Jessem clear cut stock guide for table saw

[Michael Burnside]

The benefit will depend on your use case. Watch the videos and see the types of cuts they are used for. You can only use a push stick to finish your cut if the material is enough wider than the guides to allow it. Great for non-through cuts or trimming stuff off the side of a > 3" wide blank that is away from the fence. High quality like most Jess-Em stuff. For my use (hardwood furniture) they are more in the way than of benefit so they were a no-go. I really wanted to like them. Sheet good cabinetry would really benefit. They are great at holding wide, long, unwieldy pieces against the fence during an operation.

I pretty much only build hardwood furniture. I find them indispensable. Drawer fronts, hardwood panels, thin rips of wider stock, general clean up after jointing, final dimensioning, etc. and obviously sheet goods. They are fantastic.

When stock is 3” or less I don’t really find I need them. That said on thin stock I often just use the outfeed guide (making sure it’s still right of the blade) and set it far enough back that a push stick can clear the blade. With my hand or feather board on the front this makes for easy work.

[william walton]

Ditto on the value of the TS guides.... best money spent for TS ripping.



(I find the hardest part of the Jessem guides are, setting them on the stock. Its a bit cumbersome. Too low, it resist your push force. too high, insufficient pressure on the stock, thereby the guides not exerting max. pull pressure towards the fence. My technique is, put stock under guide while guide is loose, gently side stock out, lower guide additional 3/16". I wing it by eye, but if I was cutting 50 pieces of same thickness stock, I would be much more meticulous in setting the guide position.)

I am curious how others set theirs?

Proper method of setting is to locate your stock under the arm of each guide adjacent to the wheel, tighten and you will have the proper clearance set.

I've had both table saw and router table versions for a while and they make me feel more accurate and safer as well.

[Tom Bussey]

I have them and yes they are useful for handling sheet goods and wider boards., but I personally do not think they are capable of doing a good of cutting full sized sheets of plywood. But my disclaimer is I am 78 I I have better and easier ways of doing it. So if braking down plywood I would recommend a track saw instead. They sell all kinds of attachments for track saws so it can be precision cut. But sheet good in a half size like 24 x96 or 48x45 hat is where the Jess-Em stuff really shines. I have a set and I am very pleased with them.

For me when the fence gets within about 2 -21/2 inches from the blade and if you are using the blade guard it get so cramped for space that it is hard to even use a push stick. I pull the Jessem off and use feather boards.

As far as the roller system for router tables go, they do not work well at all if using an Incra fence or Incra style fence. The fence tends to spring up and and every thing you hoped to gain is lost. If you fence is fastened or clamped down to the table just behind the fence them they are wonderful. I made it possible for me to use a couple of strap clamps the hold down the fence and now I have the best of both words. If you have an Incra fence that is set up to do all the different cut the fence is designed to do then I would check it out using feather boards and you will see what I mean.

Before I get jumped all over and get called a heretic I just want to say I have both sets and I like them very much. The quality and workmanship are much better than expected. They do everything they claim to do but the ones on YouTube cutting full sheets of plywood are more than likely getting paid to advertise for them. All I am guilty of is writing about the limitations I have encountered while using them. Not every thing that glitters is gold.

[al ladd]

I bought a set to compare them to my Board Buddies, and to my small shop-built power feeder. At 4X the price they are a little easier to install than the Board Buddies, with similar functionality, and at 20% lower price a bit faster yet to install than the power feeder, with no where near the functionality.

For small repetitive work the power feeder is a dream, and either of the hold down systems a pain, because the need for a push stick (if you can even use one), or the pause to pick up a new piece is apt to cause burning. That woodworkers buy these by the thousands shows the power of aesthetics and marketing over utility. They are beautiful objects, and that anodized aluminum makes the Board Buddies look like a relic from another century in comparison, which I suppose they are.

[Rich Aldrich]

I have had them on my table saw since Feb 21. I really like them - I use them to rip narrow strips as well as wide boards. It is tough use a guard with them when ripping narrow strips.

I also put them on my router table after modified the fence similar to the Jessem fence. They are really good on the router table, too.

[Bill Dufour]

Seem very similar to something I bought decades ago for $2.00 at Post tools going out of business sale. Mine track parallel so no side force. Never really used them. From the color I am guessing Reliant made.
Bill D

[Clint Baxter]

I use a long paint stirring stick to push items through when using the Jessem saw guides. It will go past them as long as there is at least a 1/4" gap available. For really narrow rips I also end up having to remove them.

[Wes Grass]

I bought the router table version and made some brackets to adapt them to my Felder saw. They're fine on the RT, but didn't work well on the TS at all. Not sure, but maybe because they don't have the accommodation for material thickness the TS version has? Bought those and shamelessly copied Derek's mount, and they work great.

Dealing with a riving knife mounted blade guard is a pain though.

I've thought about maybe adapting them to the bandsaw as well. Same fence extrusion, and it will mount on either side, so I can just swap them over. It'd be nice to work with the fence to the left of the blade though.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've had them for years, and personally think they work pretty well, except for thin boards.

What is Derek's mount???

[George Yetka]

I have them on TS and router table. Love them. I use them on everything wider than 3" or so. They do an excellent job 100% put holes in your fence for this. Well 99%, I did like storing things on my fence(pencils, 2" paintbrush, wixie angle finder, small push sticks, etc) but I can still get super small push stick, 6" rule, and pencils

[Patrick Varley]

Well 99%, I did like storing things on my fence(pencils, 2" paintbrush, wixie angle finder, small push sticks, etc) but I can still get super small push stick, 6" rule, and pencils

If you have a standard square tube fence rail, perhaps a drawer would help reclaim some of the space:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1194146...r-fits-sawstop

Also, I drilled/tapped holes into my fence so that the assembly can be removed. There are also solutions out there which mount the assembly to a piece of plywood and then use MagSwitches to allow quick removal.

I agree with everyone else that I really like them, except for minor annoyances on closer rips (particularly when dealing with the co-existong SharkGuard). Can't decide if they're really worth $250, but I got them as a gift...so I won't argue.

[George Yetka]

If you have a standard square tube fence rail, perhaps a drawer would help reclaim some of the space:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1194146...r-fits-sawstop

Also, I drilled/tapped holes into my fence so that the assembly can be removed. There are also solutions out there which mount the assembly to a piece of plywood and then use MagSwitches to allow quick removal.

I agree with everyone else that I really like them, except for minor annoyances on closer rips (particularly when dealing with the co-existong SharkGuard). Can't decide if they're really worth $250, but I got them as a gift...so I won't argue.

3d printed one a couple months ago. Honestly I always seem to forget about it.

[Greg Parrish]

For what it’s worth, I’m going to be listing a set for sale later this week. (Probably Thursday before I can get them listed)

They were on my Sawstop PCS with Incra setup. They are mounted on an oak board that has T-Nuts setup to attach to the top T-Slot on the incra fence, and to straddle the center beam. That said, they are easily removed from the board for any other saw, or you could put MagLoks into the board and continue to use it on a sawstop or other fence.

[Wes Grass]

I've had them for years, and personally think they work pretty well, except for thin boards.

What is Derek's mount???

https://www.inthewoodshop.com/Powere...ry/JessEm.html

[Jay Moodley]

I received my TS stock guides yesterday - now, do I use the self tapping screws and go direct into my Sawstop T-Glide fence or, do I fork out an additional $100 for the MagSafe 90 and make the guides removable?

What are the pros and cons?