Cutting Strips on a Table Saw with a Partner
George VondriskaDescription
It’s not uncommon to need thin strips for woodworking projects. You might want them for an accent strip, to cover the edge of a plywood shelf, to band the front of a European-style cabinet…there are lots of applications. We’re talking about pieces that are ¼” or so thick. It’s great to be able to cut these on the table saw. The saw guard often becomes a problem, preventing you from getting the rip fence close enough to the blade to make the cut. Problem solved.
A simple jig
The process shown here requires a simple jig; simply two pieces of plywood fastened together to create an L shape. With the jig clamped to your rip fence, you no longer have the problem of the guard hitting the fence.
However…
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or a free rip. This approach works great, but the set up makes it nearly impossible to use a push stick to finish the cut. No problem, we’ve got a solution for you. The technique taught here makes it very easy, and safe, to rip as thin a strip as your project calls for.
More than one way
One of the cool things about woodworking is seeing the many ways woodworkers have found to solve problems. This is no different. We’ve found lots of ways to rip thin strips. Have a look at the alternative approaches, and you’ll find one that’s good for you.
Lots of table saw info
The table saw is such a major tool in the shop, it’s important that you know how to get the most out of it. Resawing, cutting dadoes, calibrating the rip fence, tapering legs…if you want to know more, we’re here to help you learn how to use a table saw.
The table saw is a great way, of course, to rip material. And what we want to look at here, Jenny, is ripping really thin strips. And the problem with that is that when we bring the fence over close enough to do say a quarter inch strip like you would use for edge banding on plywood, I can't get the fence that close because the guard is in the way and I really don't want to take the guard off. So there's a pretty simple solution. If you'd be so kind as to grab those clamps, this is, it turns into a two-person operation here. And here's what I've got. This jig is dirt simple. It's just a three inch wide base, hence the three inch, and then a vertical on here that'll let me clamp that to the fence. So let's do that, doctor, clamp. Clear. Clear. All right. Now when I go to set up the fence on the saw, if I want quarter inch pieces, I then set the cursor on the fence to three and a quarter. And I just had to get under my little anti-kickback paw there was what I lifted up. So now I'm at three and a quarter. The benefit to this is the guard can still be in place, my material is going to feed on that auxiliary fence, we're going to get quarter inch stuff out there. Why is Jenny here? Well just cause she likes to help me out. Now why are you here? No. I have an important job. She's got an important job which is when I get to the end of this cut, even with a push stick, I can't finish the cut because the guard is in the way. So that's where this turns into a two person operation. Jenny is going to be on the outfeed side and as the material gets to a point where I can no longer push from this side, she's gonna pull from that side. You ready for that operation. Yeah. Let's do it. It's all you. I'll take the big one. What do you think? They're almost pretty even. Yeah. Easy-peasy so it's such a simple jig. It's such an easy thing to add to your table saw. And what I like about it is it lets us keep the guard in place even while we're making these thin cuts. As long as you have a good helper like I do to pull them through out on the outfeed side. Thanks, Jenny.
Look my "Parallel Guided Power Saw" on you tube how simple I can cut long strips.
As a new woodworker and still learning about how to properly use my table saw, this video helped a lot. It gave me inspiration to incorporate my son (12) so that we can both learn together.
Not bad, and the Saw stop saw makes all of it a lot safer. However you can buy thin strip jigs and cut your strip on the other side of the blade and use wide stock, this is yet one more tool for the toolbox there is always a new way to skin a cat you haven't thought about, but seeking new safe ways to do it differently will go a long way to sat in the shop, somthing even older carptners could learn. "Oh I've been using table saws without guards, and reving knifes or antie kick back paws" but you know it only takes one twisted warped or spring loaded board to make you only count to 7.2 for the rest of your life instead of 10. And it can happen faster then you can say ouch. I truly like the saw stop saw, wished I had one. Because even with safety gear on you can get hurt. Why take chances or make bets you can loose.
Nice jig, but you should use wholesteel clamps. they are not affected by vibrations