We had two close calls with table-saw kickback last month, and I want to reset our habits before the holiday rush. Meet me at the saw at 6:10 pm for a 20-minute walkthrough on push-stick use, stance, and riving-knife checks; if you can’t make it, reply with a time this week and I’ll schedule a second session.
I’ll be there at 6:10; last week a narrow maple rip calmed down when I swapped to a short aux fence and put the riving knife back in. I Sharpie a line on the fence at the blade — “push stick before push luck” — so my hands never cross it; if the knife’s out for dados, a zero-clearance insert with a splitter is my fallback.
On a gym build we caught a bad layout by running a quick pre‑pour check: center‑to‑center, projection, and “nut + two threads” on every rod with a photo to prove it. Just re-check after the first snug‑down and before grout — washers can hide a short stick‑out. Measure it like a dovetail: once the mud sets, you’re married to it.