Milling thin strips from thin stock

[Tim Andrews]

I’ve had problems in the past getting clean rip cuts on the tablesaw when the stock I was using was not very wide. I have used feather boards or my Gripper push block, but my results were never consistently as good as when ripping from wider stock.

It finally dawned on me in the middle of the night how to make this process easier; simply double stick the thinner stock I’m using onto a 2x4 or similar material with parallel edges. This way there’s plenty of material to slide smoothly through the cut, and I get fewer saw marks and less burning. You can rip multiple strips from the stock until there is almost nothing left, which I could never do otherwise.

I’ve never had a problem with the tape losing adhesion, but if you were concerned you could use hot glue instead. I’m sure others are using this method, but I’ve never seen it mentioned before so I’m hoping this might help someone else. The photo shows the process, with the solid edge of the magnetic feather board being used as a thin strip thickness guide.

Since I don’t have a wide belt sander, if I need to clean up the strips even further for inlay, I double stick the strips to the same guide block and and use my manual “narrow belt sander” shown below.
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[Doug Garson]

I've seen a similar method which included a notch in the carrier board to prevent the workpiece from being pushed back rather than the tape or hot glue.

[Jim Becker]

That's a good technique to use because it gets rid of the "chatter" that trying to cut thin material often exhibits. (I believe that's because the material bends easily and the back of the blade can bend/lift it slightly no matter how well aligned the machine is) You can make that 2x4 carrier stock go farther by resawing it as you really only need about .5" or so to have a stable board to cut narrow.