Risky business

[Steve Jenkins]

I know that there are people of all skill and experience levels here and things I or some others may do might draw a response of "you should NEVER do that" yet for us it is a reasonable operation based on experience and the precautiones taken.

I've been playing with guide rails for my router and circular saw and how they can be used to make these operations safer for the operator and would like some input.

If there is anyhone who doesn't know what a Guide rail is it is simply an aluminum extrusion that is designed to act as a straight-edge/guide for the tool. It will also help prevent chipping of the cut surface by applying downward pressure exactly at the cut line. There are several of them on the market and for years carpenters have been making "shoot-boards" that work similarly.

I don’t want to rekindle a debate between different brands of rails but rather look at an operation and see if a rail can be used to make it safer/easier.

I’m looking at various woodworking operations that may be considered dangerous or risky and seeing how a guide rail system might make them safe. Basically by keeping the wood stationary and moving a tool along the rail.



One example I thought of right off was making a plunge-cut on the table saw. Something some of us do while still remaining in our comfort zone but others may look at with horror.
With the stock unmoving on a support table and a guide rail placed on the cut-line with stops on the rail it suddenly becomes an operation that is quite safe by anyone’s standards. The same for long tapers.

Another might be face jointing without using a jointer. This is a subject that comes up fairly frequently and is usually addressed by making a “bridge” to span the work and moving a router with a bottom cleaning bit back and forth while sliding along the “bridge”. What about using two rails as guides and a router base designed to fit them and act as the bridge over the stock.

Of course edge jointing is extremely simple by just using the rail and saw as you normally would.

So, any others you can think of? I'm looking for input from y'all.

Again, Let's not get into a “grand debate” between systems.

[Jim Becker]

Just as a true sliding table saw can change the way you work, today's excellent guide rail systems can definitely provide alternative ways to do many things, either more efficiently, more portably or more safely. I'm only starting to think about the ways that I'll use my own guided system, but clearly processing of sheet goods, dado work on long components and yes, some of the "plunge" operations that I would not think of doing on the TS will likely leverage new methodology. Of course, hand tools are playing more roles in my shop, too, for the very same reasons.

[Scott Parks]

The first thing that comes to my mind is using one with a CS for sizing large sheet goods instead of running through the table saw.

Second, I built a jig that I could put long panels in (such as carcass sides) to crosscut them square with circular saw to length, or route dadoes. This way I don't have to maneuver a long peices through the tablesaw. I even use this method for cutting alll rough lumber to a rough length first, because I dont own a CMS. This makes it easier for me to true up the smaller peices on the TS.

So to sum this up, I feel safer using the guided method for large peices.

A negative to the guided saw/router method for ME is dust collection. :( I don't have the Festool system (yet). So I try to use the circular saw and handheld router as little as possible because of the mess they make. I only use those tools outside. But if I had the Festool system, I'm sure it would get used A LOT in my garage!:D

Disclaimer, this is all IMHO. Hope this is what you had in mind for response ...