Dave Norris
04-29-2008, 3:10 PM
Hi,
I posted under this same title about a week ago, asking for any tips about using a power feeder on the table saw.
For some quick background, let me say that I really do not like using the table saw. Right or wrong, I perceive it as the piece of equipment I have that I am most likely to get hurt on, either by kickback or by my hand going into the blade. I use push sticks, and my biggest fear is the stick slipping off the board and my hand flinging into the blade. I use Board Buddies and featherboards too. I’m especially careful when using the TS, and I usually end up breaking into a nervous sweat shortly after turning it on.
So, looking at ripping about 600 feet of oak for my current project pretty much made me want to “soil my armor” as Monty Python folks would say. But anyway, yesterday I got down to it, and after spending a couple minutes looking at the stack of wood, the TS, and the powerfeeder on the shaper, I decided to forgo the feeder, be a man, and tough out just ripping the boards. I put my handy-dandy Harbor Freight roller stand on the out feed and went at it. The first two boards went fine. On the third board, the HF roller stand folded up like a cheap church chair, and the board tipped off the end of the table. So… more looking at the TS, the wood and the powerfeeder. A little fussing and fighting, and about 20 minutes later, the Grizzly ¼ hp feeder was mounted on the TS.
A little more fussing, and it was aligned, and ready to take on the mountain of wood. Part way through recutting board #3, the feeder started to abruptly creep toward the blade. Crud!! I hadn’t completely cinched the feeder base tight, and it had started to move a little. Luckily I was able to shut everything off, but I decided a soon to be done project would need to be an emergency shut off switch for the feeder. So, more cinching followed by a good thorough safety check, clamping the end of my fence solid, and all was ready to go.
And GO it did… For the first time ever, I actually liked using the TS, my hands were always at least 12 inches from the blade, no push sticks, no messing around, no fatigue, no nervous sweat. Feed the 10’ oak board in, let the feeder catch it, watch it feed through, then move around and catch it as it comes out. Easy, safe, and nice cuts.
My two cents at this point is that powerfeeders are one of the most productive and under-rated safety items out there. Thanks for everyone’s help with getting me set-up on the TS.
I posted under this same title about a week ago, asking for any tips about using a power feeder on the table saw.
For some quick background, let me say that I really do not like using the table saw. Right or wrong, I perceive it as the piece of equipment I have that I am most likely to get hurt on, either by kickback or by my hand going into the blade. I use push sticks, and my biggest fear is the stick slipping off the board and my hand flinging into the blade. I use Board Buddies and featherboards too. I’m especially careful when using the TS, and I usually end up breaking into a nervous sweat shortly after turning it on.
So, looking at ripping about 600 feet of oak for my current project pretty much made me want to “soil my armor” as Monty Python folks would say. But anyway, yesterday I got down to it, and after spending a couple minutes looking at the stack of wood, the TS, and the powerfeeder on the shaper, I decided to forgo the feeder, be a man, and tough out just ripping the boards. I put my handy-dandy Harbor Freight roller stand on the out feed and went at it. The first two boards went fine. On the third board, the HF roller stand folded up like a cheap church chair, and the board tipped off the end of the table. So… more looking at the TS, the wood and the powerfeeder. A little fussing and fighting, and about 20 minutes later, the Grizzly ¼ hp feeder was mounted on the TS.
A little more fussing, and it was aligned, and ready to take on the mountain of wood. Part way through recutting board #3, the feeder started to abruptly creep toward the blade. Crud!! I hadn’t completely cinched the feeder base tight, and it had started to move a little. Luckily I was able to shut everything off, but I decided a soon to be done project would need to be an emergency shut off switch for the feeder. So, more cinching followed by a good thorough safety check, clamping the end of my fence solid, and all was ready to go.
And GO it did… For the first time ever, I actually liked using the TS, my hands were always at least 12 inches from the blade, no push sticks, no messing around, no fatigue, no nervous sweat. Feed the 10’ oak board in, let the feeder catch it, watch it feed through, then move around and catch it as it comes out. Easy, safe, and nice cuts.
My two cents at this point is that powerfeeders are one of the most productive and under-rated safety items out there. Thanks for everyone’s help with getting me set-up on the TS.