Never use a zero-clearance insert while cutting tapers on a table saw.
Reason? The tapered offcut can wedge between the blade and the ZCI, pushing the blade into the workpiece. Makes a helluva noise, too.
DAMHIKT.
Think anybody will notice that one of the four legs on an end table is about 1/16" narrower than the other three?
S**t.
S**t, s**t, s**t.
S**T!!
Are you cutting the waste side against the fence or something? Seems to me the waste on the taper should just fall down and away from the blade. What am I missing?
It must be the possibility that the waste piece falls into the blade (and it even upended as a result).
about 1/16" narrower than the other three?
I didn't notice it, until you mentioned it.
it even upended as a result).
I guess one would have to anticipate that the sharp edged piece would fall into the narrow space. In that anticipated case, glue a scrap piece to tha t cutoff edge, which would prevent the problem. Somewhat similarly, scrap pieces are glued to mitered corners, to facilitate clamping, then cut off, sanded off, after the job is done
-MIKE- wrote in news:lt3t7l$nvj$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
No, of course not. I know better than that. The fence was a good six, eight inches away.
Seemed to me, too, that it should just fall down and away from the blade. And, in fact, that is exactly what happened on the first 13 tapers I cut (of 16 total).
A "zero clearance" insert is actually zero clearance *only* at the tips of the teeth. Because a saw kerf is necessarily wider than the plate of the blade, there is a gap of some 15 or 20 thousandths of an inch between the plate and the insert everywhere except at the ends. If the tapered offcut should chance to drop straight down, the tip of it goes right into that gap -- where friction with the spinning blade pulls it in farther.
Sonny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Which I clearly failed to do -- a mistake I won't make again.
Easier to replace the zero-clearance insert with the factory insert, so that the offcuts drop all the way through. In fact, since I cut all my tapers using a sled that rides in one of the miter slots (see my post a couple years ago titled The Ultimate Taper Sled) there's no need for any insert in the saw throat at all. Might even improve dust collection.
Actually I have had that happen often even when doing normal ripping, WHEN ripping off 1/16" or less. Not using a zero clearance insert makes matters worse.
Put the odd leg in the back. ;~)
With any wood, especially case hardened or that which is not perfectly flat, the pointed end of the taper, the leading end, can bend down and wedge between the slot and the blade after being cut.
While I did not loose the finger I have a significant scar on the end of my finger from an "Oh s**t" accident, that I should have foreseen and done some thing different
Keith Nuttle wrote in news:lt4rln$6dq$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
Ouch. Underscores the need to always think one or two steps ahead of our actions.
In this case, there was no danger to any of my body parts, only the workpiece. As you might remember from a post I made a couple years ago, I cut tapers using a sled that rides in the left miter slot, so I'm standing at the left end of the saw, well out of the path of the blade. The stop blocks on the sled double as handles, so my hands don't come within half a foot of the blade. The risk of personal injury in this setup is as close to zero as any table saw operation can be.
Ok, I'm picturing that fine and understand what you're describing. I guess what I'm having trouble picturing is how that wedge can fall into the blade when it's still connected to the longer stock.
I know that tension in many woods can make for some really strange movement in freshly cut wood. I can see where the cut off sliver might start to bow down into the ZCI slot. But wouldn't that sliver then catch the front of the slot and stop the stock from moving any further forward? Or is that exactly what happened, only after the damamge was done?
After thinking about it some more, that's what I thought might have happened. Especially after he said he had cut a bunch of them with no problem.
Seems like lately most wood I buy is either case hardened or the reverse thereof. The bean counters strike again?
-MIKE- wrote in news:lt4sbj$8l8$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
I cut tapers with the blade entering the stock at the end and exiting on the side. I've found that cutting the other way, entering on the side and exiting at the end, can produce some deflection of the blade at entry.
Good point! When tapering table legs I always need to square up the top of the taper with a hand plane. Only problem I see is most of the leg would be hanging off the saw table before the cut begins (nothing a longer jig wouldn't cure)
-BR
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Brewster wrote in news:ltcr5m$1tgl$ snipped-for-privacy@adenine.netfront.net:
My jig is about a meter long.
Beat me to it. ;-)
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