What causes kickback?

[crbell1971]

My mom got me a scroll saw for a housewarming gift...so I have my rocking horse all planned out...drawn...and pieces cut down ready to cut on scroll saw....I decide I should experiment with a scrap wood...(good idea)....but shortly after starting to cut...maybe 1" in...it kinda kicks back...any ideas... I haven't used wood working tools like scroll saw since High School (40 now )

[BobD (Archive)]

Do you mean the bounces upward? Often, that's a result of reverse-tooth blades. The teeth on the bottom of the reverse-tooth blades point upward; they're meant to clean up any rough edges on the bottom. It's a common concern. To reduce the chatter, as it's called, hold the wood firmly against the table.

How thick is the wood you're cutting?

Best Regards,
Bob Duncan
Technical Editor

[handibunny]

First thing to check is whether the blade is in upside down, with the teeth pointing up instead of down. Next, whether the bottom of the wood is flat, since irregularities can cause the wood to jump. Then, as Bob said, hold the wood down firmly, close to the blade. Holding the wood far from the blade will not control it adequately.

Kick-back is usually a problem only for tools that have a rotating blade, like a table or radial arm saw, or a router. It can result in wood being hurled across the room at an alarming speed, and can cause great damage. Tools where the blade does not rotate, like the scroll saw or band saw, can't cause that kind of motion, but since the scroll saw blade does go up and down, the wood can jump quite a bit.

[BobD (Archive)]

Thanks Carole, never thought of the blade being upside down! I've done that more than once, especially when using FD 2-way cut blades.

Bob

[Wood Dog]

Welcome to the forum Crbell1971, you've gotten some excellent information from Bob, and Carole. Kickbacks, as Carole mentioned usually happens on those saws, and for a visual you may want to view this video......How to Avoid a Table Saw Kickback (captioned) - YouTube
Come by often for more questions, anything you want to share with us would be great too.
Sharing info, project photos, and just having good healthy banter between members is lots of fun. Would love to see your rocking horse when you "get er done" as they say.

[Carl E Jacobs]

Just A Guess

Unless it is a miniture horse ,I suspect your talking about 1 1/2 " stock probably
material with a high resin content,if so you can expect a lot of kick back , largest blade {smallest #of teeth per " } and it will still want to grab.Rocking
horses really need to be cut either with jig saw or band saws due to thier thickness. just a guess bassed only on the term ROCKING HORSE ,the lack
of power in a scrollsaw to handle a blade able to cut that heavy a load .

hope this helps!
my very best !
Carl

[3_M]

The reason for kick back is that you do not have enough speed. The blade grabs the wood instead of cutting it.
Have good tnesision good speed and push very slow into the blade. Let the blade do the cutting they say. You never can be in a hurry.
FD Mike