Chicago Electric 69480 Owner's Manual & Safety Instructions page 5

Table Saw Safety Warnings
For your Own Safety read Instruction
Manual Before Operating Saw
1. Wear eye protection.
2. Use saw-blade guard and spreader
for every operation for which it can be
used, including all through sawing.
3. Keep hands out of the line of saw blade.
4. Use an appropriate push-stick when required.
5. Know how to reduce risk of kickback.
6. Do not perform any operation freehand.
7. Never reach around or over saw blade.
8. Make sure the workpiece is supported at all times
while sawing. Use a roller stand (not provided)
with larger workpieces if necessary.
9. To properly understand all safety
warnings, be familiar with the following
safety terms and equipment:
a. Featherboard – A block with "fingers" that hold
the workpiece against the fence while sawing.
b. Through-sawing – A cut made from one side of
a board to the opposite side, without stopping.
c. Ripcut or Ripping - A cut made parallel
to (along with) the grain of the wood.
d. Crosscut or Crosscutting - A cut
made perpendicular (at a 90° angle)
to the grain of the wood.
e. Push-stick – A narrow strip of wood or other
soft material with a notch cut into one end
and which is used to push short pieces
of material through saws. It provides a
safe distance between the hands and the
cutting tool. Must be narrower than the cut
width to prevent contact with the blade.
f. Freehand – Feeding a workpiece through the
saw without using a fence or guided support
to guide it. NOT A SAFE METHOD.
g. Kerf – The gap made by the
saw in the workpiece.
h. Kickback – A sudden reaction to a pinched,
bound, or misaligned blade, causing
an uncontrolled workpiece to lift up and
out of the saw toward the operator.
i. Spreader – A metal plate that follows the
saw blade to keep the kerf (gap) from closing
on the saw blade. Spreaders, except riving
knives, must be aligned to the blade after
blade adjustment to prevent binding.
j. Riving Knife – A spreader mounted on the
same mechanism as the blade. Generally
more effective than simple spreaders.
ITEM 69480 For technical questions, please call 1-888-866-5797.
10. As noted previously, Kickback is a sudden reaction
to a pinched, bound, or misaligned blade, causing
an uncontrolled workpiece to lift up and out of the
saw toward the operator.
Kickback is usually a result of tool
misuse and can be limited or avoided by
following the precautions below:
• Fence must be completely
parallel to the saw blade.
• Workpiece must be free from flaws
(such as loose knots) and from foreign
objects (such as nails and screws).
• Support large workpieces along their
entire length. Large workpieces tend
to bend, grabbing the blade.
• Do not use a dull, damaged, or
pitch-covered blade.
• Do not use fence as a guide when crosscutting.
• Do not ripcut a twisted or warped workpiece,
or workpiece without straight
edge to guide along fence.
• Maintain control of the workpiece.
Do not allow the workpiece to rest against
the moving blade without holding onto it.
• If the blade binds or a cut is interrupted,
turn off the power switch and hold the workpiece
still until the blade stops. Correct the cause
of blade binding before proceeding.
• Before continuing an unfinished cut,
center the blade in the pre-cut kerf and check
that the saw teeth are not engaged into the
workpiece before turning on the saw.
• Push wood stock past the blade prior to release.
11. Check guards for proper operation with saw
disconnected from power before each use.
Do not disable any guard. Do not operate
saw if any movable guard does not move
freely and close instantly. Make sure any
movable guard does not touch the blade in
all angles, depths of cut, and positions.
12. Keep the guard in place while through-sawing.
Verify that the spreader lines up with
the blade to prevent binding.
13. Construct an appropriate Push Stick out of wood
according to the guidelines on the following page.
14. DO NOT OPErATE WITH ANy GUArD
DISABLED, DAMAGED, Or rEMOVED. Moving
guards must move freely and close instantly.
15. The use of accessories or attachments not
recommended by the manufacturer may
result in a risk of injury to persons.
16. When servicing use only identical replacement parts.
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