5.0Glossary
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 that allows 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 – always use appropriate devices to feed the workpiece though 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.
The blade guard and riving knife must be re- installed after performing a
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 used to safely push the workpiece through the cutting operation.
Rabbet: A cutting operation that creates an
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-
Splitter (Spreader): A stationary metal plate to which the blade guard is attached that maintains the kerf opening in the workpiece when performing a cutting operation.
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.
7