with the blade, so could be left in place for angled cuts, including the disappearing splitter it sounds like you have. The only time they need to be removed (or lowered) is for non-through cuts. I have the disappearing splitter on mine and rarely lower it, and usually when I do, it s in a situation where a splitter/riving knife would not do any good anyway (like when doing dado s or using a molding head cutter).

Cheers,
Brad

- MrUnix
What are the options for the 30 year old unisaws?
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
SawStop would not have prevented this error. It is not the tools fault you didn't complete the cut before easing up.

2nd safety violation was you weren't standing away from the blade. Kickback occurs between the fence and blade - don't stand there!

Splitter also would not have prevented this as early release of the push block causes the stock to climb causing the blade to catch and throw. Neither a splitter nor a riving knife would have made any difference.

3rd error (suspicion only) was that you were rushing.

How much blade was showing above the stock? More than the bottom of the gullets?

Now splitters, riving knives, guards are all well and good. But an honest failure analysis should put this fail where it belongs - with the user, not the tool. If you don't honestly assess the cause you'll spend lots of $$$ on fancy safety gear that won't prevent the fault from happening again.

Since there was nothing intrinsically unsafe in your cut, the failure can only have ONE cause - operator error. Save your SawStop $$$ and invest in some safety classes.
 
#15 ·
Would a SawStop prevent this…maybe. The SawStop as well as most other saws these days have good riving knives that would likely have prevented this accident. They move with the blade and are designed to prevent such kick back.

Having a conclusion that it was the fault of Delta for not having a riving knife seems a bit wrong.
 
#16 ·
Yes a better saw with built-in riving knife most likely would have prevented the accident. I pointed out that I wasn't using the riving knife that the saw has now, and I can't blame Delta for that, can I? Sure the accident could have happened had the splitter been in place…but it wasn't so that's my prime suspect in the failure analysis.

And Redoak, not Delta's fault for having an old design on old saws, I totally agree. But it's always been an annoyance I've had with Delta for not doing better sooner.

Northwoodsman, wow, quite a storyI. Sorry that happened. And I do hope for your continued improvement and recovery.

Madmark2 & SMP, I was not in the line of fire. The wood struck my push stick, ricocheted off at an oblique angle, struck me and kept on going. My push stick is shaped like a handle for a traditional hand-saw, so it provides excellent grip. My hand could have been severely injured without such a push stick.

Operator error is always the number one cause of accidents. However, to expect operators to never make a mistake in a lifetime of working machinery is not a reasonable standard, in my opinion. Some machinery designs are just better with regards to safety.
 
#17 ·
Only one of the statements below, regarding "Failure Analysis" , is true!

1- Conclusion: using the splitter would have prevented this accident.

2- Evidently I didn't finish pushing past the blade.

3- Yes a better saw with built-in riving knife most likely would have prevented the accident.

If you don't finish the cut, what do you expect?
 
#18 ·
I dont care what saw you use, doing #2 above will ALWAYS cause issues.

Denial of the source of the issue will make you repeat the error. Perhaps with more disastrous consequences. We're hard because we've seen the results. Listen and learn.

It was your fault. Not the saws, not the fences. You violated a basic safety rule: Complete the cut before releasing pressure on the push block. Until you acknowledge that you are at fault you should unplug the saw and remove the blade before you cut off something important, verstehen?
 
#20 ·
Thanks to the OP for posting this and being honest about what happened. It is important for others to read about it and just check how you are doing things. A picture of the saw and wood piece could be helpful.

I worked in a steel mill and before shift there were safety meetings. The most valuable was when someone who has an accident shared the injury and the cause of the accident.
 
#21 ·
As mentioned a SawStop won't prevent kickback any better than any other saw with a riving knife. But kickback can draw your hand into the blade. A SawStop will certainly reduce or eliminate the chance of severely cutting your hand.

I would agree that if there is some aftermarket riving knife that can be added that goes up and down and tilts with the blade, that might be a great way to go. But with a SawStop you get that, and the safety tech that greatly reduces the chances of cutting fingers off. And you get a very high quality saw. You do pay a premium for the safety feature, but it's perhaps in the range of $500 more, depending on the model. And of course the potential to spend some dollars on new brake cartridges and saw blades if you trip the saw.

Your money, your fingers, your choice.

And really, there are people here trying to talk a guy out of getting a new table saw! That's some form of woodworker heresy.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
AJ, thanks for your kind words. I do indeed understand what MadMark is saying and I appreciate his concern and take his points quite seriously. If he were saying the same things in a more gentle way, then he wouldn't be Mad Mark, just Mark, no? (Lol, couldn't resist this one.)

I've looked into the aftermarket riving knife for Unisaw that was being sold as a kit on this website, and made effort to connect with the seller/designer, but never heard back from him. So I think its a dead issue.

I found the offending piece of wood, revisited and photographed the scene of the accident. My analysis indicates that had the splitter been in place, the accident would not have occurred. Yes my hand wavered and I failed to complete the cut, but the splitter would have prevented the accident. Will post the photos in the next reply.
 
#23 ·
A splitter keeps the workpiece from angling away from the fence after the blade, where the rear blade teeth can catch and lift it, and throw it with great velocity. If the workpiece angles away from the fence in front of the blade, the teeth on that side are going down into the table.

My shop teacher had blocks of wood that were the minimum dimensions of pieces we could safely cut, attached with a wire to each machine. 10 inch in length for ripping on the table saw was the minimum, IIRC. Smaller pieces had to be cut on the bandsaw, or cut by hand.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Sark, the identical thing happened to me with my Unisaw. It was the first (and only) saw accident I've had in over 50 years oof woodworking. It was an eye opener. I'd always considered myself a very safe machine operator, but the kickback taught me that accidents happen to the safest of us. My belief is the very few people simply run their hands into a spinning blade. Usually it happens as a result of some attention lapse or mishap with the cut - the workpiece binds or gets jammed and the blade discharges it violently, jerking the operator's hand into harm's way. It can happen to any of us in the blink of an eye. I sold my Unisaw and bought a SawStop. I may never trigger the safety feature; but it's a comfort to know that, if I do, I'll end up with a relatively minor cut rather than the loss of fingers or a hand - or worse. I'm not affiliated with SawStop, but I am a happy owner. On top of the safety technology, it's a really fine saw.
 
#26 ·
I was ripping about an 8" piece of 2×4,
Ohhhhhhh 2x is bad juju, wonky wood = wonky things happening on a table saw. I like to rip 2x stuff on a bandsaw, I know I live a sheltered life.

Seriously the wood probably contributed, but 12" is likely more the problem. Push a 3' long piece of wood, easy to steer straight, on only 12" long wants to bob around some. Bang you hit the blade (force against your direction), and it often wants to change directions, because of the short length, and your proximity to the blade…...ahhhh you mostly aren't gonna want to try steering about now. Rip longer, and crosscut to fit. Most of the time you will end up needing several pieces of that same rip anyhow.
 
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