Thread: Tablesaw Feeding

Sorry if that was a bit blunt Redwood, your point is taken that you're not specifcally recommending your way to people.

The guard gives a level of psychological separation from the blade. This has both positive and negative points:

Good - it makes the user less afraid of the tool allowign them to concentrate on what they're doing.

Bad - It can create false confidence that the guard is going to protect them from every risk.

It surprises me that no one has redesigned the a tabel saw with integral push blocks, feather boards etc running in slots. Surely there is a way to provide force to a board in a certain direction without directly using your hands.....

Surely there is a way to provide force to a board in a certain direction without directly using your hands.

Yes, it's called a power feeder.

I disagree that guards are always dangerous. I agree that they can make certain tasks more dangerous though - particularly in the case you mention where someone attempts to use a push stick that wont fit between the fence and the guard.

The best way of cutting thin strips is to cut them from a much wider board. You set the fence so that the strip you want is the offcut, allowing you plenty of room between the fence and the blade. This is not always possible though.

In that situation, I have a push stick that is 10mm thick and about 90mm x 250mm in size with a notch cut out of the bottom creating a hook about 5mm deep and 25mm long. I remove the guard, wind the blade down low and fit a zero clearance insert with a splitter attached. The push stick sits over whatever you are ripping, allowing you to hold it down and against the fence and the hook allows you to push the stock through.

Originally Posted by LineLefty

It surprises me that no one has redesigned the a tabel saw with integral push blocks, feather boards etc running in slots. Surely there is a way to provide force to a board in a certain direction without directly using your hands.....

Adam I hate to give you the same old crap argument but I use it anyway.

“Statistically you are more likely to be hurt by sitting in a car then using a tablesaw”

Originally Posted by silentC

Yes, it's called a power feeder.


The best way of cutting thin strips is to cut them from a much wider board. You set the fence so that the strip you want is the offcut, allowing you plenty of room between the fence and the blade. This is not always possible though.
In that situation, I have a push stick that is 10mm thick and about 90mm x 250mm in size with a notch cut out of the bottom creating a hook about 5mm deep and 25mm long. I remove the guard, wind the blade down low and fit a zero clearance insert with a splitter attached. The push stick sits over whatever you are ripping, allowing you to hold it down and against the fence and the hook allows you to push the stock through.

Silent i dont have an opinion on saw saftey, but ill tell you about my little way of ripping strips.

I have a board thats 125 wide (marine ply) with an end (similar to a breadboard end) that i screw on, overhanging 5 or so mill. I set the fence at 125 + the strip thickness. Then i place the board to be ripped againsed it and safley push it through. My hands are 125mm away from the blade, and when the strip is cut i just repeat, repeat and repeat. All the strips are the same thickness, fence dosnt have to be moved and no hand is nearer than125 from the blade

Originally Posted by Lignum

Silent i dont have an opinion on saw saftey, but ill tell you about my little way of ripping strips.

I have a board thats 125 wide (marine ply) with an end (similar to a breadboard end) that i screw on, overhanging 5 or so mill. I set the fence at 125 + the strip thickness. Then i place the board to be ripped againsed it and safley push it through. My hands are 125mm away from the blade, and when the strip is cut i just repeat, repeat and repeat. All the strips are the same thickness, fence dosnt have to be moved and no hand is nearer than125 from the blade

Good idea. One to file away for the next time I'm ripping ultra thin strips.

Originally Posted by Wongo

Eastie,

Good reply. I would like to add one more.

Men who got balls are more willing to take risk.

Man who's had balls flattened by kick back becomes very risk averse

Originally Posted by Lignum

Silent i dont have an opinion on saw saftey, but ill tell you about my little way of ripping strips.

I have a board thats 125 wide (marine ply) with an end (similar to a breadboard end) that i screw on, overhanging 5 or so mill. I set the fence at 125 + the strip thickness. Then i place the board to be ripped againsed it and safley push it through. My hands are 125mm away from the blade, and when the strip is cut i just repeat, repeat and repeat. All the strips are the same thickness, fence dosnt have to be moved and no hand is nearer than125 from the blade

Nice one Lignum, duly noted and filed!

Rats! I was going to send a Greenie, but have to do some manure spreading first :eek:

Originally Posted by Auld Bassoon

Nice one Lignum, duly noted and filed!

Rats! I was going to send a Greenie, but have to do some manure spreading first :eek:

Love to take credit but carnt I read it in the tips section of FFW about ten years ago and it stuck in my mind. the best part is you can repeat even 1 or 2mm strips constantly with accurate ease

I tend to go with your scenario one- as you can apply pressure on stock to the fence- I always look at the fence and the timber in relation to the fence when feedin through. Use a push pad or stick if you feel uncomfortable getting your hands too close and make sure your blade has a guard and riving knife. A sliding table negates having to push stock.
Be comfortable in your stance and go slowly. If you are unhappy about anything, don't do it- it is probably wrong for you.
By feeding sheet material as per scenario 1, you can comfortably cut a 8x4 sheet on your own.
cheers rosethorn

Originally Posted by Lignum

Love to take credit but carnt I read it in the tips section of FFW about ten years ago and it stuck in my mind. the best part is you can repeat even 1 or 2mm strips constantly with accurate ease

Yes, I've seen that tip somewhere before - maybe in a book I've got. Haven't had the need to cut lots of thin strips yet but will keep it in mind for when I do.

Hi there,
I know we started talking about the feeding operation, so we're slightly hijacking it onto guards!
I understand what Redwood's saying regarding guards, but I still wouldn't remove one permanently. If anything, they give the impression you could fall onto the machine and not get cut in half! My small saw at home is a Durden Junior Joiner, with a guard that rises in a slot on the riving knife...not satisfactory, as its not always easy to get to rise when you push the timber through. This means you have to take one hand off the timber and pull the guard up, and obviously expose yourself to the blade. The sliding table saw at work I fitted with an expensive aftermarket guard, with built in dust extraction. Its mounted well off-board, so no problems fitting sheet material through. But the actual perspex guard thing is supposed to move up and down through levers and counterweights when timber enters, but not always easily, esp. if only one side of it is contacted by the workpiece (ie. when taking a small offcut). If the fence is to be pushed close to the blade, you have to raise the guard up by hand and drop it onto the fence, thereby rendering the guard useless as most of the blade is exposed!:confused: I think there is lots of opportunity to develop one that really does what its meant too.

Just one thing though:

Originally Posted by redwood

Sam Maloof cutting freehand on a bandsaw

Surely you mean freehanding through a tablesaw being risky, as bandsaws come into their own when freehand cutting of curves! I think I might have tried a freehand cut once on a tablesaw when I first set out on this journey, and never again! Its one of those things that as soon as you start you wish you hadn't, but no way to stop...impossible to take one hand off the work and blindly reach for the stop button. Knee buttons should be fitted on all machines, but they can get knocked accidentally.

Cheers,

Surely you mean freehanding through a tablesaw being risky, as bandsaws come into their own when freehand cutting of curves!

I had the idea that he was cutting with the item up off the table for some reason. There was a remark about him having broken his hand when the blade grabbed the wood and slammed it down into the table. Maybe I have that wrong but that's the mental picture I have.

I have a Taunton DVD of Sam Maloof - well worth a look. The joints for the leg-seat are masterful.
This man's fliuidity of motion when cutting on the bandsaw and tablesaw is both alarming and inspiring at the same time. He draws chinagraph lines on the workpiece, and goes for it freeform on the bandsaw. The workpiece is sometimes suspended by it's end, a foot or more away from the blade, with 2-3" of air under the piece at the blade. Sort of carving with the blade.
The 12" tablesaw has no guard or dust extraction (I think). He ripped 5 pieces of walnut for the seat of a rocker in seconds. No push sticks for this bloke, mate. Reaching over the blade and all, standing behind - astonishing. He makes 60-70 pieces a year. BTW his rockers change hands for over $US150K. Bloody amazing woodworker, quick, efficient, but I couldnt make myself do it quite like that.

I forgot - check these out Lefty - they may answer all of your worries about ripping. I really like using them, they feel really safe and secure.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...080,51225&ap=1