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4.0 Table Saw terminology
Arbor: Metal shaft that connects the drive
mechanism to the blade.
Bevel Edge Cut: Tilt of the saw arbor and blade
between 0° and 45° to perform an angled cutting
operation.
Blade Guard: Mechanism mounted over the saw
blade to prevent accidental contact with the cutting
edge.
Crosscut: Sawing operation in which the miter
gauge is used to cut across the grain of the
workpiece.
Dado Blade: Blade(s) used for cutting grooves and
rabbets. A stacked dado set can be used for wider
grooves.
Dado Cut: Flat bottomed groove in the face of the
workpiece made with a dado blade.
Featherboard: Device used to keep a board
against the rip fence or table, allowing the operator
to keep hands away from saw blade.
Freehand: Moving the workpiece into the blade
using only the hands, without a fixed positioning
device. (This is a dangerous, unacceptable
procedure on a table saw – always use appropriate
devices to feed the workpiece through the saw
blade during cutting operations.)
Kerf: The resulting cut or gap made by a saw
blade.
Kickback: An event in which the workpiece is lifted
up and thrown back toward an operator, caused
when a workpiece binds on the saw blade or
between the blade and rip fence (or other fixed
object). To minimize or prevent injury from
kickbacks, see the Operations section.
Miter Gauge: A component that controls the
workpiece movement while performing a crosscut
of various angles.
Non-Through Cut: A sawing operation that
requires the removal of the blade guard and
standard riving knife, resulting in a cut that does
not protrude through the top of the workpiece
(includes dado and rabbet cuts).
The blade guard and riving knife must be re-
installed after performing a non-through cut to
avoid accidental contact with the saw blade during
operation.
Parallel: Position of the rip fence equal in distance
at every point to the side face of the saw blade.
Perpendicular: 90° (right angle) intersection or
position of the vertical and horizontal planes such
as the position of the saw blade (vertical) to the
table surface (horizontal).
Push Board/Push Stick: An instrument, usually of
wood or plastic, used to safely push the workpiece
through the cutting operation by keeping the
operator's hands at a distance.
Rabbet: A cutting operation that creates an
L-shaped channel along the edge of the board.
Rip Cut: A cut made along the grain of the
workpiece.
Riving Knife: A metal plate fixed relative to the
blade, which moves with the blade as cutting depth
is adjusted. Thus, it maintains not only the kerf
opening in the workpiece, but also the knife-to-
blade distance. A low-profile riving knife sits lower
than the top edge of the blade, for making a non-
through cut.
Splitter (Spreader): A stationary metal plate to
which the blade guard is attached that maintains
the kerf opening in the workpiece during a cutting
operation. (JET table saws use the superior Riving
Knife system instead.)
Standard Kerf: 1/8" gap made with a standard
blade.
Straightedge: A tool used to check that a surface
is flat or parallel.
Through Sawing: A sawing operation in which the
workpiece thickness is completely sawn through.
Proper blade height usually allows 1/8" of the top
of blade to extend above the wood stock. Keep the
blade guard down, the anti-kickback pawls down,
and the riving knife in place over the blade.
8
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