Spring Hinge Feather Board for Table Saw

[Steven Woodward]

The pressure comes from spring hinges. The hinges maintain uniform pressure over a range of 3/4 inch which allows for lots of variation in wood thickness. The spring tension on the hinges is adjustable. The hinges are D&D Technologies TruClose® Gate Hinges, Model TCA1S3RC, available from Home Depot, Amazon, and others.


The height of the fingers that press agains the wood is adjustable. This is handy for re-saw because one finger can be set at bottom of fence and the other at top of fence, to keep the board vertical against the fence.


Details and demo in this video https://youtu.be/PUPZONNRpGo

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[Warren Lake]

you are over engineering. Anyone with feel doesnt need a feather board to make that cut. But lets say there is some reason like doing 100 of them or I saw it on a you tube guru. Simple scrap feather board with cuts will do the job. Same as they have used for 100 years.

The scrap will offer kick back protection, you dont have that.

[Michael Burnside]

Wait, what? A woodworker over-engineering? I've never seen a woodworker use too much glue, too many screws, too many dominos or build too many jigs, why say it here? ;)

Cool idea Steven. Probably a better topic posted in the sub-forum "Shop Made Tools and Machines"

Cheers!

[Frederick Skelly]

I like it Steven! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Fred

[Rob Sack]

you are over engineering. Anyone with feel doesnt need a feather board to make that cut. But lets say there is some reason like doing 100 of them or I saw it on a you tube guru. Simple scrap feather board with cuts will do the job. Same as they have used for 100 years.

The scrap will offer kick back protection, you dont have that.

Well I guess I just don't have the "feel". Just don't tell any of my custom cabinetry and furniture customers over the last four decades. I have a variety of feather boards and am always looking for a better one. I recently purchased the new Harvey device at AWFS and it's the best one I have used. Any time I can find a device that improves safety and/or production, I am all in. The OP's unit, in my opinion, is terrific and I would use one in a heart beat.

[Warren Lake]

four decades is a long time to go and not have feel Rob.

It offers no kick back protection, why dont tell us how that is positive when scrap does. You talk about improving safety.

I stated the facts. You want to compliment the effort. My answer may not be warm and fuzzy but I dont care about that. I care about the craft.

[Michael Burnside]

Warren, I think it's because we simply don't agree with you or your "facts".

[Doug Garson]

It offers no kick back protection, why dont tell us how that is positive when scrap does. You talk about improved safety.
Don't agree it offers no kickback protection. Anything that helps control the workpiece and keep it firmly against the fence will reduce the chance of kickback.

[Warren Lake]

It offers no kick back protection compared to a feather board.

Its that thing compared to a feather board, not compared to nothing. Im not a trained seal so im not going to sit around clapping.

Carry on

[Michael Burnside]

Don't agree it offers no kickback protection. Anything that helps control the workpiece and keep it firmly against the fence will reduce the chance of kickback.

You're not wrong Doug. Plus the design does have some cam in the "feathers" which would assist with kickback, especially since it is locked in the miter slot. Rather than be constructive, like suggesting perhaps adding rubber to the cams, or something like that, some folks are hell bent on flexing their forum muscles and being rude.

[Doug Garson]

It offers no kick back protection compared to a feather board.

Its that thing compared to a feather board, not compared to nothing. Im not a trained seal so im not going to sit around clapping.

Carry on
If you want to say it offers less protection than a featherboard, you may be right but saying it offer no protection when compared to a featherboard is not correct. Using your logic, would you say a riving life offers no protection compared to a featherboard or would you say a featherboard offers no protection compared to a riving knife?:confused:

[Warren Lake]

I could have double checked my words to be a little more precise. Reality its its a waste of time and money compared to a feather board. Its inferior to scrap

Dont start making up based on your logic Doug. Your just wasting my time at that point.

Once the wood is past the blade as shown neither of them offer any protection.

[Tom Trees]

Those sprung hinges look just the ticket for plenty of applications on the TS to me.
Loads of travel for those rebating stuff what might have a slight taper, comes to mind.
These aren't guards.
I don't see why this would be seen as controversial, bearing in mind through resaw cuts like that seemingly being illegal across the pond.
Also worth noting (across the pond).. an overhead crown guard has seemingly also been made mandatory, for guarding a blade when tilted.

Without drifting off topic slightly, a clueless person like myself could speculate things are on the verge of the norm...
being much safer than the old days of the championed Norm. (Abrams, that is)

With riving knives becoming standard, and with the Sawstop, for the contribution of every person who's ever used a tablesaw, in discussions regarding it,
vs safe working, and so on.
The figures of reported accidents has seemingly halved in recent times, but likely too early to call yet why that might be.
Might only take one or two internet sensations to cause this.

Whatever the reason, I'd like to imagine a large majority are becoming more weary, and those who are truly so, might be doing everything by the book,
and considering everything they can to keep safe.

My take home from this, from a hobbiest reclaimed hardwood window, door etc, standpoint
(rebating cuts are necessary to cut away rock hard putty in existing grooves)
that it could prove very useful for something like in Roy Sutton's safe wood machining on YT
One of the only clips where you might see Shaw guards on a TS
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You've got to reset the whole lot for below, so perhaps those hinges might might be preferable to some.
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Big swing and adjustable tension, what's not to like?
All the best

Tom