When ripping wood with a table saw, push the wood through the blade, keeping the edge of the board in contact with the fence while maintaining a slow, steady pace
. Always push the board completely past the blade and kickback pawl
. More tips for ripping wood on a table saw:
- Make sure the face of the board that rides on the table and the edge riding the fence are flat and straight
- Set the blade so that the gullets are just above the thickness of the piece
- Adjust the fence to the width you need to cut
- Apply pressure to push the wood into the fence and down against the table as you feed it through the blade
- Use push sticks, standing to the side of the wood, to push it completely through the saw blade to make a cut
- When ripping boards, keep the bulk of the material against the fence with the cutoff falling away from the blade, to avoid a kickback
- If you can touch the blade with your thumb and the fence with your pinky, use a push block
- Continue pushing the workpiece safely past the blade to finish the cut
