How safe are plunge cut saws?

[Rick Christopherson]

no stops here either.
i think a plunge saw is one of the safest saws out there.
the only time i had a kickback was my own fault. i was cutting a door. i presumed the middle vartical rail was glued. when i cut it free it mooved forward and pinched the blade. the saw flew back and up. everything was good in the end because by the time the saw landed  again the saw had unplunged itself  so i was protected from the spinning blade.

This is actually why a plunge cut saw is safer when a kickback happens. If my worm-drive Skil saw had a kickback, the blade guard would close, but if the saw landed on my leg (for example) the blade guard could still re-open. On a plunge-cut saw, the sole plate will slam closed and will lock closed unless you're holding the release lever.

I don't want to start an EZ Smart bashing, but to the best of my memory, their baseplate will actually prevent the blade guard from closing if the saw is lifted off the rail during a kickback. I haven't looked at them in a couple years, but the original design defeated the factory blade guard when you mounted the saw onto their baseplate.

 

[Tinker]

IMHO, the ATF 55 I have in my shop is the absolute safest saw i have ever used.  I have posted the following thought/description several times on the FOG.  the wording is different, but the action described is accurate.

When i first brought my ATF 55/MFT 1080 home, i had never operated a track saw or a plunge saw.  I had made many plunge cuts on site with my old Milwaukee 8-1/4 and 7-1/2 saws.  Not something i would recommend, or allow my workers to try while on my clock.  I never ran into any problems doing so, but I was always very aware of possible kickback, especially if the saw would get pinched.  I took precautions against such pinching and never had any problem.

When i first noticed the ATF at my local toy store (Woodcraft in Norwalk CT), John, the owner showed me the saw and instructed me on how it worked and how to use it.  When i got the saw home and set up along with the MFT, I made several dry runs with the saw in hopes that i would make no mistooks with the blade spinning.  All was fine.  i felt i had everything down fine and plugged in to the wall plug.  Whenever i plunged with my Milwaukee, I always placed the nose of the plate firmly on the wood, possitioned myself so if there was anty kickback, it would allow the saw to move in a direction where I was not.  With blade turning top speed, I would carefully lower slowly into the surface of the wood or masonry surface until the blade was thru the surface. 

Once i had made my dry runs with my ATF, I was confident.  Of course confidence and excitement are not always reliable bed fellows.  I raised the saw up sot the front of the plate was still on the guide plate and started the machine.  With my old Milwaukee, I never tried plunge cutting with saw above my ankles and with me well out of line for any kick back.  With my ATF mounted above my waist (yeah, I ain't all that tall  :) I, after raising the whole saw plate and then lowering into the wood, I was in for a surprise.  By raising the saw forward as I had done, the saw lowered, not into the wood as intended, but right onto the edge of the guide plate.  I still have that original guide plate with the scars from the saw teeth.  If it had been my Milwaukee, those teeth marks could very well have been on my own anatomy.  I don't really know if the ATF kicked at all, but if it did kick, by the time it may have been airbourne, the teeth of the blade were tucked all the way back into the saw housing.  That safety factor was not going to happen with any other saw. 

I am with those who suggest that any problem with any of the tracksaws is due to poor/bad procedure. 
Tinker