Episode 53 - Miter Saw Safety

22 Responses to “Episode 53 - Miter Saw Safety”

1. Chip on May 9th, 2008 9:45 am

   Marc, you mentioned using a jigsaw to cut rough lumber to length before milling. I would have thought that the circular saw would be faster and easier for straight cuts. Why the jigsaw? — Chip

2. Brian on May 9th, 2008 10:21 am

   Great video Marc.

   I noticed that once you installed your backer board to the fence of the saw your hold down clamp wouldn’t swing far enough out to clear it.

   I actually have been bitten by my miter saw too. Blood blister only. I was trying to cut a bunch of trianglar shape sticks for a wine rack and tried to gang a bunch of them together to cut a few at once. Well that didn’t work out at all. The blade caught one of the pieces and the next thing I knew was my finger of hand that was holding the pieces in place was slammed against my fence.

   It hurt like hell and scared the crap out of me. I know better now but that should have been a rather obvious problem from the beginning.

   Keep up the good work.

3. Germain on May 9th, 2008 11:51 am

   You’re batting a thousand with this safety series, Marc. I’d like to add yet another “Thank you!”.

4. Bob S in CA on May 9th, 2008 1:06 pm

   I’ll take a crack at answering Chip. A circular saw would create the same situation as the miter saw. As it cuts through the warped board, the pressures in the board would be released, the board would move, and a pinch of the blade might occur. With a miter saw, that pinch most likely would just force the sliding part back at you. On a circular saw, the only thing guiding the saw is your hand and arm, which would now have to react to the kickback.

   In fact, many people cut even straight wood dangerously with a circular saw. In order to avoid pinching the blade, you should have two points of support on the board for each side of the cut. Otherwise one or both sides will move as pressure is released, binding the blade and forcing the saw back at you.

   Think of the circular saw as a small table saw in your hand, only without the table, and you can see that some of the same issues apply.

   Don’t ask me how I know all this :).

5. Bob N on May 9th, 2008 1:08 pm

   Marc,

   Just want to add yet another thank you for a great week and great idea of bringing safety to the fore front for everyone. I learned a few things and even purchased one of those respirators like yours. You got me to thinking about all that dust and junk we encounter in the shop and even though I have a Trend Air Shield I use when at the lathe, I felt that the 3M 7500 would be one I would use for general all round purposes.

   Thank Nicole for her part in this as well. You are a lucky man to have that kind of support at your back.

   Thanks to Rockler for their sponsership and the nice prizes of which I was the winner of one.

6. Daniel on May 9th, 2008 2:02 pm

   Just a note on using the miter-saw with either the left or the right hand.
   Most of the miter-saws out there are geared for right-handed people. As far as I know the Festool Kapex and the older Ridgid saws are universal.
   Me being a left-handed person, I’ve had to adapt to the right-handed world in woodworking. I just glad to see that the newer tools out there are making things more universal, which in turn makes things safer.

   Daniel

7. Jim on May 9th, 2008 3:45 pm

   I definitely agree that the jigsaw is a great way to crosscut rough lumber. Since you are cutting to rough length the cut doesn’t need to be super accurate and the cut is very safe. Combine this with ripping rough lumber on the bandsaw and its a super safe method for cutting rough wood to nominal dimension.

8. Ryan on May 9th, 2008 5:59 pm

   Great job on all the safety info. Very helpful in reminding me what NOT to do.

   I am officially addicted to your site and videos! All are very helpful and interesting to watch.

   Ryan
   Portland Oregon (Originally Tucson AZ!)

9. tooladdict on May 9th, 2008 6:14 pm

   “And knowing is half the battle! GI JOE”
   I don’t know why that came to mind at the end on every safety video this week :)
   This was a really cool idea! Thanks guys for putting it together.

   With all of these great public service announcements during safety week the only thing missing was a great catch phase or slogan like: “Be cool stay in school”, or “just say no to drugs”. Safety week should have something like “Remember, think before you cut” -

   Vic- I’m challenging you to come up with a great slogan for Safety Week 2009, at least better then mine!

10. Shannon on May 9th, 2008 7:32 pm

    Marc,

    Great week full of lots of great information. Thanks for mobilizing everyone around a great topic. Now that it is over though I have to say that I am disappointed that you didn’t pull out a musical montage of “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats! Dave Noftz even said he does his safety dance earlier in the week. I figured he didn’t run with the song because Marc must have already thought of it. Oh well, I guess safety week is no place for comedy. Maybe next year.

11. Russell Tribby on May 9th, 2008 8:58 pm

    Marc, where did you you get the extensions and stops for the fence on the Kapex? I looked on the Festool site and didn’t see anything in the accessories section that matched what you had.

12. thewoodwhisperer on May 9th, 2008 9:02 pm

    Hey Russell. Not sure what the availability is going to be for the extensions. I think we will have to wait and see.

13. Vic on May 10th, 2008 3:44 am

    God, I love the Festool line! No Dust is a Must!…sorry..I figured I’m gonna have to put the “slogan hat” on if I’m to meet Tool’s challenge for next year. I don’t want him goin’ all pumpkin killer on me:D

14. Tom on May 10th, 2008 8:16 am

    Marc,
    Thanks for the good review of miter saw safety. I’m left handed so I need to be very aware of the odd positions I might get my hands in.
    I noticed when you were working with a piece of 2×2 lumber that it had a tag on the end. I had a minor scary incident with one of those recently. I was trimming a board to length and had forgotten to remove the tag and its steel staple! The saw didn’t lose or chip a tooth, but it made a pretty loud bang. I still don’t know where the staple went. So now I always check the ends - and sides - of store bought lumber to remove any staples.

    Also, I have a 12 inch DeWalt sliding miter saw, and limited floor space. So I got the Rousseau Company’s miter saw stand kit, which provides for very solid mounting and big fold-down wings. There’s always plenty of support for the workpieces.

15. Denis Rezendes on May 10th, 2008 10:58 am

    you just had to show off the Kapex Marc, didn’t you! I see how it is, lol! great video, I learned a lot. the kapex is beatiful too, you are one lucky man!

16. Steve on May 10th, 2008 4:51 pm

    Great week Marc!

    How could Nicole stand to be so close to you in that last shot? Man, you’ve worn that same t-shirt all week!! Whew! :-)

    Congrats on getting so many people and publications involved!

    I’m amazed at how many videos I see out there with the woodworker wearing long-sleeved shirts and rings (David Marks) !

17. WiZeR on May 10th, 2008 11:30 pm

    Thanks Marc. An interesting week. I like the idea of the backer board on the fence. I guess that also helps aligning cuts?

    Am I right in saying you ripped out your old mitre saw station to fit the Kapex in? or is that a different part of the shop?

18. Paul-Marcel ST-ONGE on May 10th, 2008 11:52 pm

    Hey, Steve, David Marks can’t show off his tattoos like Marc so he had to cover them up!! Ha ha… When Marc powered up the Kapex, all I did was watch for dust, any dust. Made my Makita (an awesome saw btw) look like Pigpen. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get the leaf blower out for my saw…

19. thewoodwhisperer on May 10th, 2008 11:57 pm

    Wizer - Yes sir you are correct. the old cabinet was recycled and is now used in a different part of the shop.

    Paul- Pretty amazing stuff man. It really is as effective as it looks!

20. Joe R on May 11th, 2008 10:55 am

    I’m glad you have and used the Kapex for your mitre saw safety video. Virtually no dust, pretty quiet, stops quickly, very precise, adjustable speeds, quick blade change…gotta love the Kapex. So, now you’ve put me over the edge - I have to add the Kapex to my Festool collection! Thanks Marc for a very informative, helpful, and humorous week. Thanks to Nicole, too! Oh, and you should always do the outtakes at the end of your videos.

21. Quiglag on May 11th, 2008 5:57 pm

    One more thing to keep in mind for safety.

    Keep the blade slot in the base free form debris. When doing a lot of small cuts, you will end up with small pieces in the slot. After you have made your cut, and the blade is coming to a stop, it could catch one of those pieces. I have seen the blade either jump forward toward the operator, or launch the piece like a rocket across the room. Not good.

    I use miter saws for a lot of the work I do. I would love to see how well the Kapex would preform out in the construction world.

22. tom hunt on May 12th, 2008 7:00 am

    1. Congrats on your Safety Week EVENT! I watched your videos, and several linked videos. While I can’t say I actually saw or learned something NEW, I will be thinking “safe” more in the future. I truly believe you have prevented some future injuries!!!

    2. Question: This weekend I had to cut 2 cedar trees, 20′-25′. I kept 6 logs, 5″ to 8″, about 4′ long. I’d like to mill some project material (1′ or less) but i’ve never dried raw material and the mags all seem to talk a long time for air drying. Should I band saw sime 1″ slabs, stack it on sticls in my shop, and come bact to it in a year, or is there a way to use this stuff sooner?

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