How to Avoid Kickback and Upgrade to a Spiral Cutterhead

In any woodworking environment, especially when using planers or jointers, kickback remains one of the most dangerous and unexpected hazards. A sudden ejection of your workpiece can lead to severe injury, costly material waste, or damage to your equipment. As a woodworking professional, it's critical to understand what causes kickback, how to prevent it, and why investing in a spiral cutterhead can improve both safety and cutting performance.

What Is Kickback in Woodworking Planers?

Kickback in a thickness planer refers to the abrupt and forceful expulsion of a workpiece, often backward toward the operator. It typically occurs when the feed system fails to maintain a smooth, even feed. While kickback is often associated with table saws, it is a real risk with planers and jointers as well.

Unlike table saws, where kickbacks typically result from binding between the blade and fence, in planers, kickback usually results from:

• Poor stock preparation

• Overfeeding

• Dull or damaged knives

• Malfunctioning feed rollers

• Inadequate infeed or outfeed support

Common Causes of Kickback in Planers:

1. Warped or Twisted Lumber
Boards with cupping, bows, or twists do not sit evenly on the planer bed. The rollers and cutterhead can catch uneven surfaces, causing a sudden snatch.

2. Forcing the Feed
Pushing a board into the planer manually instead of letting the feed rollers do the work can overload the cutterhead and trigger kickback.

3. Dull Planer Blades
Worn knives tear instead of shear, which increases cutting resistance and irregular engagement with the workpiece.

4. Dirty or Loose Feed Rollers
Rollers that are dirty or lose grip mid-feed can allow a board to stall, creating kickback conditions.

5. Poor Infeed/Outfeed Support
A board lacking proper support can tilt during entry or exit, affecting its angle against the cutterhead and increasing kickback risk.

How to Prevent Kickback: Pro Tips for Woodworkers

Safety starts with preparation and proper technique. Here are best practices to help prevent kickback:

• ✅ Inspect your stock: Avoid cupped, bowed, or twisted boards. Remove any foreign objects such as nails or staples.

• ✅ Let the machine feed the board: Avoid manually pushing it into the planer.

• ✅ Keep blades and rollers clean and sharp: This ensures smooth, uninterrupted cutting.

• ✅ Provide proper support: Use infeed and outfeed stands to keep the board level.

• ✅ Stay out of the line of fire: Always stand to the side of the workpiece during operation

Why Upgrade to a Spiral Cutterhead?

If you're serious about reducing kickback risk, improving surface finish, and extending blade life, upgrading to a spiral cutterhead is a smart move.

What’s a Spiral Cutterhead?

Unlike traditional straight knife cutterheads, spiral cutterheads use rows of small, square carbide inserts arranged in a helical pattern. Each insert slices the wood with a shearing action rather than a chopping motion.

Key Benefits of Spiral Cutterheads:

🎤 Quieter Operation: Reduced cutting noise improves comfort in small workshops.

🌟 Superior Surface Finish: Cleaner cuts, especially on figured or hardwood grain, with minimal tear-out.

🔒 Increased Safety: Since the inserts engage the wood more gradually and evenly, they reduce the aggressive grabbing action that often leads to kickback.

Here’s why:

• Shearing Action: The angled carbide inserts slice the wood cleanly rather than chopping, creating smoother cuts with less resistance. This reduces the chance of the wood being forcefully ejected.

• Smaller Bite per Insert: Multiple inserts make contact gradually, which distributes the cutting force and makes sudden kickback less likely than with straight knives.

• Consistent Cutting: Spiral heads maintain sharpness longer and produce fewer tear-outs—reducing the chance of the blade catching unexpectedly.

A spiral cutterhead can significantly help reduce the risk of kickback, though it doesn’t eliminate it entirely. Kickback can still happen due to improper feeding, worn parts, or unsafe techniques. Spiral cutterheads enhance both safety and performance, but they’re most effective when combined with good shop practices.

Final Thoughts

Kickback is a preventable hazard in planer and jointer operations. With attention to stock quality, feed speed, blade condition, and infeed/outfeed support, you can mitigate most risks. For professionals and serious hobbyists alike, upgrading to a spiral cutterhead for your planer or jointer adds an essential layer of safety, efficiency, and quality to your shop setup.

At Sheartak Tools, we specialize in premium spiral cutterheads engineered for precision and safety.

Make the switch. Upgrade your equipment. Work smarter and safer.

READY TO UPGRADE? SEE SHEARTAK'S WIDE COLLECTION OF SPIRAL CUTTERHEADS HERE.

Images of kickback were taken from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmM-eCH7Jso
Watch BenDoesStuff's amazing video to better visualize kickback.