Cutting board


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I've never understood the notion that ripping a thin piece between blade and fence is any more dangerous than ripping a thicker one. All the same safety precautions should apply. I especially like to use a sacrificial push block whose sole has a 'heel' on the back to push the work forward as well as down. Using this method, I have never had a piece try to kick back, wide or thin.

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I just realized that you may be referring to a cross cut. Sorry, its been a while since I saw that video. For cross cuts, leaving an unsupported chunk of wood between blade and fence creates a very strong risk of kickback. However, if the cut is supported by a sled or miter gage extension, no worries.

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The issue with thin strips is the chance of them getting caught between the blade and the fence, with many occassions that a push stick or block would be too big to complete the pass through the blade, resulting in potential kickback.  The Grr-ripper does let you go down to 1/8" thick pass safely because you have complete control of the work piece going through the blade.  If you are not able to completely push a thin piece through the between the blade and fence, you will need to run those pieces on the outside portion of the blade using a stop jig to designate the thickness.

 

Its been awhile since I have watched that video, but I believe I remember what Marc did in that.  To the OP's question, the tendancy when doing a pass where the piece is wider than long is for it to wobble through the blade, resulting in a kickback.  The trick is keeping the work piece solid against the fence without pinching the blade.  A splitter or a riving knife is an absolute must.

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I think the confusion is that miter gauges are used ONLY for cross cuts and fences ONLY for rip cuts.  I disagree, in most cases this is true, but in general its because the cross grain dimension is so much shorter than the long grain dimension.  I think the "rule" is better stated as the miter fence works safest when cutting the short dimension, and the rip fence works best when cutting the long dimension (or if the piece is long than your table saw table -front to back).

 

So with that in mind, when doing the final cross cut for the cutting board, I don't see a stability issue with using only the rip fence, since the piece is 10+inches long (dimension parallel to the cut)

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