6 common things you might be doing wrong with your table saw

Hey I'd like to point out a few common mistakes I sometimes see people make when using a table saw and frankly I've been guilty of some of these myself so I hope this video will serve as a refresher for all of us correcting these bad habits will help you get better cleaner cuts and make using your saw safer and if you're brand new to using a table saw be sure to check out my video Seven Things to get Started Using a Table Saw in that video you'll get a rundown of safety procedures and how to make basic cuts also if you're looking for affordable tool recommendations I want you to download my free guide to outfitting your shop for under $1000 at mytoollist.com and just so you know I keep this list updated so my tool picks are current I've got links to all of these resources down in the description when making a cut it's important to know the difference between your workpiece and your cut off piece and which piece needs support usually you want to provide support for the workpiece the part of the board that you've measured and are using for your project when cross-cutting using your miter gauge that'll look something like this what happens is sometimes the non-supported side stops moving through the blade and you won't get a clean cut an exception is when using a stop block on your rip fence to make repeated cuts on small pieces where you'll be supporting the cutoff side it's not really a problem but you might need to clean up those little splintery corners you definitely don't want to try setting up a stop block on your miter gauge for cutting multiple small pieces most of the board will be unsupported which could cause it to tip and it places your fingers way too close to the blade a better solution to all of this is to make yourself a crosscut sled this jig will give you cleaner more accurate cross cuts and both sides of the wood are fully supported throughout the entire cut when using your rip fence to cut a wide board you almost always want your workpiece to be on the side between the blade and the fence it can be tempting to guide the sheet from the cut off side but as soon as the cut is made you're putting lateral pressure on the saw blade instead of the fence this can cause the board to bind and lead to cuts that aren't square instead support the workpiece and keep the pressure against the fence not the blade I'm sure you already know the importance of pushing wood through your table saw using something other than your fingers your table saw probably came with one of these a push stick which is a good starting point but a lot of people use it wrong for starters one push stick isn't enough you need two one to push the lumber forward through the blade and the other to keep the wood press downward and against the fence for a safe and effective cut using your rip fence there are three directions of pressure you need to provide on every cut forward downward and inward to use push tips use the cleat on one to push the board forward and a second push stick to press down and toward the fence and do this only on the front side of the blade once the board is cut you don't want to press inwards on the blade an improvement would be a push stick like this that provides better downward pressure but you still need a push stick to press inward in order to ensure an accurate cut you can make this with just a scrap of plywood to make it even simpler I've included a free cutting template you can download there's a link in the description but of course my favorite option is the gripper a push a block I want to point out that micro jig is no longer a sponsor of my show or this video but I love them and I honestly feel the gripper is absolutely the best way to get accurate and safe cuts not only does that green grippy stuff allow you to easily press the workpiece in all three directions but it also supports the off cut side look it's kind of a luxury tool but it'll definitely improve your cut and keep you a lot safer don't ever try this always provide support with a fits okay this is kind of a minor one but we've all done this you replace the blade you put the nut back on the arbor what do you do you totally crank down that nut because we don't want that blade flying off right I mean that would make for a really bad day then what happens and we want to try to remove that nut it feels like it's just used on there so we pull and pull with all our bite and it breaks loose all at once and what happens your knuckles go crashing into your table or worse into the blade itself and that hurts I've done it so the tip here is when you're installing a blade just crank down that nut until it stops you don't need a lot of tightening pressure on it don't worry the blade isn't going anywhere the blade spins in the opposite direction of the threads on the arbor so the nut is sort of self tightening in a way the basic rule here is to support the long side of the board not the short side if the board seems to want to wobble a little bit you want to use your miter gauge instead anything that can cause the wood to tip a little bit opens up the possibility of a skewed cut or worse yet the danger of kickback

Channel: Steve Ramsey - Woodworking for Mere Mortals

Views: 1,349,428

Rating: 4.862051 out of 5

Keywords: woodworking, woodworking project, how-to, DIY, easy woodworking, steve ramsey, WWMM, Mere Mortals, The Weekend Woodworker, woodworking plans, Free plans, wood, making, building, makers, hobby, weekend projects, Weekend Woodworker, power tools, tablesaw, table saw, safety, cutting, saw, tips and tricks

Id: JOhZxvgkWNM

Length: 6min 4sec (364 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2019