Jessem TS stock guides vs Jessem Precision Stock guides

[Bob D.]

Isn't the force of a kickback on a table saw mostly linear?

The whole idea of the stock guides is to keep the stock tight to the fence hence preventing any kickback that even the riving knife may not prevent.

Could someone please explain under what circumstances that the use of the stock guides with a riving knife would still result in a kickback? And also in the very unlikely event that kickback happens, why the linear force would cause the stock guides to dislodge even though it is securely mounted on the saw fence with the magswitches  (95lbs x 2 or 155 lbs x 2).

It only has to go wrong once, and that's usually the last time. I'd rather not take the chance even though I have been trying to justify the risk for a while now. I have MagSwitches so I know how well they work.

 

[ChuckM]

I'm not trying to convince anyone to use the magnets (as I said I've bolted it to the fence), but I'm trying to understand where the risk is and how the risk, if any, can be explained using science.

Actually, I've been told that someone decided not to use the stock guides because he was of the opinion that the fence could be lifted up with the stock guides if a violent kickback happened. Is that a real risk? I don't know, but since I have never experienced kickbacks with using the stock guides (in conjunction with the riving knife), I never am concerned about such opinion.

 

[Alanbach]

I have the Jessem TS guides attached to my SS T Glide fence with two 150lb mag switches let into/through a 3/4” thick piece of hard maple. The Jessem guide arms attach to a block which slides in its track. Those blocks are spring loaded so if a piece were to want shoot straight up the arm would swing in an arc under spring tension. They have about 3/8” of travel. I can’t say how many pounds of force those springs exert but you can swing them up with your hands. As I have said before I am very comfortable with my setup. Over my woodworking lifetime I have experienced two kickback events and they both came straight back. One hit me in the gut and by the time the other happened I had altered my stance and it wizzed past me at tabletop level. It did eventually elevate but only after it was five or six feet behind me. With this setup (when properly adjusted) the wheels hold the work nice and tight up against the fence and they hold it down nice and flat on the table all the way through the cut. I have not experienced one cut with these guides where I felt like the cut was trying to wondered elevate and I had to redirect it. Very secure feel. I don’t know about you but I can feel it when the saw’s force starts to try to take over. It happens but so far with these guides the steady control through the cut has prevented all of those moments.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Based on ChuckM and Alanbach’s comments, the guides are spring loaded and effective at keeping stock from entering a kickback situation, I think I’d be okay with the highest rated MagSwitch, if my fence wasn’t aluminum.

 

[ChuckM]

As a reminder, both rollers must be set to and used on the cut side of the blade, NOT on the waste side, or you could be causing kickback unintentionally. Study the manual or watch their youtube video.