Thread: GMC pushstick warning.

The pix was a bit of a shocker.

I was concerned enough to go up to the shed and get mine which looks similar but not quite the same and examined it. It has 3 finger sized holes at the head, same along the shaft and 1 at the end, written on it is "Made in Taiwan" and the brand appears to be "CE".

Mine appears to be slightly flexible when bent sideways but rigid when used as a pusher. I was concerned enough to tap it on the floor - dull sound rather than "ting" which, to me, would indicate some sort of brittleness. Just to be sure I dropped it a few times [from head height] at different angles on the floor but it did not even look like shattering - it bounced a little but no problem - didn't even mark it. I got mine from Carbatec in Brisbane when I bought my table saw.

Is yours marked with a name?

I share your concern as the thought of a blade hitting it and the shrapnel flying is bad enough but considering where your hand could end up is scarey.

Regards,
Bob

CE refers to a European standard. It is not a brand name.

Caution. A lot of stuff coming out of China has CE marked on it but in a slightly different style. It stands for China Export. What next.

Originally Posted by mat

CE refers to a European standard. It is not a brand name.

Thanks Matt, I am aware of the European standards mark but all items I have with that mark use a capital C and a capital C with a dash in the middle to form the E. They appear to be a trademarked logo. My suggestion as to a brand was that the CE bit appears on the handle as a large normally printed CE. It could of course be the Taiwanese version of the European standards mark

Just found DavidG's post - I was not aware of this one - but would Taiwan be using this? Don't know - I do know that I'm really pleased that mine is not the same as bjp1968's - unfortunately, I will no doubt be reminded of his when I next use mine.

G'day.
Sooo..... What is the problem?

It hit the floor and broke.
Big Deal... Did you expect it to last a liftime...

Thanks for this Thread,
I have 3 of these.All have ABS on them.
So the bin looks good to me.
Maybe best to make our own out of wood?

Thanks guys You may have saved my hand or fingers

I'm with Trevor.

Use them till they break and THEN throw them away.

I think the point he is trying to make is that a pushstick should be cut into if it hits the blade not run the risk of shattering and hence risking the pushing hand to contact the blade.

A push stick should not be made from a brittle material.

I've used my gmc thicknesser push stick for years on my sawbench, its never shattered or split when its hit the blade

If your blade is shattering ABS plastic (rather than cutting it) then I think you need to get your blade sharpened.

They do shatter, I know this from experience. If it touches the back of the blade, then a tooth will grab it and fling it back at you very, very fast. If you're holding it tightly, it will shatter, trust me on this.

Push sticks can actually be dangerous in some situations. There are cases of people having them driven back into their hands and through the wrist. I think I'd prefer it to shatter than have that happen. I had a sore palm for a couple of weeks.

The moral of the story is, don't let the thing touch the blade. I was tired and not paying attention. I should not have been using the saw at all. I think it's OK to let a push shoe get cut by the blade, because it is held firmly down on the table. I wouldn't do that with a push stick.

Originally Posted by silentC

They do shatter, I know this from experience. If it touches the back of the blade, then a tooth will grab it and fling it back at you very, very fast. If you're holding it tightly, it will shatter, trust me on this.

I agree, but the same can happen to a wooden push stick (I've had a similar experience with a wooden push stick). But contact with the back of the blade (with those consequences) is from my experience rare (as I said it's happened to me once in nearly 20 years of hobby woodworking) and is just as likely to happen to a wooden push stick as it will with a plastic one.

I think the risk is ever present and not just when using a GMC push stick - so if you don't want them, send them to me. ... come to think of it, I don't really want them, I actually think they are too short to be safe anyway.

Yes it's not a danger inherent in plastic push sticks, it applies to wooden ones too.

The incident I read about was using a wooden push stick. The guy let it touch the back of the blade, the handle snapped in half along the grain and the bottom half was speared back into his palm and into his wrist. Nasty.

My incident involved a dado blade. I was using a Triton push stick to hold the back of the item down as I passed it over the blade. As the item left the back of the blade, I lifted it away from the table but didn't watch what I was doing with the push stick - it dropped a touch as I picked up the item and just tipped the edge of the blade. There was a loud bang and bits of plastic went everywhere. I looked at my hand and there was a red welt in the centre of the palm. Scared the shyte out of me. I threw the bloody thing in the bin and went and had a beer.

I didn't replace the push stick, I use a thing called a push card now - a rectangular bit of ply with a 5mm notch at the base. It sits flat on the work piece and the notch rides against the back of it, allowing you to push it through.

Originally Posted by silentC

I didn't replace the push stick, I use a thing called a push card now - a rectangular bit of ply with a 5mm notch at the base. It sits flat on the work piece and the notch rides against the back of it, allowing you to push it through.

That sounds like an interesting idea. Where abouts is the notch, towards the leading edge or towards the back?
Do you have a pic?