Safety— Your saw's manual comes first
Saws differ in their guards, knives, stands and limits. This guide explains the reasons behind makers' rules and quotes them; it does not replace your saw's manual, and where the two differ, follow the manual for the saw in front of you.
The size of the problem
The CPSC estimated 26,500 emergency-department-treated blade-contact injuries at table saws in 2017. Almost all — 96.4% — involved a finger; about 16,100 were lacerations, 5,500 fractures and 2,800 amputations. Its trend analyses found no reduction from 2010 to 2021, even as saws were sold with modular guards and riving knives, and its staff noted that a guard only works if it is used. In 2023 the CPSC proposed a rule requiring saws to limit blade-contact injuries; in September 2025 it withdrew the proposal. The protection at the saw is still the guarding system and the habits below.
The guarding system
| Device | What it does | When it comes off |
|---|---|---|
| Blade guard | A physical barrier over the blade (CPSC) | Only for cuts it cannot be used for — non-through cuts such as dadoes and rabbets, and, on some saws, cuts too narrow for it. Refit straight after. |
| Splitter or spreader | Keeps the two halves of the cut from closing on the blade; often carries the guard and pawls | With the guard, for non-through cuts. OSHA: replaced immediately after. |
| Riving knife | A curved plate just behind the blade that rises and falls with it, keeping the cut open | SawStop: stays on for non-through cuts except dadoes. Follow your manual. |
| Anti-kickback pawls | Toothed arms that let the work pass forward but resist it moving back | With the guard or on their own, as the manual allows. DEWALT: check they grip before ripping. |
The parts, how they differ and how to check them are covered in blade guards, riving knives and splitters.
DEWALT tells owners to use the guard, riving knife and anti-kickback assembly for every operation they can be used for, including all through cuts — and, if any part is left off for a particular cut, to take extra care with every other precaution. Its compact saw's manual adds two limits worth knowing: the knife and pawls cannot help with work too short to engage them, and pawls may not stop a kickback in hard, slippery materials such as plastics and laminate flooring.
How kickback happens
Makers describe kickback in slightly different words, and together they give the mechanism. SawStop: the work contacts the downstream edge of the blade and is propelled back toward the user at high velocity. DEWALT: the work binds between the blade and the rip fence or another fixed object, rises from the table and is thrown toward the operator. DEWALT's compact-saw manual names the causes — a pinched or jammed blade, a line of cut misaligned with the blade, or binding between blade and fence — and adds that most often the work is lifted by the rear of the blade. The rear teeth are rising out of the table, toward the operator; anything that presses the work against them can lift it and throw it.
| Cause | What happens | Precaution | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cut closes behind the blade | The two halves pinch the rising teeth | Keep the riving knife or splitter fitted and aligned | CPSC; SawStop; DEWALT |
| Fence out of parallel | The fence presses the work into the back of the blade | Align the fence parallel to the blade | DEWALT |
| Twisted, warped or knotted stock, or no straight edge | The work rocks or wanders, misaligning the kerf | Do not rip it; joint a straight edge first | DEWALT |
| Offcut trapped | The free piece is caught between blade and fence or stop | Never use the fence as a crosscut stop; never fence and gauge together; never press the offcut against the blade | DEWALT; SawStop |
| Feed force on the wrong piece | Pushing the part that will be cut off turns it into the blade | Feed between the blade and the fence | DEWALT |
| Freehand cutting | Unguided work misaligns and binds | Always use the fence or the miter gauge | DEWALT; SawStop |
| Long work unsupported | It pivots on the table's edge and binds | Support behind and beside the saw | DEWALT; SawStop |
| Restarting in the cut | A blade bound in the cut lifts the work as it restarts | Centre the blade in the kerf, teeth clear, before restarting | DEWALT |
| Dull, gummed or unset blade | The blade binds and stalls | Keep blades sharp, clean and set; remove damaged blades | DEWALT; OSHA |
| Stacked pieces | The blade picks up one piece | Cut one workpiece at a time | DEWALT |
| Thin work under the fence | Stock under 2 mm wedges beneath the fence | Use an auxiliary fence touching the table | DEWALT |
From the DEWALT DWE7491 and DWE7485 manuals, the SawStop PCS manual, the CPSC record and OSHA 1910.213. DEWALT: if a kickback occurs, turn the saw off and check the riving knife, anti-kickback assembly and guard before resuming work.
Where you stand
No part of your body should be in line with the blade: kickback throws the work along that line. DEWALT's manuals say to stand to either side of the blade; the IEC-style warnings in its DWE7485 manual say more specifically to stand on the same side of the blade as the fence. Never reach over or behind the blade to pull or support the work — a kickback can drag a hand into the blade.
Hands, push sticks and featherboards
- The thresholds differ in wording. SawStop: when a hand comes within 6 in of the blade, take it off the work and use a push stick. DEWALT's DWE7491: a push stick whenever hands would be within 6 in (152 mm), for 2–6 in between fence and blade, and below 2 in its narrow-rip fence and a push block. DEWALT's DWE7485: a push stick when the fence is under 150 mm from the blade, a push block under 50 mm.
- Use the maker's pattern. DEWALT's DWE7485 manual says to use only the push stick supplied or one built to the manual's instructions, and never a damaged or cut one; DEWALT recommends a 15.7 in (400 mm) stick with a notch, and SawStop's manual gives patterns for a push stick, a push block and an auxiliary fence. A home-made push stick should follow your saw's pattern, not an improvised shape.
- Featherboards hold the work against the fence and table when the guard cannot be used — OSHA requires them or jigs in workplaces for dadoing, grooving and rabbeting — and help keep a push-stick cut against the fence.
- Feed past the blade. DEWALT: push the work all the way past the blade before letting go, and never pull it back with the blade turning.
Non-through cuts
Dadoes, grooves and rabbets do not cut through the work, so the guard and splitter come off. That is the moment to be most careful, not least. SawStop fits the riving knife for these cuts, except dadoes; DEWALT and SawStop both use featherboards to hold the work down and against the fence; and DEWALT's manual says to reattach the guard, riving knife and anti-kickback device immediately afterwards. See dado blades.
Active injury mitigation
Some saws can sense contact with the body and act. SawStop's brake stops the blade in about 3 to 5 milliseconds; SawStop gives the arithmetic itself — a hand moving at 1 ft per second toward the blade receives a cut about 1/16 in deep, and faster movement a deeper one — and calls the system a last measure, like an airbag, when everything else has failed. Its manual adds rules of its own: never test-fire the brake, use Bypass Mode only to cut electrically conductive material, and let wet pressure-treated wood dry, since it can trigger the brake. The CPSC also describes Bosch's REAXX system, barred from import in 2017 after a patent ruling, and Felder's preventative contact system on its most expensive sliding saw.
Clothing and protection
- Eyes: DEWALT specifies ANSI Z87.1 eye protection; everyday glasses are not safety glasses.
- Ears and lungs: ANSI S12.6 hearing protection and NIOSH/OSHA-approved respiratory protection, DEWALT says; use the saw's dust port.
- Nothing to catch: SawStop and DEWALT both rule out loose clothing, gloves, neckties and jewellery, and call for long hair to be contained.
- A clear table: remove offcuts and tools before starting, and never clear the table with the blade turning.
Before every cut
- Guard, riving knife and pawls fitted for this cut, or removed only as the manual allows
- Fence parallel to the blade, or off the saw for a crosscut
- Blade height set; the blade clean, sharp and undamaged
- Stock flat, straight-edged and free of nails and loose knots
- Push stick, push block and featherboards to hand
- Support ready for long or wide work
- Body out of line with the blade; eyes and ears protected
- After any kickback: saw off, and the guarding system checked before going on
Sources
Each precaution is attributed to the source that gives it; where manuals word a rule differently, the differences are shown. Your saw's own manual controls. OSHA's standard applies to employers and is cited for what it requires of the machine and workplace.
- 1.
Safety Standard Addressing Blade-Contact Injuries on Table Saws (supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking), 88 FR 74909. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Register, 2023.
Used for: The 2017 estimate of 26,500 emergency-department-treated blade-contact injuries (96.4% involving a finger; 2,800 amputations); no reduction in injuries 2010–2021; guards removed by users; definitions of blade guards, splitters, riving knives and pawls; UL 987's modular-guard requirement; the SawStop, Bosch REAXX and Felder PCS active injury mitigation systems.
- 2.
Withdrawal of Proposed Regulatory Actions, 90 FR 46541. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Register, 2025.
Used for: The withdrawal of the CPSC's proposed table-saw performance standard on 29 September 2025.
- 3.
DWE7491 10" (254 mm) Job Site Table Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: DEWALT's definition of kickback (work binding between the blade and the fence or another fixed object, rising and thrown toward the operator) and its list of precautions; the guard, riving knife and anti-kickback assembly used for every cut they can be; push sticks within 6 in of the blade and for work 6 in wide or less; a 15.7 in push stick; standing to either side of the blade; turning the saw off and checking the guarding system after a kickback; eye, hearing and respiratory protection.
- 4.
DWE7485 8-1/4" (210 mm) Compact Job Site Table Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: The IEC-style kickback warnings: a pinched or jammed blade, a misaligned line of cut, or binding between blade and fence; work lifted by the rear of the blade; standing out of line, on the fence side; a misaligned fence pinching the work; twisted or warped stock; stacked pieces; restarting with the blade in the cut; blades clean, sharp and set; push stick under 150 mm and push block under 50 mm; never fence and miter gauge together; support for long work; riving knife and pawls ineffective on short work; reattaching the guarding system after non-through cuts.
- 5.
Owner's Manual, 10" Professional Cabinet Saw, Model PCS31230. SawStop.
Used for: SawStop's definition of kickback (work contacting the downstream edge of the blade and propelled back); hands at least 6 in from the blade; blade guard and spreader for every through cut, riving knife for non-through cuts except dado; featherboards; the brake's 3–5 ms stopping time, its 1/16 in example at 1 ft/s, its role as a last measure, Bypass Mode only for conductive material, never test-firing the brake, and wet pressure-treated wood triggering it; no gloves, loose clothing or jewellery.
- 6.
29 CFR 1910.213, Woodworking machinery requirements. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Used for: Workplace requirements: hood guards, spreaders thinner than the kerf and non-kickback fingers on hand-fed table saws; spreaders replaced immediately after dadoing or rabbeting; featherboards or jigs where a guard cannot be used; push sticks and push blocks provided; dull or gummed saws removed from service.
About this guide
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