# Left or right side of blade?



## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

I was looking to put in my Father's Day request and ran into a delima. I was looking at table saw accessories and bumped into a question I've seen before but never paid much attention too. 

When cutting on your table saw, do you cut on the right or left side of the blade. I favor the right side because I'm right handed. The accessory I'm looking at is set up for the left side of the blade. 

Many of you know I'm not a "newbie" but I'm posting a newbie question here I never paid much attention too. What side of the ts blade do you cut on - the left or the right? I'm a self taught woodworker and missed the info for this question. I know we all feel comfortable doing things our way... but is there logic in the answer to my question.

THANKS ​


----------



## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Hmmm...I rip from the right side. I have cross cut from both sides. When I use my TS sled, I cut from the left side.
Does that help?


----------



## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I almost always cut so that the cut offs fall to the left of the blade and the good piece is to the right. Only time I change that is when I have a gauge clamped to the fence to control location of cut for dados or when making crosscut pieces the same size.


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Depends. Rips to the right, crosscuts to the left. Tapers to the right, dados?


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

I rip to the right, and do crosscuts to the left, mostly. I do sometimes go right with crosscuts too though.


----------



## tonyuno (Jan 5, 2013)

Same as most right hand people, rip on the right and crosscut on the left, always the exception though.


----------



## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Also, I am at a loss to understand.

I am right handed and have a right tilt saw. 

I stand to the left side of the blade.
I rip to the right side of the blade, almost always.
Feather boards are typically anchored in the left miter gauge track.
Depending upon the task, my miter gauge could be in either (L or R) track.
99% of my cross cuts are on a SCMS.
With sheet goods, I stand left and push lower left toward upper right.

When trying to think of what accessory would make a difference, all I can say is, "IMHO Board Buddies are not worth the money or the effort to use." A good splitter with pawls works better, adds the additional safety feature of a splitter and is very easy to remove and install. 

Don't flame me, it is only my opinion.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I don't know if I understand the question either. There are two sides of the blade when making a cut. Before the cut I determine which side will be the "saved" side and which side will be the "waste" side. That determination can be made with whatever type of cut is being made...either rip or crosscut. It's up to the operator to keep in mind when figuring which is what to allow the kerf dimension to be part of the measurements.

To me it doesn't matter if I'm right handed or left handed, or if the saw is a right tilt or a left tilt, or which side of the blade I set the fence, as long as I'm figuring for the kerf.


















.


----------



## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

I rip to the right side of the blade, and usually crosscut from the left. I tend to push the miter gauge with my right hand and hold the lumber with my left....it depends somewhat on where I stand, but the left side puts both hands (and arms) clearly out of line of the blade.


----------



## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

I find it much more effective if I cut on the edge where the teeth are located.:yes:
Bill


----------



## Oakwerks (Mar 24, 2013)

I always rip to the right, leaving the scrap to the left, except when I need a narrow piece....


----------



## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

*which side of the blade*

i have a delta ts and i have been doing wood working for 50 or so yrs, here is what i do i stand on the left of the blade and the waste come off to the right of the blade, i move the board over to the line for the cut, the line may be on the left side and waste come's of the left side of the blade depend's on cut , when i move the fence over than the cut come's off on the left side of the blade, this is the way i have been doing for yrs, work's for me, to dam old to change if that isn't the way to do it ?? my 2 cent's


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*On a left tilt saw ...*



knotscott said:


> I rip to the right side of the blade, and usually crosscut from the left. I tend to push the miter gauge with my right hand and hold the lumber with my left....it depends somewhat on where I stand, but the left side puts both hands (and arms) clearly out of line of the blade.


Me too.



Oakwerks said:


> I always rip to the right, leaving the scrap to the left, except when I need a narrow piece....


Me too.

Here's why I agree:
Most left tilt saws (almost all saws these days) run the fence supports to the right, because ripping beveled cuts would trap the work under the blade if the fence were on the left..... not safe.:thumbdown: 
I also believe this is because a majority of folks are right handed, and push the workpiece with their right hand allowing the cutoff to fall on the left side of the blade. 

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-handedness is most common. Right-handed people are more dexterous with their right hands when performing tasks. A variety of studies suggest that 70–90% of the world population is right-handed._

Cross cutting is a different procedure, but the reason you 
push with the right and hold with the left, is the same. You want full control of the workpiece and let the cutoff fall to the right side, especially on a bevel where the work IS trapped under the blade.You can flip the work over and let the cut off fall under the spinning blade, but that's risky also. A sliding miter saw would be my preference for those cuts where the work is secured against the fence and the blade moves across the work.

Some folks are ambidexterous and can use either hand comfortably, but it's important to not trap the work under the blade on either a right or left tilt saw... just my opinion.:smile:

I also find it safer and easier to rip narrow pieces on the right side of the blade/left side of the fence.... because if there is a kickback of the strip, you can/should stand safely just out of the way to the left.

There are human factors and physical/mechanical reasons for the safe operation of the machine.:yes:


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I suppose there wouldn't be any problem setting up a table saw with the fence on the left side of the blade if a person worked alone. Table saws are just set up for right handed people and I think it would be really dangerous for a right handed person to use a saw set up for a left handed person.


----------



## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I am predominantly left handed but I am used to living in a world designed for right handed people. 

I have a left tilt table saw.

For rips or cross cuts with the mitre gauge, I cut to the right of the blade so the scrap falls to the left. I push with my left and stand at the right of the blade.

I rarely need a bevel, but if I do, since I have left tilt I will still cut to the right of the blade and the scrap falling to the left.

The only time I use the mitre gauge in the left slot of the table is if I am not able to flip the stock face down, due to some profile and so need to make the right side mitre on the left side of the blade.

I do not have a commercial tenon jig. I made my own, which sits against the fence. This also cuts on the right side of the blade.









I rarely use the fence on the left side of the blade. The last time was to make a cut on a piece of sheet goods which was too wide to fit on the left of the saw, e.g., 12in cut from a 48in wide section of plywood.

I have a lally column to the left of the table saw, which prevents me overhanging on the left.


----------



## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

I only use my TS for ripping. I always put the fence on the right, as that is the side that the integrated tape measure works with.

For crosscuts, I go to a hand saw when it makes sense. If not, I use the CMS when it is narrow enough. If it is too wide, I use a CS with a guide.

I use a CS with a guide for breaking down sheet goods.

I use a router with a guide for dados.


----------



## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

One thing that comes to mind is the tenon jig sold by several companies including Grizzly. You have to use the left hand miter to set up the jig. Maybe that is what the OP is thinking about.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Tenoning-Jig/H7583


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*good call*

I see the Grizzly tenon jigs is mounted in the left miter slot. Here's one in the right slot...?










And here's some others, it doesn't seem to matter greatly.
Amazon.com: tenon jig: Tools & Home Improvement


I made one that slides along the left side of the fence:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/tenoning-jig-modified-15905/

But we really don't know why yet.:blink:


----------



## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Sorry for the confusion... I always think I make myself understood because I know what I'm talking about (just tell the wife :laughing

I was asking about cross cuts but the discussion is good. Here is a curve ball... I'm right handed but I cross cut on the right side of the blade to let my waste fall on the left. I feel like my arm gets too close to the blade if I cut on the left side. We all have preferences and I'm more comfortable doing it that way.

I have a commercial tenon jig that goes to the left side and I can deal with that alright.

What I went out to purchase today was a Kreg precision miter gauge. http://www.kregtool.com/Precision-Miter-Gauge-System-Prodview.html
It's been a while since I bought a tool for myself and I worked for a cabinet maker that had one and I liked it. The jig set up is intended for the left side of the blade but can be changed which I did. 

As for ripping, my saw is a right tilt It's a small 10 inch cabinet saw about 15 years old It's the Jet JWCS-10A. I always cut on the right side because like Chris said - the measurements are there. My tilt cuts are done on the left for obvious safety reasons.


----------



## Paarker (Mar 20, 2013)

knotscott said:


> I rip to the right side of the blade, and usually crosscut from the left. I tend to push the miter gauge with my right hand and hold the lumber with my left....it depends somewhat on where I stand, but the left side puts both hands (and arms) clearly out of line of the blade.



This is exactly how I do it too.


----------



## Wendel17 (Apr 20, 2009)

I'm with the majority here. I've used both left and right tilt saws, and still cut mainly with the fence to the right, but there have been times when cutting a 45 with melamine or plywood where I've had the fence to the left of the blade to eliminate chipping.


----------



## Wood4Brains (Jul 25, 2012)

Question:

How does standing on one side of the blade or the other relate to avoiding kickback (or more appropriately, avoiding being HIT by kickback)???

If you are ripping, are you just not supposed to be on the side of the blade that the fence is on?

If you are crosscutting, then I am assuming you would be standing on the side that the miter gauge is on.

(Is it obvious that I don't actually own a table saw yet?)


----------



## yank (Nov 15, 2006)

+8 for ripping on the right side.. Crosscuts with miter gauge is always on the left. With my new Incra fence, ripping on the left side is not an option.
With my sled, it crosscuts can be done right or left, but the fence is removed.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Grunkle Stan said:


> Question:
> 
> How does standing on one side of the blade or the other relate to avoiding kickback (or more appropriately, avoiding being HIT by kickback)???
> 
> ...



No, these are reasonable questions and my answers are based on my experience. Other may not agree. Leverage, human factors and physics all play a role in the safe operation of the machine.

One of the best safety accessories is an outfeed table the same height to catch and support the pieces as you push them through the saw with the push stick or if wide enough a final push to clear the blade and fence. Trying to catch a piece reaching over or around a spinning blade is just foolish.:yes:


----------



## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

yank said:


> With my new Incra fence, ripping on the left side is not an option.


It should be. I have two Incra Mitre gauges. They come from the factory setup for right side of the blade but unscrew and the track can be moved to the other side.

I have one setup with my addition of a wood block to be a zero clearance on the right side of the blade.

I use the other on either the left or right side of the blade depending on the mitre cut and the stock.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Incra Fence.*



yank said:


> +8 for ripping on the right side.. Crosscuts with miter gauge is always on the left. With *my new Incra fence, *ripping on the left side is not an option.
> With my sled, it crosscuts can be done right or left, but the fence is removed.


It's the fence that is mounted on the right, nothing to do with a miter gauge. :no:


----------



## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

I am trying to think of the last time I have used the miter slot on the right side of the blade, it just seems natural to use the one on the left for cross cuts, box joints etc. 
The fence is almost always to the right of the blade for ripping.

I think it is what you get used to and feel comfortable with, when I move over to the bandsaw it does not seem odd cutting the opposite way.


----------



## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

I build mostly case goods. I have a Biesemyer fence set up 12L, 52R. I make almost all fence guided cuts with the fence on the right. This allows wide cuts, and supports sheet goods better. 

The exception is when I cut most rabbets, and dados. I keep a sacrificial fence attached to the right side of the fence. This way it is pretty quick to cut the rabbets for the back, bottom, and top stretchers, with the full side of the box supported on the tablesaw.


----------



## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Rip right. Cross cut left. The sled goes either way but if the cuts are longer than 24" I can use the fence as a stop and cut right. I have a Unisaw with a Uni fence. The saw tilts right so I flip the fence on the left if I tilt. It's the only aspect I don't like on the Unisaw.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


----------



## Wendel17 (Apr 20, 2009)

Grunkle Stan said:


> Question:
> 
> How does standing on one side of the blade or the other relate to avoiding kickback (or more appropriately, avoiding being HIT by kickback)???
> 
> ...


The best way to avoid being hit by kickback is to not stand behind the piece between the blade and fence. Regardless of which side you're fence is on. 

When cross cutting, the fence is usually taken off..unless I'm using a saw that the fence can be pulled back clear of the blade.


----------



## yank (Nov 15, 2006)

Dave Paine said:


> It should be. I have two Incra Mitre gauges. They come from the factory setup for right side of the blade but unscrew and the track can be moved to the other side.
> 
> I have one setup with my addition of a wood block to be a zero clearance on the right side of the blade.
> 
> I use the other on either the left or right side of the blade depending on the mitre cut and the stock.


I was not talking about the INCRA MITER GAUGE, it is the Incra FENCE that will not allow ripping on the left of the blade.


----------

