Safety Warnings for Circular Saws
Cutting procedures
- DANGER: Keep hands away from cutting area and
the blade. Keep your second hand on auxiliary
handle, or motor housing. If both hands are holding
the saw, they cannot be cut by the blade.
- Do not reach underneath the workpiece. The guard
cannot protect you from the blade below the workpiece.
- Adjust the cutting depth to the thickness of the
workpiece. Less than a full tooth of the blade teeth
should be visible below the workpiece.
- Never hold piece being cut in your hands or across
your leg. Secure the workpiece to a stable platform.
It is important to support the work properly to minimize
body exposure, blade binding, or loss of control.
- Hold the power tool by insulated gripping surfaces
only, when performing an operation where the
cutting tool may contact hidden wiring or its own
cord. Contact with a "live" wire will also make exposed
metal parts of the power tool "live" and could give the
operator an electric shock.
- When ripping, always use a rip fence or straight
edge guide. This improves the accuracy of cut and
reduces the chance of blade binding.
- Always use blades with correct size and shape
(diamond versus round) of arbour holes. Blades
that do not match the mounting hardware of the saw
will run eccentrically, causing loss of control.
- Never use damaged or incorrect blade washers
or bolt. The blade washers and bolt were specially
designed for your saw, for optimum performance and
safety of operation.
- Kickback causes and related warnings.
* Kickback is a sudden reaction to a pinched, bound
or misaligned saw blade, causing an uncontrolled
saw to lift up and out of the workpiece toward the
operator;
* When the blade is pinched or bound tightly by the
kerf closing down, the blade stalls and the motor
reaction drives the unit rapidly back toward the ope-
rator;
* If the blade becomes twisted or misaligned in the
cut, the teeth at the back edge of the blade can dig
into the top surface of the wood causing the blade
to climb out of the kerf and jump back toward the
operator.
Kickback is the result of saw misuse and/or incorrect
operating procedures or conditions and can be avoided
by taking proper precautions as given below.
- Maintain a firm grip with both hands on the saw and
position your arms to resist kickback forces. Posi-
tion your body to either side of the blade, but not in
line with the blade. Kickback could cause the saw to
jump backwards, but kickback forces can be controlled
by the operator, if proper precautions are taken.
- When blade is binding, or when interrupting a cut
for any reason, release the trigger and hold the saw
motionless in the material until the blade comes
to a complete stop. Never attempt to remove the
saw from the work or pull the saw backward while
the blade is in motion or kickback may occur.
Investigate and take corrective actions to eliminate the
cause of blade binding.
ENGLISH
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- When restarting a saw in the workpiece, centre
the saw blade in the kerf and check that saw teeth
are not engaged into the material. If saw blade is
binding, it may walk up or kickback from the workpiece
as the saw is restarted.
- Support large panels to minimise the risk of blade
pinching and kickback. Large panels tend to sag
under their own weight. Supports must be placed under
the panel on both sides, near the line of cut and near
the edge of the panel.
- Do not use dull or damaged blades. Unsharpened
or improperly set blades produce narrow kerf causing
excessive friction, blade binding and kickback.
- Blade depth and bevel adjusting locking levers
must be tight and secure before making cut. If blade
adjustment shifts while cutting, it may cause binding
and kickback.
- Use extra caution when sawing into existing walls
or other blind areas. The protruding blade may cut
objects that can cause kickback.
Lower guard function
- Check lower guard for proper closing before each
use.Do not operate the saw if lower guard does not
move freely and close instantly. Never clamp or
tie the lower guard into the open position. If saw is
accidentally dropped, lower guard may be bent. Raise
the lower guard with the retracting handle and make
sure it moves freely and does not touch the blade or
any other part, in all angles and depths of cut.
- Check the operation of the lower guard spring. If
the guard and the spring are not operating properly,
they must be serviced before use. Lower guard may
operate sluggishly due to damaged parts, gummy
deposits, or a build-up of debris.
- The lower guard may be retracted manually only for
special cuts such as "plunge cuts and angle cuts".
Raise the lower guard by retracting the handle and
as soon as the blade enters the material, release
the lower guard. For all other sawing operations, the
lower guard should operate automatically.
- Always observe that the lower guard is covering
the blade before placing saw down on bench or
floor. An unprotected, coasting blade will cause the
saw to walk backwards, cutting whatever is in its path.
Be aware of the time it takes for the blade to stop after
switch is released.
Additional safety warnings
- Do not reach into the chip ejector with your hands.
They could be injured by rotating parts.
- Do not work overhead with the saw. In this manner
you do not have sufficient control over the power tool.
- Use suitable detectors to determine if utility lines
are hidden in the work area or call the local utility
company for assistance. Contact with electric lines
can lead to fire and electric shock. Damaging a gas line
can lead to explosion. Penetrating a water line causes
property damage or may cause an electric shock.
- Do not operate the power tool stationary. It is not
designed for operation with a saw table.
- Do not use high speed steel (HSS) saw blades.
Such saw blades can easily break.
- Do not saw ferrous metals. Red hot chips can ignite
the dust extraction.
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