Jessum Stock Guides

[Ed Gibbons]

Anyone have them and are they worth the money? They appear to add an added safety dimension.

[Jacob Mac]

I've used them, but do not own them. IMO, they are a worthy addition. I just need to save up my pennies.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I have them and although they are right there and easy to use I do not engage them very often. Two reasons. One: The front guide is easy to set for board thickness, but the trailing one requires taking the same board and going behind the blade and fitting it. That is solved if on remembers to set them for thickness before setting the fence. But still a real pain for large pieces of say, plywood. That, or you have to lower the blade. Not a deal breaker but annoying. Two: and this is really a safety problem, when using the guides and removing less than 2 inches there is minimal room for a push stick between the fence and the blade. I made a long narrow push stick just for this problem.
So the guides work best when ripping off several inches on boards and sheets, but narrow ripping not so well.
That said I also have the guides for the router fence and they are a great investment. Both are very well made, and will last forever.

[Mark Carlson]

I have the guides for the router and tablesaw. I agree with what Bernie said. You need to set the guide height before setting fence or you need a cutoff of the same height. It can be a pain. Narrow cuts do get in the way of using a push stick. The guides are very well made and work well at keeping stock against the fence.

[Nick Decker]

I have the table saw version, and agree about the narrow ripping problem. It can be done with a narrow push stick, but you also have the problem of them interfering with the blade guard on a really narrow cut. Also a good idea to wipe the wheels down with rubbing alcohol occasionally; sawdust can make them slippery, just like some push blocks.

That said, I'd buy them again without hesitation.

[Ben Rivel]

I have them on both my table saw and router table and love them! They work great!

[Philip Glover]

I have these on my router table and use them all the time.
They improve both safety and quality. I would not be without them now.

Regards,
Phil

[Izzy Camire]

I have them on my saw and what has been said about setting them before the fence is set is true. With that said I like them and feel safer and I feel the cut is better for using them. I would buy them again.

[Stan Calow]

I use them on the router table. Much easier to use than fingerboards.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I recently got a set and they are great. I wish I had gotten them long ago. They are very well made, and work exactly as they should. I remember wavering on spending so much, and then when I opened the box and saw how well they are made, I said, "Aha- no wonder these aren't cheap!"

[Matthew Hills]

For the folks who like them, what do you use as a push stick?
(and do you use these with a splitter?)

Matt

[mark mcfarlane]

I use the router table version and they work very well. You need to keep an allen wrench handy to tighten them down, hand tight on those small knurled metal knobs won't hold for very long.

[Rick Potter]

I have both types. Love the router version on my router table. I like the table saw version, but don't use it as much. I do use it with a riving knife, and sometimes use a long dowel to shove thin cuts through. You don't need a real push stick that holds the wood down, the guides do that.

My favorite use for both types is processing multiples of cabinet rails and stiles. You just use the next one to push the work through, and they work wonderfully on both router table and TS.

I like to make a bunch of rail and stile blanks about 1/4" too wide, let them acclimate a few days, and get the tension out, then joint one side, followed by cutting to final width as mentioned above.

[Ed Gibbons]

For the folks who like them, what do you use as a push stick?
(and do you use these with a splitter?)

Matt

I have the same questions.

[Mark Carlson]

I use it with a blade guard and splitter. I have a bunch of push sticks I use generally depending on the cut and the size of the board. I still use these. On narrow cuts, I position my guides so I can start using a push stick after the infeed guide and before the outfeed guide. It really depends because every cut is different. If a cut gets too narrow I remove my guard and dont use the guides.

[Nick Decker]

For the folks who like them, what do you use as a push stick?
(and do you use these with a splitter?)

Matt

Similar to what Rick Potter posted, I use a long skinny piece of ash to push the stock through. The guides are pushing the stock down and toward the fence, so you just need something to move it forward. The push stick needs to be thinner than the stock, because it sometimes needs to pass under the guide wheels.

I use the riving knife, but sometimes have to remove the blade guard for really narrow stock.

I recall watching some Jessem videos that (I think) demonstrated how to handle narrow stock. It's a little nerve wracking at first, simply because you're used to having to apply downward/sideways pressure with a normal pusher.

[Ben Rivel]

I use the blade guard with the splitter or the riving knife if not ALWAYS. I just keep around a few different style push sticks to work around the Jessum Stock Guides when needed. Its pretty simple.

[David Utterback]

Are these any more effective than the "Board Buddies" that I have used in the past? Thanks

[Bernie Kopfer]

I had the Board Buddies years ago and they have similar problems as the Jessem guides but stuck out from the fence much further. Again great for plywood and wide ripping, but if I remember correctly hard to get out of the way unlike the Jessem.
I have a aftermarket splitter/riving knife on a Powermatic 66. That is the good safety device to minimize kickback and keep a board against the fence too. The Jessem Guides are good but overpriced in my opinion.

[Ed Gibbons]

Bernie, what after market splitter/riving knife did you get?

[tom lucas]

I have the router table ones. On the tablesaw I use Grrrrippers for small/narrow stuff, and sometimes use with Jessem featherboards for long, accurate ripping. I love all three of these tools. My buddy has the table saw guides. He likes them with the same complaints that others have mentioned. I think what I do is more versatile and safer, especially for small pieces. Grrrrippers are expensive, but worth it once you've used them for a while.

[Darrell Bade]

I have them on my router table and don't care for them. Very little variation in the thickness makes the wood very hard to feed. Excellent concept, if they was spring loaded they would be perfect.

[Dan Rude]

I think they are great for ripping. I usually have scrap the same thickness to set them up, so that is not an issue with me. I haven't set them up on the router table yet though. Wish I had seen Dave Stanton's install using Magswitches, to make them removable. Dan

[Bernie Kopfer]

Bernie, what after market splitter/riving knife did you get?
The brand is Shark Guard. Works much better than nothing! I was able to adjust it for my blade dead on. Not too hard to remove. Comes with a guard that I do/will not use.

[Ed Gibbons]

The brand is Shark Guard. Works much better than nothing! I was able to adjust it for my blade dead on. Not too hard to remove. Comes with a guard that I do/will not use.


Thank you.