Is My TS3660 As Safe As It Can Be?

[Phil3]

I have a very healthy respect for my TS3660 tablesaw and want to be absolutely as safe as possible. I am brand new to woodworking and only want to develop good habits. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions regarding my safety adjustments.

1) Leveled table saw extension tables using a 38" long aluminum straight edge. Shimmed one table to make level.

2) Arbor runout (on face and lateral) less than .001".

2) Using TS-Aligner Jr. Lite, less than .001" variance on blade to miter slot alignment.

3) Using TS-Aligner Jr. Lite, fence pulls away from blade toward rear by about .001".

4) Splitter aligned with saw blade. Have noticed no binding or burning of wood.

5) Using Micro-Jig GRR-Ripper for holding wood and ripping. Seems to make it easy to hold against fence, exert downward pressure, and push forward.

6) Switch moved to left side, so do not have to lean across back of saw to reach.

7) Lee Valley zero clearance insert installed.

8) Considering Micro-Jig splitters. See www.micro-jig.com. Will use more ZCIs for different cut depths with splitter positioned close to rear of blade.

9) All adjustments from Ridgid instructions performed.

Some areas of concern. The blade appears to have about .005" lateral runout. Fence is not completely flat when TS-Aligner is in right miter slot. .002" - .003" variance down the face.

Some people have the fence pull away from the blade to the rear. Would that not tend to pull the left rear cut off piece into the rear of the blade? This assume the fence is to the right of the blade.

I stand to the left of the blade, but if the wood is picked up and pulled over the top of the blade on a kickback, seems like I am in the impact zone.

Thanks.

- Phil

[Gofor]

It sounds like you have done all you can as far as the saw goes. The only thing you did not mention is to make sure it is sitting solid and stable on all four feet.

The primary component in using it safely is the one located between your ears. If it does not feel safe, stop and think why. Then correct whatever it is you feel wrong.

As for the kickback zone, you will find it virtually impossible to use the saw and stay completely out of it. You are better served to be stable and balanced and in control of the work, than to be be twisted, using your least dexterous hand, and not being able to see your cut trying to keep completely away from it. Do try to keep your head and center body mass out of it as much as possible.

To increase your safety, use featherboards, board buddies, etc that will stop the board if kickback does occur.

Unplug the saw (or kill power) anytime you have your hands on the blade or motor pulley. Unplug it if there is a power outage until the power is back on (including if you trip a breaker) That way you won't have the blade power up because you forgot to shut off the switch when the saw dies.

Use push blocks/sticks that grab the wood, and are tall enough that the direction of your hand's force is not directly toward the blade (i.e. over the top maybe, but not pushing down and into it.) Your hand should never be closer than 3" to the spinning blade.

If you feel the board is too big to handle safely, set up additional support, or rough cut the board smaller with a circular saw/hand saw, etc first. However, realize most accidents happen when people are trying to cut small and thin boards, and get too close to the blade or do not have anyway to secure the wood. Little pieces fly faster than big ones.

Keep the top clean and waxed, (that goes for additional infeed and outfeed supports, too) so the work is not dragging when pushing it thorough the cut. Make sure your miter gauge, or any jigs on runners do not bind up in the miter slots. Trying to overcome unexpected resistance can cause you to lose balance or force the wood sideways into the blade.

Keep up with the tips and accident reports posted here and on other forums.

Table saws are dangerous. If it cuts wood it can cut you. However, your automobile is much more dangerous, because it is operated in an environment in which you have little control. Just use your head, stay focused, think through the operation before you do it, and stop it you feel it is wrong. There is no shame in dropping the blade down and doing a dummy cut with the power off to check yourself out.

JMTCW

Go

PS, Fence is fine. mine has more deviation than yours. I put an auxiliary wood fence on it to get it flat. I do not have my fence toed out at the rear. However, if you do, you will find that the wood will follow the splitter, and move off the fence at the rear. Let it. The fence does not have to support the wood behind the cut. Some people but an auxiliary fence that stops about 1" behind the front edge of the blade (I believe it is called a European fence). After the cut, there is no fence to push the wood into the blade. However, there is also no fence to align your work at the tail end of the cut. The splitter (or riving knife) is left to do that on its own. It is perfectly safe and results in an accurate cut as long as the splitter/riving knife are solid and aligned properly. I am thinking about trying that on my next project to see if I have an accuracy problem, but have not done it yet, so cannot speak from experience.

[hewood]

1. Keep the top clean and waxed so you don't need to push as hard.
2. The correct high quality thin kerf blade that's clean and sharp is also a plus.
3. +1 on the feather board suggestion.
4. Use a zero clearance insert (ZCI)

(keep the stock blade for junk cuts)

[Arc Light]

Great post Phil, and excellent advice all around. I know you mentioned it in another post, but it's good to say here as well: Make sure you are always wearing eye protection when making a cut, and the other more subtle danger, wear a good dust mask, especially if your in a confined shop with a sub par dust collection system Ex. my shop

[Phil3]

Thank you for the replies.

I do have a Ridgid magnetic featherboard tool. This thing works very well. I am not comfortable handling big sheets of wood, so have it cut at the home center down to size, and then use the saw. If still too big for my comfort, then will use a circular saw (buying the Ridgid 6.5" Fuego). The table top, miter slots, miter gauge, fence rails, fence face, and leading edge of guard are all waxed with Johnson's paste wax. Saw sits stable on floor, but there is some minimal vibration.

I use a mask. I also use electronic earmuffs (I use these when shooting at the range), which amplify sound until about 85 db, and then they act like regular muffs. Great for hearing normally, but go quiet when it gets noisy. Have plenty of safety glasses.

Just have to know to stop if it feel wrong, and not let impatience take over.

- Phil

[JTROANOKE]

+1 on the most important part of safety being between your ears. The only thing I can add to this list is no loose clothes and roll up or preferably remove long sleeves when cutting. I cannot stress this enough being a machinist and seeing first hand what rotating machinery of any kind can do when it catches clothing (thankfully other people). Never, ever, wear gloves while cutting and take the watch off too. I still have all my fingers but have done some damage to a couple of them, both preventably. Once with a drill and once with a nail gun. The drill incident was from dumb shortcuts to get the job done, and the nail gun incident was due to using a cheap tool that loved to double fire and I continued using it. Thankfully, both air conditioned fingers healed, but both incidents could have been much worse!

[billmoy]

This thread contains some very valuable safety advice for all table saw models.

This thread should be posted as a "sticky" so it will be quickly visible for reference.

Bill

[Phil3]

In my set-up of the TS3660, I discovered a few other things and did a couple of other things to ensure safety.

1) I aligned the fence to left miter slot, and got it dead on. Just for the heck of it, I tried the same measurement from the right miter slot. The fence toes away from the blade, at the back of the fence, by about .005". Would appear the miter slots are not dead parallel. Or, the front rail is not dead straight (canting the fence). I used a 38" aluminum straight edge along the rail, and it is arrow straight, so am assuming the miter slots are not 100% parallel. I cleaned them both thoroughly. The dial indicator slowly moves all the way down the length of the fence, as the measuring tool is pushed down the right slot. Stays pretty much at zero on the left slot.

2) I found measurements for fence parallelism change slightly depending on the direction the fence was pushed. I pushed the fence to the blade, to ensure there was no chance the rear of the fence could be pinching stock against the blade.

3) Once the fence is aligned, move it away, slide it back and measure again. I found the measurement can change from the initial measurement. I was looking for repeatable measurements.

- Phil

[hewood]

Phil - Did you upgrade the stock blade?

[Phil3]

No, I have not changed the blade. My first work with the saw is to build a workbench, and some garage stuff, and for that, the stock blade seems fine. I am new to woodworking, but frankly, found the cuts pretty smooth. I probably don't know what I am missing. One thing about the blade that does bother me a bit, is that lateral runout is about .005". Perhaps within normal tolerances, but not sure. It makes a lot of noise with a ZCI insert I installed.

- Phil