Cutting a Whole Bunch of Thin Strips

[Bill Huber]

Judging from some of the responses, I assume I did not convey the simplicity of my method.
Let me try it again:

• First run your board through the saw to true up the edge. Do not move the fence yet. The board and your fence are now "zeroed out".
• Take the thickness of your saw kerf add it to the desired thickness of your strip.
• Using the scale on the front fence rail as a reference, place a mark to the left side of the cursor on the clear scale indicator, the total of the strip and kerf.
• Now look at and remember the exact "measurement" of the mark on the scale.
• Re-align the fence/cursor to that "measurement" where the mark was on the scale and lock it down.
• Make your cut. The "waste" piece will be the exact thickness you wanted.
• That's it. Repeat as many times as needed.

Each time you move the fence, the "mark" automatically leapfrogs to the setting for the next cut. There is no measuring, there is no calculating. It is read it, set it, cut it, period. Sorry guys, no new toys to buy, no fun jigs to build. This is a simple, no fuss, no muss way to cut strip, after strip, after strip, without NOTHING.

As with many things in woodworking there are many ways to do the same thing and will get the same results. The way you cut your strips works good for you. I can see if you don't have a jig and need to get your strips cut the way you are doing it would work and will get each one very close to the exact measurement you need. For me there is just some things that worry, like.

Putting tape on the fence cursor, well not putting it on but getting it off and not leaving sticky stuff that will collect saw dust.

Remembering the exact position of the mark, what if is between the marks on the scale or not on the mark and just touching it a little, what is a little. When cutting inlay strips they need to be exact.

Being the line you make on the tape is not a double line the angle you look at it can make a big difference.

Calculating the exact thickness, blade plus the width of the strip, that can be a problem with some blades that are not an exact width, like thin kerfs or blades that are not exactly 1/8".

Now lets talk about simplicity.

With the jig Dick has made or the one from Rockler.

Place the jig on the saw and measure from the blade to the bearing and lock that setting.
Move the jig back in front of the blade and lock it down.
Start cutting strips and each one will be the exact same width and you don't have to remember the position of anything. When I say the exact width you can measure it with a caliper and it will be with-in a few thousands of an inch each time.

I am not trying to put down your way of cutting strips it is just for me I can see to many chances for me to screw up which I do to often.

I would also suggest that you go to ShopNotes magazine's web site and submit the idea to them, you just maybe could get a $100 for the idea.

[Tipton Lum]

Making the batch of Mahogany strips in the first picture was what prompted the original post. They were ripped from 8'-9' sticks, hence the use of a feather board to assist in beginning the rip. The other pictures were 'staged'.
Judging from some of the responses, I assume I did not convey the simplicity of my method.
Let me try it again:

• First run your board through the saw to true up the edge. Do not move the fence yet. Now your board and fence are now "zeroed out".
• Take the thickness of your saw kerf add it to the desired thickness of your strip.
• Using the scale on the front fence rail as a reference, place a mark on the clear scale indicator to the left side of the cursor, the total width of your strip and kerf.
• Now look at and remember the exact "measurement" of the mark on the scale.
• Re-align the fence/cursor to that "measurement" where the mark was on the scale and lock it down.
• Make your cut. The "waste" piece will be the exact thickness you wanted.
• That's it. Repeat as many times as needed.

Each time you move the fence, the "mark" automatically leapfrogs forward and registers the setting for the next cut. There is no measuring, there is no calculating. It is read it, set it, cut it, period. This is a simple, no fuss, no muss way to cut strip, after strip, after strip, with NOTHING but your saw. The packing tape was so I could peel off the mark when I was done.


Give this way a try. You'll giggle like a school girl when you see how simple it is. I DID!

[Rod Sheridan]

A UniFence or Euro style fence eliminates the need to readjust the fence after every rip. Simply pull the fence so that the rear end of the fence is in line with the front of the blade. Rip as usual. The keeper side will fall away from the blade after the cut.

That's the easiest method, you can simply attach a straight piece of wood to your fence that ends at the front of the blade, and rip all your strips.

The Unifence/Euro fence has a lot of significant improvements over the standard fence, all of which can be duplicated with some add ons to your existing fence...Rod.

P.S. Now add a stock feeder and you'll really be able to rip a bunch of strips accurately and quickly. My Hammer B3 Winner has a tilt up feeder, I use it on the saw as well as on the shaper......Rod.

[Tipton Lum]

A UniFence or Euro style fence eliminates the need to readjust the fence after every rip. Simply pull the fence so that the rear end of the fence is in line with the front of the blade. Rip as usual. The keeper side will fall away from the blade after the cut.

I did a quick mock up of what I think you were describing. It works. I only ran some short scrap through it. I was a little uncomfortable running the stock on the waste side, un-supported, especially toward the end of the rip. Full length boards may exasperate that.

euro fence-01.jpg euro fence-02.jpg

[Jeff Duncan]

Judging from some of the responses, I assume I did not convey the simplicity of my method.

I think the method was clear to most, I think some of us still think it's more complicated than need be. Again, set my fence to dimension, rip stock, repeat as needed. No moving the fence, no adding tape to the cursor, no math, just rip and repeat. Also no need to get all the pieces needing to be ripped the same exact width first

But as I said, if it works for you then it works for you. When I work it's about getting things done quickly and efficiently so I'm probably less patient than most

good luck,
JeffD

[Bill Huber]

Also no need to get all the pieces needing to be ripped the same exact width first

When I work it's about getting things done quickly and efficiently so I'm probably less patient than most

good luck,
JeffD

So if you want things done quickly and efficiently why would you not want them cut the correct width to start with. You could go from the table saw to the project without having to sand or go to the planer?

[Tom Ewell]

I agree, most of 'us' did figure out what Tipton was doing, don't think of it as anything more than another great tip for those of us who prefer to rip thins on the free side of the blade.

I can setup and safely rip strips down to roughly I/2" before I get antsy and go to the other side of the blade when I can't clear the pawls on my splitter (Shark setup) with a push stick.

I have the Rockler jig for positioning but Tipton's tip sounds like a decent alternative if one is going to move the fence any way. It eliminates the need to use the rip stock as an index for the Rockler jig which can also introduce error, particularly when the rip stock is of any length and a bit harder to square up to the fence.

[Brian Backner]

I remember a thread, but I don't remember on which forum, of a jig created by a guy from Poland. He was incredibly resourceful and talented. Anyway, he built a "carrier" sled made out of melamine. Rather than placing the board to be sliced into thin strips on top of the sled, it was butted to the edge of the sled. The sled was run against the rip fence, and the thickness of the strips was adjusted by moving the fence. Rather than using a small lip to hold the end of the board, he had drilled a series of holes into the edge of the sled and connected them all to a source of vacuum strong enough to hold the board during the ripping process. So, you would cut a strip, disconnect the vacuum, move the board against that edge again, reapply the vacuum and continue. The big advantages were that the was no adjustment to the sled or the fence, so all the strips were exactly the same width/thickness; in addition, because you were running the sled against the fence, you could get every last possible strip out of a given board - even when the waste might only be a 1/16" or less. Try ripping something that narrow by itself!

I'll see if I can find the thread. I think I may actually have saved it for future reference.

[Mike McCann]

I agree the rockler jig works great for this. No adjusting after initial set up up just moving the fence over after each cut.

[Bill Huber]

I have the Rockler jig for positioning but Tipton's tip sounds like a decent alternative if one is going to move the fence any way. It eliminates the need to use the rip stock as an index for the Rockler jig which can also introduce error, particularly when the rip stock is of any length and a bit harder to square up to the fence.

I am not sure I understand what you mean by using the ripped stock as an index on the Rockler jig.

When I use the jig I just move the stock against fence and then against the bearing on the jig and make the cut then move the stock and fence over again to the bearing.

I cut 1/16" strips all the time with the Rockler jig and have no problems.

[Rick Potter]

Just goes to prove the old 'saw', "There's more than one way to skin a cat".

I cannot remember his name but the above mentioned member from Poland had some ingenious jigs. As I understand, he unfortunately passed away. I, for one, sure miss his great postings.

Rick Potter

[John McClanahan]

This has worked for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXQncneobeI


John

[Tom Ewell]

I am not sure I understand what you mean by using the ripped stock as an index on the Rockler jig.

When I use the jig I just move the stock against fence and then against the bearing on the jig and make the cut then move the stock and fence over again to the bearing.

I cut 1/16" strips all the time with the Rockler jig and have no problems.

That's how I use it as well, Bill.

My reference to 'rip stock' is the board that slides over with the fence to the bearing on the jig, if that board is long, as most of my stuff is, then it can be awkward handling this 'indexing' of fence to bearing while keeping the board aligned with the fence. A long board, especially if the balance point of that board is well beyond the front edge of my saw, tends to slide out of alignment relative to the fence during the move even with adequate and level support on both ends of the board. This is not a big deal in the long run, just something else to check and verify when using this jig, failure to do so can introduce error in thickness of the 'ripped stock'.

For the shorter rips , the Rockler jig is good stuff.

Tipton's solution just offers another option that can eliminate the additional handling of the board when positioning the fence for the next cut. Precision might be influenced by eyesight and memory a little more with this one, however.

[Greg Portland]

This has worked for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXQncneobeI


John

This works for slats. Don't try anything super-thin using this method!

[John McClanahan]

Here is another way. I haven't tried this yet. Notice the saw he is using. Nothing special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cEyAqhvEnM


John