It Can Happen to You

[jackellis]

I was about 1/4 of the way through ripping a piece of 1" thick ash not long ago when the amount of effort required to move the workpiece suddenly increased to the point where the board would not move. Period.

The kerf had closed up around the splitter (Jet cabinet saw). Had the splitter not been installed, this board would absolutely have kicked back and I would have been pretty badly injured because the piece of ash in question was sizable (pun intended).

If you're inclined to work without safety devices, please don't. The safety devices saved my gut.

[dbhost]

Yep, that splitter kept you from getting hurt from getting hit with a big piece of ash!

[Uncle Cracker]

That's what you get for being greedy and trying to turn one piece of ash into two...

[BobSch]

You should always work with a piece of ash from the side. Just watch for the elbow jabs.

[steve-norrell]

A similar thing happened the other day, but the wood was walnut. The board was a 2x, about six feet long and the warping was clearly apparent where it pinched together after passing beyond the riving knife.

It created enough drag that the circuit breaker was tripped but there was no kick-back. Shark Guard and riving knife did their jobs. Thanks Lee!

I used a wedge to keep the ends apart enough to finish the cut.

Regards, Steve

[cgallery]

I had a similar incident a month or two ago. When I turned off the saw and removed the piece I was cutting (and it didn't want to come w/o a fight), I saw that the kerf closed up like a vice grip. The riving knife saved my but.

[Tom Slick]

I've had it happen myself.
This is another instance where the on/off switch should be on the left side of the saw. you have to continue to hold down the part as you contort your body to shut down the saw.

[cabinetman]

Not fair to Ash bash. And, talking nice to it doesn't mean the two cut legs won't squeeze shut. Or, you could have had it Ash backwards.

I've had it get tighter than heck and bind on the splitter.
.

[smorris]

Thanks for that...I have 100 bd ft of Ash in the shop waiting for me to start my next project. I always like to have the splitter in place. I've gotten spoiled with the padauk I've been working with, it is extremely stable, or I've just been lucky.

[crokett]

Whenever I am ripping stock I keep some shims handy to act as wedges - mostly habit from growing up with my dad's old Craftsman that did not have a splitter. Even with the splitter you still get the ocaisonal piece that does this.

[dkerfoot]

This is another instance where the on/off switch should be on the left side of the saw. you have to continue to hold down the part as you contort your body to shut down the saw.

That is why I like it on the right side - that is the side I stand to.


But either way, I hate it when my ash gets in a bind!

[rnelson0]

The kerf had closed up around the splitter (Jet cabinet saw). Had the splitter not been installed, this board would absolutely have kicked back and I would have been pretty badly injured because the piece of ash in question was sizable (pun intended).

I had a similar issue this weekend with some ply. I haven't used the saw in a while and after cutting a mere 4 or 5 inches, it started having problems cutting and moving. I thought either the blade was shot or the surface was causing it to stick as I pushed.

It turns out that the kerf on my blade is thinner than my splitter, so it was causing the board to get wedged into the fence. It wouldn't cause kickback (the blade spun fine) but it prevented me from cutting.

I never thought I'd be looking for a blade with a *thicker* kerf!