Board Buddies?

[John Bush]

HoHoHo,
I have volunteered to make some playground fixtures and my plan is to make an old fashioned wooden water tower with a coopered wooden water pipe as a slide. I will do all the beveled cuts(as soon as I figure out the math for the angles) on the TS and was wondering if the Board Buddies would be a good thing to add to my Xmas list. I have done beveled cuts with no problem before but this stock will likely be 2x6's 8 to 10 ft. long. I have a Beis style fence and would like input on how effective they would be for this level of milling. Any help on bevel angles would be helpful as well: 4 ft. in diameter using 2x6's, or dimensions close to this that would use an easy angle to reset if needed. Thanks, and Happy Holidays. John.

[Dewey Torres]

Board buddies would certainly help for this but keep in mind unless you are dead on accurate you may have to tweak the angle/width on the final stave to make it fit just the way you want.

If you want to be on the cheap make 2 feather boards. One to hold the work tight to the fence and one hold the work down to the table. Just be careful as you push the cut past the blade at the end.

[Russ Filtz]

I like my board buddies. Only issue with them is with narrower work as they get in the way. Not sure where that breakpoint is, maybe 6-8" wide pieces? I use them when i can though.

[Lee Schierer]

I prefer the magnetic feather boards from Grip Tite (http://www.grip-tite.com/). They work well and are easier to remove and install than the board buddies. They can also be used on your bandsaw or jointer if you want. I have a pair that rest on the legs of my TS where they are always handy. They literally take 2 seconds to install and about 3 seconds to take off.

[Vic Damone]

I don't know of anything else that not only holds down but draws into the fence like Board Buddies. You may find that using both Buddies before and after the blade may not always be practical. Generally the one after the blade stays on my fence.

Used alone or in conjunction with feather boards or guides can only add another level of safety.

[Aaron Berk]

I like the buddies, and I've used em on 3" rip cuts too, just run the adjustment all to the way to the "short side". You mentioned a Bies style fence, I'm not all to familiar with that, but does it have a hold down along the rear of the fence? If not your fence will lift (u probly know that) just thought I'd mention it.

[Bill White]

I use them on RAS, TS, and my router table. Have all 3 colors. Still have all mt digits too (so far). I also use the Grip Tites. I know I sound like an old fraidy cat, but one kick-back years ago made a believer out of me.
Bill

[Bruce Page]

I have a pair but don’t use them much. I have a Biesemeyer fence and as Aaron pointed out they will lift the back side of the fence if I get them tight enough to where I think they would be effective. I guess you could always clamp the back end of the fence down if you have a lot of same width ripping to do.

Mine mostly collect dust.

[Chris Padilla]

I prefer the magnetic feather boards from Grip Tite (http://www.grip-tite.com/). They work well and are easier to remove and install than the board buddies. They can also be used on your bandsaw or jointer if you want. I have a pair that rest on the legs of my TS where they are always handy. They literally take 2 seconds to install and about 3 seconds to take off.
I've been looking at Grip Tites for years and one of these days, I'll have to pick up a set. I do like how quick they are to use.

I also have board buddies, sitting in a box, that are 100% unused. They've been drying for about 4 years now! :o

[Clifford Mescher]

I find my Board Buddies beneficial for ripping my sheet goods. Helps keep sheet tight to fence. Clifford

[Lee Schierer]

I find my Board Buddies beneficial for ripping my sheet goods. Helps keep sheet tight to fence. Clifford

The grip tite roller attachment does exactly the same thing.Roller guide (http://www.grip-tite.com/rollerguide.html)

[Brian Kincaid]

I have board buddies on my Bies. You really don't need much pressure on the board for them to be effective. I use them mostly for cut quality. They are really good at keeping the material beside the fence down and snug to the fence. Then I can concentrate on safety, proper position and pressure, safety, feed rate, and ... you get my drift :rolleyes:

Like the other poster I attached the track as far right as I could so that I could keep them on the saw for narrow rips.

Brian

[Clifford Mescher]

The grip tite roller attachment does exactly the same thing.Roller guide (http://www.grip-tite.com/rollerguide.html)
Then I guess I don't need it. Clifford

[Bruce Page]

I have board buddies on my Bies. You really don't need much pressure on the board for them to be effective. I use them mostly for cut quality. They are really good at keeping the material beside the fence down and snug to the fence. Then I can concentrate on safety, proper position and pressure, safety, feed rate, and ... you get my drift :rolleyes:

Like the other poster I attached the track as far right as I could so that I could keep them on the saw for narrow rips.

Brian

Brian, as I understand it, one of the main reasons for owning the Board Buddies for the tablesaw is its Anti-Kickback feature, at least that was the primary reason why I bought mine. When I set them up as tight as I could without lifting the fence, I found that I could pull the board out from under them with not much effort. I figure that my 3hp Unisaw wouldn’t have any trouble either – so where’s the kickback protection?
If all I want to do is hold the work snugly against the fence when I rip, I have a pair of Grip-Tites that function very well for that.

[Chris Padilla]

My Incra fence locks on both ends so it will not lift under normal circumstances. I guess I ned to break the BB out, eh?! :D

[Peter Quinn]

I have a set, tried them a few times, now they live in a drawer. Junk, junk, junk. They pull just enough to the fence to take away any feeling I have relative to the boards position but not enough to actually keep it snug, they seemed in my way more than not and always wanted to steer the cut in an uncomfortable and unpredictable manner. And on precise cuts on small parts, when you need them most, they don't work at all! I have done better work with a few feather boards made from my burn pile and a few of those Rousseau miter nuts that let you use the miter slot as an attachment point. I am surprised so many guys use them and like them, I feel stupid for having paid money for them.

[Bruce Page]

My Incra fence locks on both ends so it will not lift under normal circumstances. I guess I ned to break the BB out, eh?! :D
They should work great with your setup.
I bet there are a lot of people with the Bies or Bies type fence that think thay are getting kick-back protection when probably, they are not.


Peter, why don't you tell us what you really think. :D

[John Bush]

Thanks for all the info.- just what I was looking for. I have enough "can't live withouts" stored somewhere in the shop and it sounds as if the BB would be likely join them. I do have a pair of the old wooden version of the magnetic Grip-Tites, which I do use a lot, but if I am beveling both edges of 2x6's 8+ ft long they may be too low to make solid lateral pressure to hold to the fence and I need vertical pressure to keep things from lifting. I should be able to fashion some type of feather boards that will do the trick. Thanks and Happy Holidays. JCB.

[Paul Demetropoulos]

I have a Bies fence and used to use Board Buddies but it didn't seem as I was getting any kickback protection so I now use Grip-Tites and they are great.

I have the old wooden style Grip-Tites like you and I added the rollers which draw the board to the fence. In order to use them this way they have to be attached to the fence of course, not the table. If you don't have a ferrous metal fence, which the Bies is not, you would need to add an aux one.

Grip-Tite sells a steel aux fence that easily attaches; the easiest way is to screw the steel fence to say a 1x3 piece of wood and use fence clamps (also sold by Grip-Tite but cheaper at Eagle America or Rockler) and slip the whole affair over your fence and tighten. Fast and easy on and off.

I use this arrangement to rip 2x lumber on a Unisaw all the time. The Grip Tites have the added advantage, if set up right, of greatly reducing any burning or blade zings on the ripped edge.

Added note: For the 1x3 I used 5/4 stock and planed it down so that the combined thickness of the steel aux fence and the 1x3 was exactly one inch. That allowed me to use the scale on my Bies(subtracting an inch of course) when I use this aux fence, and I always use it when ripping.

[John Bush]

Thanks Paul,
Hows do you attach the rollers to the wooden Grip-tites? and do they need to be removed for other applications? Also, the new plastic Grip-tites have a release lever on one end. Have you tried to add those to your classics. Thanks, John.

[Paul Demetropoulos]

John,

The rollers come with very clear instructions on attaching them to the grip tite, they go on with a couple of screws, it's really easy. The plastic release that goes on the back came with the kit I got, but don't see it on the wesite.

The roller kit is $14.95 and the steel fence looks to be $29.95. I'd call them, very nice people, maybe he'll throw in the release.
here's the link http://www.mesavistadesign.com/index.html

Once the rollers are on they stay on and don't interfere with any other function of the tool. The DVD they sell is very good, it shows all different setups for the grip tite, when to use the rollers, where to place them, in front and behind the blade, and lots of safety information. For instance on a rip cut less than an inch, you'd use the roller in front of the blade but just the hold down behind. They also demonstrate the grip-tites use on the router table, band saw and jointer.
It really shows you how to get the most out of the tool.