Jessem Table saw stock guides

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience with the Jessem Table saw stock guides http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7b-i8Llv6w ? I'm looking to improve the safety of my table saw and this item looks like it might be very handy. It doesn't look like it would be very useful on very thin stock, but excellent otherwise.

Any input?

Thanks

[William C Rogers]

These are similar to Board Buddies that I had, but with improvements. For me they were useful when cutting large sheets of plywood where a push block was not necessary. They were cumbersome when using where a push block/stick was necessary.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Within reason I might be willing to accept a degree of cumbersome for added safety.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

There is even a Youtube video of someone using Board Buddy in which he pushes the wood as far into the blace as he safely can, then walks around to the other side of the table saw and pulls the board out.
Seems very safe. I just wonder why there isn't a burn mark from the saw while the board is not moving.

[Robert Chapman]

I have them and really like them. They keep stock snug against the fence and should really discourage kick-back. It does take a little more effort to push stock through the saw but not enough to be problematic. They easily tuck up out of the way when not in use. It was an easy installation on my SawStop fence. Not cheap but typical JessEm high quality.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Robert. Thank you. That's one for and one against. I think I agree with you. And I think a few extra dollars for safety would be worth the investment in safety.

[William C Rogers]

Gerry, I'm not against them. I just found for me the board buddies were awkward ripping thinner boards. The Jessum seem to be more compact and offer other improvements such as the angle. I definitely liked the board buddies for plywood and used them in that application.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

I understand William. I apologize for misingterpreting your feelings on the Jessem units.

[Pat Brubeck]

I've been using the JessEm unit for about a week- very easy to install and work quite well. I recommend them.
Pat

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Pat,

Is your tablesaw equipped with a riving knife or a splitter. I have a splitter with kickback pawls and a blade guard. I was wondering if the Jessem unit would get in he way of all that protective hardware.

[Robert Chapman]

If you need to have the fence that close to the blade guard you will have to tip the rear guide up and out of the way but you can still use the front guide to help keep the stock against the fence in front of the blade.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

To all,

I assume using these Jessem units would mean you would no longer need to use a featherboard.

[Robert Chapman]

I don't think that you would need feather boards since the JessEms hold the stock both down and into the fence.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

To all,

Thank you all for your input on this subject. Yesterday I took the plunge and ordered the Jessem TS stock guides. It should take a few days (maybe a week) for them to get to Ct from Canada. I'll come back then and let you know my opinion of them.