Circular saw safety warnings
Cutting procedures
1.
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
2.
guard cannot protect you from the blade below the
workpiece.
Adjust the cutting depth to the thickness of
3.
the workpiece. Less than a full tooth of the blade
teeth should be visible below the workpiece.
4.
Never hold the workpiece in your hands or
across your leg while cutting. Secure the
workpiece to a stable platform. It is important to
support the work properly to minimise body expo-
sure, blade binding, or loss of control.
5.
Hold the power tool by insulated gripping
surfaces, when performing an operation where
the cutting tool may contact hidden wiring.
Contact with a "live" wire will also make exposed
metal parts of the power tool "live" and could give
the operator an electric shock.
6.
When ripping, always use a rip fence or
straight edge guide. This improves the accuracy
of cut and reduces the chance of blade binding.
7.
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 off-centre, causing loss of control.
8.
Never use damaged or incorrect blade wash-
ers 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,
jammed 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 jammed tightly by the
kerf closing down, the blade stalls and the motor reac-
tion drives the unit rapidly back toward the operator;
—
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.
1.
Maintain a firm grip with both hands on the
saw and position your arms to resist kickback
forces. Position 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.
2.
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 kick-
back may occur. Investigate and take corrective
actions to eliminate the cause of blade binding.
3.
When restarting a saw in the workpiece, centre
the saw blade in the kerf so that the saw teeth
are not engaged into the material. If a saw blade
binds, it may walk up or kickback from the work-
piece as the saw is restarted.
4.
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.
5.
Do not use dull or damaged blades.
Unsharpened or improperly set blades produce
narrow kerf causing excessive friction, blade
binding and kickback.
6.
Blade depth and bevel adjusting locking levers
must be tight and secure before making the
cut. If blade adjustment shifts while cutting, it may
cause binding and kickback.
4 ENGLISH