Hello Kurt,

Here is what happens when you reach behind the blade to finish out a cut and the board kicks back: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=c8dd1898041379be5b2f2841c4d4a52e&sid=8IcuXLJs3aMiK Sorry for the poor quality picture. If you could have seen the thumbnail side, they actually drilled holes through the thumbnail and sewed the stitches through it.

This was totally my fault. All safety gear in place except the blade guard which would not fit with the thin cut I was making. I had feather boards in place top and side. I was using a push stick but at the end of the cut it was binding and rather than stop cutting I figured I'd reach back behind the blade and help push the board. Stupidity takes seconds and lasts a lifetime.

Anyway, this isn't to harp on safety. I hate most blade guards. I think they get in the way and block the view of the cut. The Ridgid portable contractor's saw has a wonderful setup where you flip one lever and the blade guard or riving knife come off. Same lever flips and it locks back on. Very wonderfully designed saw. The saw folds up with one flip of a lever, and unfolds just as easily. The rip fence isn't the greatest on the market but is very good for a portable saw- even better than many stationary saws I have seen. It is a direct drive, but it rips through the thickest stuff with ease as long as I have the proper blade. Most of my cuts are ripping strips or dimensioning large stock lengthwise. I also use it for dadoes. Very high praises for that saw. The top is aluminum so it doesn't rust, but also you can't use magnetic accessories which kind of sucks. I keep it stored outside on the porch where it very often gets rained on even though the porch is covered. The wind blows the rain in sideways. The legs are coated with what looks like jet-hot coating that they put on headders for lack of better description. They are ferrous metal and after a couple of years of salt air and rain there are some tiny brown streaks showing through but no major rust on the legs.

I am soon going to get a zero clearance throat plate with one of those thin-kerf riving knives built in- the one that is just a little semi-circle that fits in two holes drilled in the throat plate. Love those.