Anti-Kickback Safety Rollers and featherboards

[Dell Moore]

Anyone ever use these? I've seen them once, and have been thinking about using them. However, I have yet to actually SEE these on a working tablesaw. Does anyone use these? Do you like them? Do the interfere with you push stick?

Also, has anyone used a featherboard on the outfeed table of a jointer? SEEMS like a good idea, but again, never actually seen it.

Thanks for the feedback!

Dell

[Larry Browning]

Are you talking about board buddies?

[Carlos Alden]

Dell:

I've got board buddies, anti-kickback rollers. Here is a picture:

http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/26011-md.jpg

I have never had a table saw accident of any kind. I use the guard and splitter, and generally feel comfortable with power tools. I think about what I'm doing before I do it, and consider my brain the most important safety feature I have, but I like the added security of the board buddies. Not only are they anti-kickback but they also hold the workpiece down.

Can't use them easily with thin pieces.

Carlos

[Bruce Page]

I put some BB on my TS. Didn’t like ‘em & don’t use ‘em. I keep my TS highly tuned and I have never had a kick back. From what I have read and the few videos that I have seen, a kickback is a fast & violent occurrence. I personally do not believe that the BB’s are up to the task. YMMV

[Dell Moore]

I've had a couple bad experiences with kickback, so I've been doing TONS of research. These rollers came up as part of it. I'm going to do my best to tune my saws and add splitters, and I think that will take care of my problems.

Thanks guys!

Dell

[Glen Gunderson]

I put some BB on my TS. Didn’t like ‘em & don’t use ‘em. I keep my TS highly tuned and I have never had a kick back. From what I have read and the few videos that I have seen, a kickback is a fast & violent occurrence. I personally do not believe that the BB’s are up to the task. YMMV

They're not there to stop the wood once it's been propelled by the blade, as there's very little that could stop it once it has that kind of momentum. The purpose of anti kickback rollers is to keep the wood tight against the fence and moving forward so it can't twist into the blade and get thrown.

Kickback is caused by a fairly gentle motion (a piece of wood wandering from the fence and into the blade) turning into a violent one (the wood riding up the saw blade and being thrown towards the operator). All a device needs to do is prevent the former and it will also prevent the latter. Because of that, they don't need to all that sturdy, as long as they can do their job.

Personally, I just use a well aligned splitter and I'm satisfied with with the safety but anti kickback rollers can be very valuable for both safety and the quality of the cut, especially with important cuts that must be kept perfectly straight such as rip miters.

[Bruce Page]

Granted, they pull the board into the fence but they also rotate only in the feed direction. If that feature is not intended to prevent a board from coming back at you then why is it there? All it does in my mind is give a false sense of protection from a kickback.

I’ll stick with feather boards to keep the work piece from wandering away from the fence.

[Les Spencer]

When I first saw the http://www.microjig.com/GRR-Ripper.htm being demo'd, I thought it was a overpriced push stick. Went back and watched again. Bought one and now use it, and another one I bought later, on nearly every cut. Makes cutting much safer. Especially when used with their splitter.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I use feather boards all the time, but have never used the rollers. I could see them being more useful on a router table than a table saw, though.

Doc

[Dan Forman]

I have the rollers, they can get in the way of things, and I generally only use them when ripping large pieces of sheet goods. This is where they really shine; for those of us who don't do this every day, it can be hard to keep a larger sheet against the fence when there is no place for a feather board.

Dan

[Glen Blanchard]

Granted, they pull the board into the fence but they also rotate only in the feed direction. If that feature is not intended to prevent a board from coming back at you then why is it there? All it does in my mind is give a false sense of protection from a kickback.

I’ll stick with feather boards to keep the work piece from wandering away from the fence.

Well I may be wrong here but I'll throw in my $.02 anyway. The uni-direction rolling action of the board buddies will prevent a board from sliding back to the operator. However, this is not typically the violent kickback that we all fear. If the board is sufficiently engaged by the teeth of the saw at the rear (where they move upwards) it will bring the board off the table and hurl it towards the operator. The uni-directional feature of the rollers would not even enter into the equation as a preventive device as the board is no longer flat on the saw table.

[Lee Schierer]

Personally I prefer the magnetic feather boards made by Grip Tite. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/raisedpanel2.jpg
I have them on my saw and use them all the time. They literally go on and off the table in 2 seconds.

I've not used the rollers, but it apperas that they could be a pain to adjust for different thicknesses of stock being ripped. With the magnetic feather boards there is no adjustment for stock thickness. You just stick them on the table against the board and do the cut.

The best device is one that you will use. If the roller arrangement or feather board is a pain to set up or hard to work around, it will soon be collecting dust somewhere other than on the saw.

Lee

[Brian Smith3]

I use board buddies and I like them a lot. I usually only use one toward the rear of the saw just to keep the stock flat against the back of the fence. I find that it is very helpful to have a second "hand" holding the stock at the end of the table up against the fence, especially if I'm using a push stick.

The one way direction is so that the stock won't "float". This way you can start a cut, walk around to the back of the saw and pull it through. Not that I do that, but you could. And if you are using a push stick it makes things easier. Board Buddies will NOT replace a splitter or riving knife, but I find my cuts are easier, more consistent, and I feel more comfortable using them.