Thread: Ripping to create thin stock on a Table Saw .....

Depends if you have a zero clearance plate around the blade I think. You loose the thin bit down the slot other wise. Specially if its short.

No 2 for sure. It's hard to get them consistent unless you have a Wixey or incra, but it's way safer. Too easy fort he in stock to jam up and kickback.

1. zero clearance throat plate and a pair of grr-rippers. the workpiece between the saw and the fence.

2. Zero clearance throat plate and an incra LS positioner fence, the workpiece on the outside of the blade away from the fence.

Option 2 for safety.
For repeatable accuracy you can use something like this Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig - Rockler Woodworking Tools . You can make one yourself with plywood. Then just use your standard tablesaw fence, moving it closer after every cut without needing to measure.

Cheers
Arron

No.2 is a better option if you can deal with a sawn face on both sides of your 4mm thick lippings, with No.2 you have the same flat edge riding on the fence for every cut, it is also possible with No. 1 if you were to plane/joint the edge every cut, but this becomes a bit of a start stop operation and a PITA if there's a lot to do, the one downside of No.2 is the the need to move the fence every cut, not insurmoutable tho with a good scale or with the Incra positioner, additionally I'd suggest gluing an additional scrap board onto the job so you can slice all of the board.
Let us know what you decide and some pics are good too



Pete

Originally Posted by Arron

Option 2 for safety.
For repeatable accuracy you can use something like this Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig - Rockler Woodworking Tools . You can make one yourself with plywood. Then just use your standard tablesaw fence, moving it closer after every cut without needing to measure.

Cheers
Arron

This requires moving the fence before every cut and unless its an Incra or Wixey or something with similar accuracy the strips are not going to be of an even thickness.

In my post above I recommended two methods and I have the gear to do both. If it was me I would use the grr-rippers and not move the fence. If you need all the pieces exactly the same thickness and dont have incra/wixey accuracy precision in positioning the fence you will need to cut them oversize and thickness them with a thickenesser and a sled or a thickness sander.

It would be best to cut them all on the same fence setting and grr-rippers will do this. If you dont have grr-rippers, improvise one by modifying a pushblock or similar with a sacrificial trailing hook to push the workpiece through the blade and keep control over the thin piece between the blade and fence.

Cheers

Doug

Originally Posted by doug3030

This requires moving the fence before every cut and unless its an Incra or Wixey or something with similar accuracy the strips are not going to be of an even thickness.

I think you misunderstood how the ripping jig works Doug. The repeatable accuracy comes from the fact that the distance between the point of the jig and the blade doesnt change. You are required to move the fence, but only to move it up against stock. There is no measuring. The whole point of it is that it avoids moving 4mm cut-offs between fence and blade.
Arron

Which ever turns you on, you will find as many experts to back you up which ever you choose. The main consideration is your own safety, if you don't feel safe don't do it. 4mm is not all that thin, it should not wave around all that much but you won't be able to use a push stick. Cut the pieces lone enough to pull them though, if you need them shorter cut them to length afterwards.
Have fun

Agree - for a newbie, no. 2 is the safest... just take care when repositioning the fence to get even strip thickness.

Originally Posted by doug3030

This requires moving the fence before every cut and unless its an Incra or Wixey or something with similar accuracy the strips are not going to be of an even thickness.

In my post above I recommended two methods and I have the gear to do both. If it was me I would use the grr-rippers and not move the fence. If you need all the pieces exactly the same thickness and dont have incra/wixey accuracy precision in positioning the fence you will need to cut them oversize and thickness them with a thickenesser and a sled or a thickness sander.

It would be best to cut them all on the same fence setting and grr-rippers will do this. If you dont have grr-rippers, improvise one by modifying a pushblock or similar with a sacrificial trailing hook to push the workpiece through the blade and keep control over the thin piece between the blade and fence.

Cheers

Doug

Don't Grr-rippers have a 1/4" side (around 6mm)? Unless you're prepared to cut into the gripper base (mine are new so I'm trying hard to preserve them!) I don't see how you could cut 4mm unless you keep all the grr-ripper on the offcut side, which wouldn't help too much if you get kickback.

I've only had mine for a month or so, so there's probably a way to do it that I don't know of though.

I liked the idea of a jig for narrow stock. I made one once from a bit of melamine with a scrap of timber screwed into the end grain. First cut goest through the scrap then the rest are exactly the right size.

Trav

Originally Posted by Trav

Don't Grr-rippers have a 1/4" side (around 6mm)? Unless you're prepared to cut into the gripper base (mine are new so I'm trying hard to preserve them!) I don't see how you could cut 4mm unless you keep all the grr-ripper on the offcut side, which wouldn't help too much if you get kickback.

They also have the optional 1/8" leg. this will handle 4mm with ease.

Without Grr-rippers? Take a block of wood, screw on a piece of ply as a trailing hook, attach a handle and use it just like a grr-ripper and cut into the block so it supports the workpiece and the offcut.

Cheers

Doug

Originally Posted by doug3030

They also have the optional 1/8" leg. this will handle 4mm with ease.

Without Grr-rippers? Take a block of wood, screw on a piece of ply as a trailing hook, attach a handle and use it just like a grr-ripper and cut into the block so it supports the workpiece and the offcut.

Cheers

Doug

Ok, that would work. Both those would work in fact.

Trav

Both ways are valid but if it were me I would offset the fence the 4mm from the blade to avoid having to adjust the fence for each cut. I would use my Grripper with the 1/8" side.

One thing to consider however is how long the 4mm strips need to be. If they are fairly long I would perhaps reconsider which option to go with. Depending on the length required you may be able to rip one long length of 4mm that can be further cut to length to suit your project. This way you can cut the 4mm as the off cut side of the table saw and avoid having to move the fence (if you can get enough edging from one strip).

Whatever you do just make sure you feel comfortable and safe.

If you want to go the way of the jig and moving the fence each time, here's a link to a free plan and a lot of good device, including fence alignment and zero clearance throat plate. It even helps you orient the grain to get the best appearance in the grain on the strips.

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/downloa...rippingjig.pdf

Well worth a look even if you choose another method to actually make the cut.

Cheers


Doug