How to Use a Table Saw?

Woodworking or carpentry fascinates me. For any wooden work, be it a piece of furniture or a picture frame, the precision and smooth cutting of the wooden board is important. Recently I decided to fix a large wooden picture frame at my residence. A table saw is a handy tool in doing this type of work. It easily, quickly, and safely cuts a wooden board with precision and perfection. Therefore I could fix my picture frame in no time. The finishing was perfect. Here is how I did it and you’ll learn how to use a table saw.

Parts of a Table Saw

A table saw is a circular saw machine. It consists of several parts. All of these parts have their specific use and purpose, making the wood cutting experience so smooth and easy.

A typical table saw has the following parts-

Table: All table saws have a flat portion in their top. This top portion sits on a base. You will be working on this tabletop.

Fence and Fence Dog: There is a long guide parallel to the rotating blade. This is required to guide the board when you cut it. This guide is known as fence. It is important to know what side of the table saw should the fence be on. To lock this fence in its place there is a lever. This lever is the fence dog.

Blades and Blade Inserts: The blades used in the table saw are of different sizes and they can have different numbers of teeth.

Blade types-
Standard: These blades range from 8 to 10 inches in their diameters. They are generally 1/8 inch wide.

Dado: These blades are used to produce trenches or notches in the wood board.

Wobble: These blades are slanted-relative to the table saw’s top plane.

The insert is the part that covers the saw on the table. It is a piece of plastic or stock. There is a thin opening in it for the circular blade attached with an arbor to go through. Table saw produces sawdust and debris. This helps to protect the rest parts of the saw from getting dirty.

Insert types:
Standard: To perform ripping cuts or cross cuts a standard insert is used. When you purchase a table saw you get a standard insert that comes with this tool.

Zero Clearance: To perform ripping cuts or a vertical cross cut you need this type of insert.

Wide Gap: If you need to use a dado blade for your woodwork you need this type of insert.

Blade Height and Angle Adjustment Wheels: The height adjustment wheel adjusts the height of the blade. The blade is raised or lowered according to the thickness of the board to cut. The angle adjustment wheel changes the angular position of the blade. This adjustment is done relative to the table. Typically the blade angle indicator is on the front side of a table saw. But it is kept behind the blade height adjustment wheel.

Power Button: As with any other power tool a table saw also has a power on and off button.

Required Tools:

We have already discussed table saw basics and table saw components. You’ve also learned table saw safety rules. Now let’s make a checklist of all the major required tools before we start discussions on how to use a table saw for different types of cuts. This ensures your full preparation before you start the real wood cutting task.

Table saw
Wood boards to cut
Electric power connection
Measurement tape
Drafting kits with triangles and scales
Safety equipment
Instruction Manual

Table Saw Safety:

Before using a table saw follow some safety precautions. A table saw involves a fast-rotating circular cutting blade on a table bench arrangement. This tool also generates lots of wooden debris and noise. You need protection equipment and technique to ensure bench safety cutting. Learning how to use a table saw safely is important as accidents are common. Statistics show that there are around 10 million table saws in use across homes in the US. Injuries sustained from these table saws amount to USD 2.1 billion in medical care each year in the US. Other statistics show that 85% of table saw injuries are related to physical contact with the saw blade. These are serious blade contact injuries as researched by the NPR/Consumer Product Safety Commission (see yearly comparison 2004-2015 in the figure below). The rest 15% are non-blade contact injuries such as kickback.

Eye, Nose and Face Protection: When you work with table saw wood debris and sawdust may fly into your eyes or face. To prevent this you need to wear a pair of safety goggles. Alternatively, you can use a hardhat that has a visor. In this way your eye and face will be protected from debris and dust when cutting boards. You can use dust musk to cover your nose to avoid breathing problem.

Ear Protection: You need to protect the ears when you work with table saw. This tool can produce incredibly loud noise because of the high speed spinning of the saw blades. This loud noise can hurt your eardrums and result in hearing problem. Earplugs that are cheap and disposable can be handy in this case. You may go for more sturdy earmuffs for more protection of your ears.

Finger and Hand Protection: Your fingers are at risk when you cut thin boards. Because when you cut narrow, short-sized boards, there is not much space between side fence and the rotating saw blade. Therefore you cannot put your hands properly in that place. To overcome this potential risk you can take some measures.

Push Device: Use a push shoe, notched sled or a push stick, or may be a splitter. Instead of your finger the push device will help guide the wood from a distance as it is being cut. These pushing devices are available at hardware stores, or can be ordered online. Moreover, these devices come with adjustable parts to cut woods of different sizes.
Clearance Inserts: This is a small wooden piece that sits between side fence and the rotating saw blade. This arrangement allows you buffer zone and keeps your fingers from being too close to the saw blade.
Clothing: While working with a table saw tool your loose clothing can cause problem. Loose sleeves or a tie can get caught in the saw blade. In fact any loose fitting clothing, your untied long hair or even jewelry might get trapped in the rotating blade and pull your body towards it forcefully.

Kickback Protection: This is a common problem in wood cutting with a table saw. If measures are not taken your body can get injured. Statistics published in The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, kickbacks cost dollars in millions for medical treatment purposes by the injured people in the US alone.

Blade Guard: Make sure you use a table saw guard for the blade when you work. This provides a good protection from flying debris that is kicking backward. The guard keeps your fingers safely away from fast-rotating saw blade. With tightening screws or using plastic clamps you can attach the blade guard to saw blade by fitting the guard on top side of your saw blade.
Warped Boards: A warped or a bent board will not make a good cut. If you try, it will cause the warped wood to get kickbacked towards your body violently. The same is valid for water-damaged boards.
Emergency Button: Use the emergency button to turn off the table saw in an emergency. Generally, it is a large button that you can also paddle for a quick turn-off action. Make sure where to stand when using a table saw. This is helpful in an accidental situation when your hands are occupied with something but you can still hit the button with legs.

Reading Instruction Manual: Read and understand the instruction manual or the table saw guide. This will give you a complete idea of each part of the table saw, exact location, purpose, tablesaw guards, and any safety precautions. This will ensure that you have correctly installed the table saw and you know how to use a table saw properly and safely.

Types of Cuts:

Basically a table saw can make three types of cuts accurately and precisely according to the measurement. Table saw cutting techniques or simply table saw cuts are known as:

Rip cut: Table saw rip cut is done along the length of a wood board. Cutting long boards on table saw is done in this way. Later I’ll discuss step by step on how to rip a board.
Cross cut: This type of cut that is done against the narrow grain of a wood board.
Dado cut: This type of cut is done when you fit a piece of wood in to another piece of wood to make a smooth box like joint. A groove cut is done in to one piece of wood which is typically a flat-bottom and square-walled channel cut across the grain of wood.

Now let’s get into the details of these cutting techniques. Remember, you have to wear your safety equipment first before you start any type of cutting.

Rip Cut:

Step-1: Keep the table saw blade height at least 0.25 inches or 0.635 cm higher in position than the wood board’s thickness size. You can do this by adjusting the handle for this purpose to raise or lower the blade. This will ensure a clean cut and avoid potential kickback incidents.
Step-2: To cut a specific width wood board you need to know how to use a rip fence. Because it is essential to measure and keep that same width between the saw blade and the rip fence. To do this, move the side fence using the handle. The handle is used for tightening and loosening the side rail to move it left or right to adjust the side fence position. Use the measuring tape to measure the distance between the blade and the fence position according to the requirement.
Step-3: Now hold your wood board that you are going to cut against the side fence. Use your thumb finger and place your hand with care behind the wood board between the blade and the fence. Keep the wood board firmly against your table saw and also the side fence. This will help prevent kickback.
Step-4: Now lower down your blade guard. Then turn on your table saw. Make sure you are getting protection from debris by lowering down the plastic guard over the saw blade. Turn on saw blade now and wait for the blade to get in full speed.
Step-5: Then, start your wood cutting by pushing the wood board towards the saw blade. Push the board in a slowly and steadily manner. Avoid putting your hands too close to active saw blade. Use the push device. In case there is less than 6 inches or 15.24 cm gap between the hand and the saw blade then you should use an insert for safety.
Step-6: After the wood board is perfectly cut to the intended dimensions you can switch off the table saw. Ripping a board is as easy as that.

Cross Cut:

Step-1: As discussed previously keep the edge of your saw blade at least 0.25 inches or 0.635 cm higher position than the wood board’s thickness size. Too high or too low blade position will not cut the board properly. The board will not cut through as it should be or it will splinter the wood.
Step-2: You need the miter gauge for this type of cutting. The miter gauge has angle measurement, a handle to push and pull, and a miter gauge fence. You have to set this miter gauge into its slot on the left side of the saw blade. Your table saw may have a built-in miter gauge. If not, you can get it from a woodworking shop or order it online.
Step-3: To achieve precise crosscuts, the miter gauge has to be in position that is squared with your saw blade. To do this, loosen the miter gauge handle at the beginning. Along the saw blade length, place a 45 degree drafting triangle. Then adjust the miter gauge so that both sides of the drafting triangle create an angle of 90 degree against the saw blade length and the miter gauge fence. After it is done perfectly you can now retighten that miter gauge handle. This will hold the miter gauge in its current place.
Step-4: Take the board and hold it against the fence of your miter gauge. With your right hand set the miter gauge position at the back side of the saw by pulling the miter gauge with its handle. With your left hand hold the board firmly against the miter gauge fence. Don’t forget to maintain 6 inches or 15.24 cm gap between your fingers and cover of the saw blade. In this arrangement, a board is placed along the miter gauge fence making an angle of 90 degree to the blade length.
Step-5: Now start pushing the board slowly and cautiously through the blade. As discussed use the right hand on the miter gauge handle. At the same time use the left hand to firmly hold the board. Keep pushing the board forward with the miter gauge fence against the table saw blade direction. This will cut the board.
Step-6: After the cut is done pull the board back to the previous starting position. You can now switch off the table saw.

Dado Cut:

Step-1: In the beginning, install table saw blade that is specifically used for dado cut. Though blades for rip cut or crosscut will work for this type of cutting the cut will not be quick and accurate. Therefore replace your regular blade with a dado blade. You can collect it from a woodworking shop or order it online. Additionally, use extra wide table inserts that fit the dado blade.
Step-2: As discussed earlier in other types of cutting, you need to set the side fence in the correct position. Maintain the fence distance from the saw blade according to requirement. This will decide the dado cut area along with the wood board.
Step-3: As previously stated use a push device so that you can push forward the board towards the table saw blade. Keep pushing forward until the dado cut is done for the board.
Step-4: Now make sure you move the side fence around 1/4 inches from the current position after the first dado cut. Then you start the second dado cut in the same way. Keep continuing to do as many cuts as necessary until the required width of the dado cut is achieved.
Step-5: After the dado cut is complete with the intended width you can close your work. You can now switch off the table saw.

Maintenance:

Table saws are easy to maintain if you follow the instruction manual on how to operate a table saw. In general, you can keep an eye on the following issues for maintenance.

Blade Teeth: Due to long repeated use few teeth of the saw blade may become damaged or missing. In this case, it is recommended that you replace the teeth.
Arbor and Arbor Nut: Make sure these components are in perfect condition for a smooth blade performance.
Drive Belt: Regularly check for wear on the drive belt. Remove it and ensure there is no other obstacle in getting a smooth operation.
Sawdust Bin: Empty the bin when it is full and keep surrounding areas as clean as possible.
Cleaning: Sweep sawdust and debris off the tabletop after your work is done.
Power Source and Button: Always make sure you are using a good and reliable power source. Make sure the power button to switch on and off the table saw is working correctly.

FAQ:

There are several terms and words used in discussions and reviews on how to use table saw. As a reader, you might frequently ask what the words actually mean. Below words are very common in table saw discussions.

What does the word Miter mean?
The word Miter refers to angled cut. Saws with miter can cut angled items such as a picture frame. Saws with miter function are known as Miter Saw.
What is the Slide function?
This is a function of the saw blade that helps to achieve a dipper cut of the wood board. If the wood is large in width then sliding action helps you with a big blade functioning.
What is the Bevel/Compound function?
With this function, you can tilt the saw blade to do an angled cut of the board. This is helpful as you do not need to turn the whole wood board to make an angled cut. Woodworks such as crown molding or furniture production make great use of this function.
Why there are built-in Lights in some Table saw models?
If your workplace has poor lighting facilities then built-in LED lights in the table saw can help you a lot.
Why there is Laser lines function in some Table Saws?
Laser lines highlight the area where the cut will occur. It’s a red line across the wood board. The red line verifies that you are lining the cut-up in the right direction along your pencil-marked line on the board.
What are Adjustable Rear Fence, Extension Arms, and Workpiece Clamps?
These are supporting items of the table saw. These items ensure table saw stability and allows user safety.
Are Table Saw height and Table Saw dimensions important?
For your comfortable use, select the table saw that has the right height. The overall dimensions have to be ok and fit your workplace.

After reading this article I hope you have fallen in love with a table saw by this time. It is indeed a powerful handy tool. It can easily do your woodwork safely and accurately. Therefore if you like woodcutting then no need to question, do I need a table saw? Just decide what do you use a table saw for i.e. type of material, type of cutting, etc. There are table saws for beginners. You may find a basic guide or manual on how to use a table saw when you purchase a new table saw for beginners.

Apart from the wood board, you can cut other widely used materials such as plexiglass using a table saw. Just look for instructions on how to cut plexiglass with a table saw. Check-in Amazon advertisement for table saws that support your projects or DIY and work toward your requirements. Read the user reviews such as

Toolnerds, Thesharpcut, Woodsmithspirit, etc. Some excellent popular table saw brands include DEWALT, Bosch, SawStop, etc. To understand table saw basic operations and ensure safe use of table saw, you can watch Steve Ramsey’s videos on his popular YouTube channel.

Therefore you can guess that I fixed the picture frame problem that I mentioned at the beginning at no cost. Instead of looking for woodworking shop and carrying my large picture frame there! I hope, the ease of use of the table saw is now encouraging you to do other small repair tasks. And, soon you’ll be able to make good quality customized wooden objects rather than ordering or buying them from shops.