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table saw setup for ripping
By:Paul G. Jacobson
Date: 12/20/2000, 4:02 am
In Response To: Ripping: Best table saw setup? (Ed K.)

Over and beyond the matter of whether to cut with the strip on the fence side, or the board on the fence side:

Be sure you have a long fence so you can get the board started straight, and have adequate infeed and outfeed areas. This may be rollers, or tables, or other forms of support.

Flip the wood plank end for end after ripping each strip. Otherwise your last strip will be a long, gently tapered, wedge.

Use a supplementary fence mounted to your main fence. clamp a 2 to 3 foot long 1x4 or 1x6 to your fence with the end of this piece just to the feed side of the center of the sawblade. Set this piece a tad more than 1/4 inch from the blade. As you rip your strips, your board will ride againt this extended fence, but after being cut, the strip will have a space where it will be able to go toward the actual fence, in the "shadow " of the end of the fence extension, and the strip can stay away from the blade.

If you prefer to have a fence that supports the board along the entire top of the table, consider making a few spacer blocks that are equal to the width of the kerf of the sawblade plus the thickness of the strip you want. If your blade makes a 1/16th inch kerf, and you wanted strips that were 1/4 inch thick ( 4/16ths) then your spacers would be 5/16ths. You can make all of them at once by ripping a single 5/16th strip from a scrap board. Clamp a 3 to 4 foot long piece of 1x4 to your fence as an auxilliary fence, and adjust this so that you rip a 1/4 inch strip from your first board. After ripping that strip, instead of resetting the main fence, drop in two of your spacers between the main fence and the 1x4 auxilliary fence (put one spacer close to each end of the main fence) then reclamp that auxilliary fence strip, and it will now be in such a position that you whould be able to rip another 1/4 inch strip from your board.

After each strip is ripped you just add another spacer. to force that auxilliary fence closer to the blade, and that should give you a fast new setup for each cut.

An assistant is of great value. They can stay safely away from the saw blade and manage the strip and the plank it is sawn from.

hope this helps. good luck with your ripping.

Paul G. Jacobson

Messages In This Thread

Ripping: Best table saw setup?
Ed K. -- 12/19/2000, 11:56 am
Re: Ripping: Best table saw setup?
Rob Macks -- 12/21/2000, 10:44 am
Only one featherboard?
Ed K. -- 12/21/2000, 12:18 pm
Re: Only one featherboard?
Rob Macks -- 12/21/2000, 1:00 pm
table saw setup for ripping
Paul G. Jacobson -- 12/20/2000, 4:02 am
Re: A jig for ripping
Ed K. -- 12/20/2000, 12:02 pm
Re: Ripping: Best table saw setup?
Ben Staley -- 12/19/2000, 12:52 pm
Re: Ripping: Best table saw setup?
Kelly Trehearne -- 12/20/2000, 11:30 am
using spacers when ripping
Paul G. Jacobson -- 12/20/2000, 11:22 pm
Re: using spacers when ripping
Kelly Trehearne -- 12/21/2000, 10:26 am
Re: Ripping: Best table saw setup?
Mike -- 12/19/2000, 6:59 pm
Re: Ripping: Best table saw setup?
John Michne -- 12/19/2000, 7:21 pm