What is Table Saw Kickback

Table saw kick back is a fear of most table saw owners. It is the process of your table saw chucking the workpiece back at you at great speed. If flying pieces of timber wasn’t dangerous enough there is a real risk that hands could be drawn into the blade. So understanding what causes kickback allows us to protect ourselves against it.

Essentially kickback occurs when the workpiece catches on the back of the blade as it passes through. The teeth at the back of the blade snag on the workpiece and as it rotates forwards sends the workpiece with it. There is a great article over at raygirling.com which explains what and how it happens.

But I also wanted to link to this brilliant and terrifying youtube video demonstrating kickback. and how quickly things can go wrong.