A table saw is a game-changer for any DIY project or woodworking adventure. Whether you’re a seasoned woodworker or just starting to dip your toes into home improvement, this powerful tool will elevate your ability to create precise cuts and professional-grade projects. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.
Anyone serious about woodworking or DIY eventually wants a table saw in their power tool arsenal. Named for the table that supports the material being cut, the table saw is an excellent tool for making quick, precise work for repetitive cutting tasks. If you’re in the market for one of these beauties or just bought one for your home woodworking workshop, study how to use a table saw to make cuts correctly and safely.
Setting Up Your Table Saw
Using a table saw starts with a proper setup. Here’s what you need to do before cutting your first piece of wood:
Choose the Right Location
Place your table saw in a well-lit, spacious area. You’ll need enough room to maneuver sizable pieces of wood without obstruction. If you’re working indoors, ensure good ventilation to manage dust.
Inspect the Blade
Start by checking the blade. Is it sharp and appropriate for your project? Dull blades can cause splintering and are more challenging to work with. A combination blade with 40-50 teeth is an excellent choice for general-purpose woodworking.
Calibrate for Accuracy
Ensure the blade is perpendicular (90) to the table for straight cuts. Most saws come with an adjustable angle gauge for easy calibration.
Install Safety Features
Make sure the following safety components are correctly installed:
Blade Guard: Protects your hands and fingers by creating a barrier around the spinning blade.
Riving Knife: Prevents Kickback by keeping the wood from pinching the blade.
Push Stick: Helps you maneuver wood through the blade safely without putting your fingers at risk.
Table Saw Basics
The best table saws, which run between$300 for a standard model and $800 for a contractor- quality version, are sold by the size of the table saw blades they accommodate. The 10-inch size is most common and ideal for most carpentry and woodworking tasks, yet you’ll find 8-inch table saws that are handy for trim work and 12-inch versions well suited to creating deeper cuts on thicker material. The parts of a table saw include:
Safety Tips for Using a Table Saw
Too many weekend warriors-and pros-have suffered sericous injuries for not knowing how to use a table saw. If not correctly handled, the material being cut can get in bind and kicked back, either throwing the material at a high velocity toward them or jerking it violently and pulling their fingers toward the blade. Here’s what to do to reduce the risk of kickback:
. Never start the saw while the material you’re cutting touches the blade.
. Always use the rip fence when making “rip” cuts.
. Always use the miter gauge, not the rip fence, for crosscuts (the rip fence doesn’t offer adequate support)
. Keep the material utterly flat against the table during the cut.
In addition to the specific safety observances to prevent kickback, take the time to read the manufacturer’s safety provisions and be sure always to wear goggles and ear protection while using the table saw. Also, remember to unplug the saw before you adjust or align the blade and don’t remove the safety guards that come with the saw.
Tried-and-True Advice
“One common mistake people make when using a table saw is setting the blade too high. The blade height only needs to be 1/8 inch greater than the thickness of the stock you’re cutting, yet many people think the blade needs to extend an inch or more. The blade’s gullets are designed to expel wood, so there’s no reason to have several inches of exposed blade spinning dangerously above the wood surface.
While I was never stung by this common mistake, my dad was. While working in a shop a in his twenties, he almost completely severed his left ring finger when he ran his hand over the blade. It had to be reattached, and it’s been crooked for as Iong as I can remember. “
Making the Cuts
With table saw accessories such as clamps, stops, and jigs, you can make such specialty cuts as dado cuts, compound angles, and rabbet joints-yet woodworkers rely on the table saw most most for two basic cuts. Ripping, the most common table saw use, involves cutting material to a specific width. Crosscutting applies to cutting material to a particular length. Below. you’ll find step by-step directions for using a table saw to make these common cuts.
How to Rip
Ripping is the most straightforward cut, thanks to the table saw’s rip fence that adjusts to the width of the desired cut and serves as a guide to control the material while cutting.
1:Set up the saw.
Unplug the table saw and fit a rip blade (suitable for the material you’re cutting) into the blade arbor on the top of the table. Adjust the blade height so the top of the blade rises no more than ¼” above the thickness of the material you’re cutting. For example, if you’re ripping long pieces of wood from ½” plywood, set the blade no higher than ¾” above the tabletop. To do this, use the arbor nut wrench that came with your table saw to loosen the nut (the nut that holds the blade in place) and position the rip blade with the teeth facing the front of the table saw. A table saw blade spins towards you from the top downward, so the sharp blades must face the front of the table saw and not the back. Tighten the arbor nut snugly.
2: Position the fence.
Position the rip fence by releasing the locking lever on the front of the wall, which locks the fence into place, then sliding it so its inner edge matches the desired width of the cut. Your table saw has a ruler on the front to help position the fence, but don’t depend solely on the ruler for closest edge of a saw blade tooth. Saw blade teeth alternate, one toward the left and one toward the right. By measuring to the nearest edge, you’ll account for how much wood the blade will cut away (called the kerf) during the cut.
3: Position the wood.
Plug in the table saw and place the material to be cut on the table, aligned with the rip fence. Do not allow the material to touch the blade until you’ve turned on the saw and the blade reaches full speed. If the material touches the blade it reaches cutting speed, it is a sure recipe for kickback.
4: Guide the wood through the saw.
Guide the material slowly but firmly along the rip fence with one or both hands, whichever is necessary to control the material. Keep it flat along the table top and snugly aligned with the wall. When ripping large, thick boards, you’ll often want to use both hands to guide the material at the start and switch to one hand as the cut nears completion. If the material is long and extends beyond the back of the table, either use a table extension to support it or have a helper support it as you cut to keep the material flat at all times. Don’t let go of the material and walk around to the back of the table saw, which may cause the material to lift off the table, increasing the risk of kickback.
5. Use a push stick if you need to.
Use a push stick to keep your fingers away from the moving blade. A push stick is designed to guide the material when making narrow rips that would put your fingers witghin a few inches of the blade. Don’t chance it- always use a push stick.
How to Crosscut
When making crosscuts on a table saw, it’s vital to remember not to use the rip fence as a guide. The rip fence stabilizes long lengths, but most crosscuts are made on reasonably narrow material-cutting it in half or taking off the end of example. Not enough material is available to fit along the rip fence during croscuts, so attempting to use the fence increases the risk of dangerous kickbacks. Instead, use a miter gauge.
A miter gauge features a guide fence to stabilize the material and a bar that fits into one of the deep grooves on the table ‘s surface. When the bar is fitted into a groove, the whole miter gauge that comes with a table saw is a little on the lightweight side. If you plan to do a lot of crosscutting, consider investing in an after-market miter gauge that’s more subsiantial. Alternativaely, you can use a miter sled (see “Note” below).
1. Unplug the table saw and insert a crosscut blade into the table saw arbor as described above in Step 1 of “How to Rip.”
2. Adjust the protractor guide on the miter gauge to make straight or mitered (angled) crosscuts.
3. Plug in the table saw and turn it on, but do not let the wood touch the blade until it is spinning at full speed.
4. Plug in the table saw and turn it on, but do not let the wood touch the blade until it is spinning at full speed.
5.Slowly and carefully slide the entire miter gauge and the material you’re cutting forward through the moving blade.
6. Turn the table saw off before retriving cut-off parts of material near the blade.
Final Step
You may use an after-market miter sled to support your material during crosscuts. A miter sled resembles a shallow rectangular box wih pre-cut slots in the bottom, which allow you to position the material in the sled and then slide the entire sled over the table while cutting. You don’t necessarily have to buy one, though. Many woodworkers their miter sled; free detailed
plans are available. Making a miter sled might be a great first project for your new table saw!
