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Thread: Featherboards

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
    Posts
    6,926
    Travis

    Featherboards are a mainstay safety mechanism for the table saw, and other machines.
    Some folks make them, which is easy enough, as I sometimes do, but I use the feather boards from Bow Products now. I started using them to hand feed on a shaper, then to hold stock against the fence while resawing on a bandsaw, and eventually to the table saw. Make them, or buy them, but use them.

    Never pull a board through a table saw. That was how my shop teacher, many years ago, demonstrated kickback. I don't think even he was ready for the result. Made a heckuva impression on me at 12 years old, and put a hole through a chalkboard on the wall 20 feet away.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    olmsted falls,ohio
    Posts
    484
    Years ago I knew everything tried to rip a full 4x8 sheet of plywood.about half way through the sheet got pulled by me and the blade picked up the whole sheet and hit me in the crotch.didnt think that could happen but a 3 hp saw can sure throw some wood.now I have a straight edge for cutting plywood and finish on the saw.please be careful.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,248
    Quote Originally Posted by nicholas mitchell View Post
    They're in aisle 6, right next to the Aigner Deflector.

    That was a good one, certainly not aisle 6 at Home Depot however

    regards, Rod.

  4. #19
    Featherboards and outfeed stands.

    The roller stands kind of stuck because they can tilt left or right. I'd get the ridgid flip top stands. I wax them and they work great. If you're lucky, when you order a pair at home depot and go to pick them up, they give you 4 instead of 2

    I've since made a folding outfeed that was bolted to the back of my table saw.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    Glen you're the king of featherboards .

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    sykesville, maryland
    Posts
    861
    I use them when called for. I have some homemade ones that I sometimes use. But my favorite are the jessem featherboards for the tablesaw. Easy to set, long adjustment range.

  7. #22
    Early in the thread, Bill at comment #10 suggested board buddies. These are made by a couple of manufacturers. Jessem makes a pricey, effective one (JessEm 04301 Clear-Cut TS Stock Guides). You can adjust them to hold the work against the table and against the fence. Not only that, by angling them so that their motion directs the workpiece into the fence, you can keep the workpiece from wandering. A feather board is good on the infeed side, but on the outfeed side, the off-cut interferes with the application of a feather board against the finished piece, preventing you from securing the finished piece. If you adjust the tension on the guide rollers, the workpiece can be held immobile against the fence and diminishes the likelihood of kickback when combined with the splitter. So, if you have a good outfeed support, I think roller guides are the way to go.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Central New Jersey
    Posts
    1,007
    yes - I have about 5 or 6 floating around my show for use on different tools.

    Oh - and before anything - please please learn to properly use the tools in your shop. We don't want to see you posting from the hospital!!!

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    437
    So is there something better than a
    little push stick to push a 2x12-8 with? Use the featherboard i got that, I feel a little uneasy pushing it the last little bit all the way through and putting my hands between the fence and the blade even with a push stick because I feel that last little bit is where I'm going to have a kickback.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    A "shoe" type "push block" is often a much better choice than a "push stick". And FYI, ripping construction lumber isn't the easiest thing because they are not "dimensionally consistent". Nature of the beast.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    sykesville, maryland
    Posts
    861
    And Grrrrr...ippers are worth every penny. I use at least one on just about every table saw cut.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    New Westminster BC
    Posts
    2,981
    Agreed, I'm seriously looking at making a pair myself. My current go to is a shoe type that staddles the fence, advantage over grripper is I can still use overhead guard with dust collection.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Central New Jersey
    Posts
    1,007
    big wood = bigger push stick. A 2x12 that is 8 feet long will need a bit more than a little push stick.


  14. #29
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    437
    So can I use the one above and just keep the push stick against the fence when I'm pushing it through?

  15. #30
    You might also look at your fence. Is it parallel to the blade? Often when a board is coming off the fence at the end of the cut it is because the outfeed side is kicked out away from the blade. A little kick out is fine, but when it gets excessive the cut wants to follow the path of the blade and pulls off the fence.

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