accidentally gouged TS 55 guide rail

[nikev]

Hi folks,

I had something slightly disturbing happen today. I was trying to rip some rather thick (2 inch) Douglas fir with my TS 55 and 1400 guide rail, when the saw jammed, and jumped off the rail. As it came off the rail, it contacted the rail edge, and took a nasty gouge about 1.5 inches long out of the edge where it touched. Has anybody seen this before, or have an idea what could have caused it?

Thanks in advance,

Nike V

 

[Pete Brown]

I've never had kickback like that happen with my TS55, but I have had it happen with my other circular saws. It can be scary.

Was the fir supported so that it would fall away from the saw as opposed to pinch the blade when it flexed? This is one of the most common reasons why you get kickback with a circular saw.

Was the fir reactive? ie, did it start to warp and close the kerf when you were ripping it?

Were you using a ripping blade?

Pete

 

[clintholeman]

Hi folks,

I had something slightly disturbing happen today. I was trying to rip some rather thick (2 inch) Douglas fir with my TS 55 and 1400 guide rail, when the saw jammed, and jumped off the rail. As it came off the rail, it contacted the rail edge, and took a nasty gouge about 1.5 inches long out of the edge where it touched. Has anybody seen this before, or have an idea what could have caused it?

Thanks in advance,

Nike V

Ahh, well I wonder how many will fess up to this sort of thing???

I have had my 65 kick back a couple of times, making some rather interesting tracks on my guide rails.  It is the result of inattention on my part.  Pete is right, pinching is the primary cause I think.  I've also, ahem, forgotten to change y depth setting a couple of times and taken too much of a cut and it kicked back.  I've also cut my MFT rails a couple of times - yep I have - FesTool stocks replacements - yep they do - and apparently, they ship them often. 

Biggest problem is that I get in a hurry and oops! Better than losing a finger though!  The blade sucks back up into its housing very quickly.  It is scary and seriously damages one's pride.

 

[Dave Rudy]

Well, I wasnt really going to discuss this, but honesty compels me to admit. . .  My kickbacks occurred when trying to plunge in the middle of a plywood sheet with the ATF 55 without removing the riving knife!*%#&@46*@#$*&^@#(*&  Oh well, live and learn.

I have not had any kickback in other situations.

Dave

 

[Bob Marino]

I would think this happens to many at least once. In my case,due to  momentary inattention, slight gouge to the rail, nothing more. Be careful.

Bob

 

[nikev]

Thanks guys for all the replies. I'm glad I'm not the only one to whom this has happened -- it is pretty scary, and a dent to one's pride! But as Bob said, I can be thankful that I got away with a gouge in the rail, and nothing worse.

-- Nike

 

[Daviddubya]

I have not had a kickback, but something just as scary.  A couple of times I have set the saw onto the guide rail, thinking it was properly positioned.  I start the saw and it jumps off the rail, fortunately still in my hand and with no injuries.  My bad - the saw was not on the guide rail rib, but skewed slightly.  Sure makes for some interesting patterns on the top of the rail.

ps - I also "nicked' the top of my MFT once, again from not having the saw set properly on the rail.  I also widened the saw kerf groove in the MFT by not having the rail set on the pin on the front side of the MFT.  You know, if a fellow would simply pay close attention to what he is doing, these darn tools actually work pretty well!!!  Smile.

 

[Loren Hedahl]

On one of my first cuts I nicked a rail because I was using a rail too short for the cut.  I had to start the cut with a plunge and the plunge action was different than the saws I was used to.

There is no functional problem with the nicked rail.  However I have invested in several more of the short sizes and keep a set of connectors staged near the center of the underside groove in several of them.

Loren

 

[nikev]

Yes, that's probably similar to what happened in my case. I don't think I had the saw fully plunged when I started the cut and probably plunged while the saw was moving. Now I know....

Loren: What is the purpose of the connectors for the short rails you mentioned?

-- Nike

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Ah confession time!  I got kickback once when I was sawing across some horses with 1/2 inch ply for support.  The distance between the horses was too long and the whole operation was sagging.  Now that I have the MFT, that situation doesn't come up often. ;D

Its reassuring to know that my rail isn't the only one out there with a ding!

 

[ejantny]

I got a kickback yesterday when starting to plunge, I was in a rush and the saw wasn't up to speed and I fed it in too quickly. Result was a little kickback.

 

[Chris N]

This is my first post.  Longtime FOG member (before and after the new board) but basically a lurker.  A small plug for Bob Marino.  I will never understand how he answers emails so quickly...if you look up "customer service" in the dictionary they should have his picture as an example.

I classify myself as an unskilled hobby woodworker who likes really nice tools.  I have a friend who is a carpenter, and occasionally he passes on tips and advice (and gives me a hard time for buying such nice tools).  Keep in mind that he is the type that picks up a 16lb+ 7 1/4" worm drive skilsaw one-handed as if it were a pencil.  I can barely get the thing off the ground with two hands let alone move it along a cut...

In any case, one of the things he has always encouraged me to do is to have two hands on the tool at all times.  This applies to all hand tools like saws (reciprocating and circular), sanders, drills, routers, etc.  My experience using a 1/2" hammer drill overhead with a 4" hole saw taught me that drill use can be far from benign.  When the hole saw binds, and if you only have one hand on the drill, you will likely break your wrist or end up with a broken jaw (depending on how close you are to the butt end of the drill).  Fortunately for me the bricks on my house took the first beating and I quickly adapted.  I also learned that the extra time taken to drill a relief hole is well worth it.

I do my best to follow the two-handed advice at all times.  Of course, there are times when it is very difficult to do - especially when clamping options are limited.  However, with Festool products this is extremely easy to do.  The built in clamping, the rubber on the guide rails, and the MFT clamping options are just a few of the many items you can use to allow two handed tool operation.

Of course, because the tools work so well, it is also easy to neglect using two hands.  In particular, I see many examples on Festool's web site and Festool demonstration web sites that show one handed circular saw operation.  I believe it is much easier to resist the forces from kickback and/or plunging if you have two hands on the saw.  A simple re-orientation of the work piece or user will provide for a more controllable, two-handed, operation.

My two cents (or two-hands).

Thanks for reading,
Chris

 

[ejantny]

Here is a link to a kickback that made the local news.

A factory setting, makes you wonder what safety precautions were being used.
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/NEWS02/704120388/1018/NEWS02

 

[fcraven]

My experience using a 1/2" hammer drill overhead with a 4" hole saw taught me that drill use can be far from benign.  When the hole saw binds, and if you only have one hand on the drill, you will likely break your wrist or end up with a broken jaw (depending on how close you are to the butt end of the drill).  Fortunately for me the bricks on my house took the first beating and I quickly adapted.  I also learned that the extra time taken to drill a relief hole is well worth it.

It's easy to forget that drills can do this to you. On a couple of occasions, I nearly had a drill whack into a window when the bit in the screw decided that it was going to stop -- you see, this is where you WANT the bit to cam out. All that torque got transfered to the drill handle...

I never broke a window (it was my window), but it was a good leasson in technique.

 

[MacMitch]

I believe the instructions tell us to place the guide rail stop tight behind the saw before we plunge. Yea alright I don't do it all the time, but if I were plunging in the middle of a piece of not so great plywood without the greatest support I believe I would run the stop up behind it. What does it take to do that maybe 4-5 seconds, probably worth it and I am thinking it would prevent most kickbacks.

 

[mastercabman]

i made a pretty bad thing to my original fence.i was cutting some mdf, and i had to cut the sides at a bevel(90 degree)i pull my measurment and it was only about an inch or so to the end of the sheet,so i thought that i could cut it bevel right away before cutting the sheet to size.i didn't realize that i had the anti splittering little green thing on the saw, so when i went to plunge, the anti splittering got in the way,the saw jump up,and landed on the fence! pretty nasty! i got a replacment one and i still have the old one.i can still use it if i have to.  so be carreful with bevel cuts! i will try to load some pics of the fence.