How Do You Work a Table Saw?


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What I've been doing is, I draw an imaginary perpendicular line across the table face about an inch before where the big metal throat insert starts. And I don't let my left "feeding hand" ever go past that point. 

I also always use a push-stick, unless the cut is just obviously large enough for me to not need a push stick... 18+ inches at least. Even then, it feels kind of weird for me to have both of my hands spread shoulder width apart, pushing wood over a 4300 rpm 40 tooth blade. But I guess unless you use a robot, there will always be some level of danger when woodworking. Hell even your robot might become self aware, and well... we all saw Robocop and Terminator. Bad scene. 

But for res-awing on a table saw. I'm going to have to agree with Eric and some of the other guys... There really isn't a way to re-saw a board on a table without breaking my "no fingers past the imaginary line. You could possibly use a feather board to hold the board against the fence, as long as the feather board doesn't go past the tip of the first tooth of the blade; otherwise you'd be into pinching/binding territory. And even then you'd have to use a push stick, but your push stick would have to be at around a sharp angle, almost sending the push stick in behind the board you are trying to re-saw, kinda like a sacrificial board that you will ruin the end of; otherwise your hands will have to pass the imaginary line, and thus over the blade. 

I think I am just going to go ahead and make the decree that for ME, in my shop, there will be no re-sawing until I can get a band saw. 

But SHIT... I need to re-saw some stuff!!!

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Here's what I'm trying to do; maybe you guys can help me since I can't resaw.

I am trying to make some zero clearance table saw inserts. One for my standard kerf blade at 90 degrees, and one for when I use a molding cutter. Please take a second and watch the first 30 seconds or so of this video. It shows Job Peters doing exactly what I need to do. 

I have a really nice Bosch jig saw. So, I can trace the shape of the insert onto some 3/4" white oak that I have a lot of scraps of (reclaimed hardwood flooring scraps), and I can cut the shape out with the Jig Saw. but before I do that, I had planned on using my combo-square to determine the exact depth of the throat hole (sounds gross) and then resaw the 3/4" stock to that thickness. But now that I can't resaw, and my hand planing skills are... oh wait, I don't have any of those skills. How can I get the 3/4" stock to the exact thickness I need without a planer, band saw, jointer, or the ability to re-saw on a table saw? 

Since it's molding that I will be making with this, the insert has to be dead flat with the table or else the molding profile will come out wonky. 

BTW... the molding cutter head that I have is the exact same sears model that Jon is using in that video. To see it, you will have to back up the video some. 

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I use 1/2" ply and allen set screws to level.  No resaw necessary.  Solid wood isn't the best choice because once you create the kerf in the plate, there's only a little bit of short grain remaining to hold it together.  Ply or other man-made sheet goods are better for a ZCI.

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On my saw, 1/2" baltic birch (actually 12mm) is close enough to the right depth that all I need is a little tape on the underside to shim it up to the right level.  MDF is not a good choice, too flimsy.

As far as what is a safe cut goes, there are no safe cuts at the table saw.  There are only degrees of danger.  There are cuts at one end of the spectrum that most everyone would agree are reasonably safe and cuts at the other end most everyone would agree are too dangerous.  In between there is a big gray area.  The less experience you have the less you should be dipping your fingers into it.  Stay at the shallow end and then if something interesting happens it will happen in a way that you learn from it without a trip to the ER.

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I'll throw in the required "Get a gripppper" comment too. 

I got mine a few months ago, and my confidence level in making cuts has drastically improved.  Not that I'm blindly doing cut's now, but I feel more confident that I will be able to push the piece against the fence and forward in the same motion.    It has definitely been worth the money.  The high quality of engineering in it is impressive too, with the material being a very high strength fiber something or other, not just straight plastic, and the nuts and bolts are o-ringed so they don't fall out.  It was clearly designed by engineers who also use a table saw regularly, and were able to merge the best of both worlds.  

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9 hours ago, Dolmetscher007 said:

Here's what I'm trying to do; maybe you guys can help me since I can't resaw.

I am trying to make some zero clearance table saw inserts. One for my standard kerf blade at 90 degrees, and one for when I use a molding cutter. Please take a second and watch the first 30 seconds or so of this video. It shows Job Peters doing exactly what I need to do.

 

8 hours ago, Eric. said:

I use 1/2" ply and allen set screws to level.  No resaw necessary.  Solid wood isn't the best choice because once you create the kerf in the plate, there's only a little bit of short grain remaining to hold it together.  Ply or other man-made sheet goods are better for a ZCI.

+1 on 1/2" ply and allen screw levelers.  I have not had a saw where the insert is not retained in some way but, that is easy enough to factor in using your original as a guide.

 

ZCI (7).jpg

DSCF0011.JPG

When making consumables like ZCI's the setup is the bulk of the effort so, I make a half a dozen or so at a time.

DSCF0048.thumb.JPG.d0e51f86fa82b70acc92aa6f4239b89f.JPG

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31 minutes ago, Marmotjr said:

I'll throw in the required "Get a gripppper" comment too. 

I got mine a few months ago, and my confidence level in making cuts has drastically improved.  Not that I'm blindly doing cut's now, but I feel more confident that I will be able to push the piece against the fence and forward in the same motion.    It has definitely been worth the money.  The high quality of engineering in it is impressive too, with the material being a very high strength fiber something or other, not just straight plastic, and the nuts and bolts are o-ringed so they don't fall out.  It was clearly designed by engineers who also use a table saw regularly, and were able to merge the best of both worlds.  

Man... I love watching Steve Ramsey on YouTube, and I am always curious about the Grippper... but... I am hesitant. In full disclosure, I have not only never seen one in real life, I've never even seen a video that shows how they really work. All I do know is that it seems to work by having the operator pass their knuckles about an inch or two over a spinning saw blade with only a bit of plastic between the saw blade and permanent disfigurement. 

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9 minutes ago, Dolmetscher007 said:

Man... I love watching Steve Ramsey on YouTube, and I am always curious about the Grippper... but... I am hesitant. In full disclosure, I have not only never seen one in real life, I've never even seen a video that shows how they really work. All I do know is that it seems to work by having the operator pass their knuckles about an inch or two over a spinning saw blade with only a bit of plastic between the saw blade and permanent disfigurement. 

The Grripper is second only to the SawStop brake in terms of table saw safety innovation.  It does feel weird the first few times you use one, but you soon realize how safe they are and the world of opportunities it opens up which were previously too dangerous to perform.

I would also recommend kicking the Steve Ramsey habit.  I'll stop short of explaining why for fear of being...not nice.

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I have had a gripper for a couple years now and rarely use it as intended.   It typically gets used as a normal push block.  I can't get used to running my hand over the blade.  

You will probably outgrow Steve Ramsey soon enough.   It's almost a natural progression through the hobby I think.   I started Ana White, then "upgraded to Ramsey, then Jay Bates, now almost exclusively TWW.

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8 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

+1 on 1/2" ply and allen screw levelers.  I have not had a saw where the insert is not retained in some way but, that is easy enough to factor in using your original as a guide.  When making consumables like ZCI's the setup is the bulk of the effort so, I make a half a dozen or so at a time.

 

You know... it never occurred to me to use counter sunk hex screws as "feet." As soon as I saw the picture, I was like... Duuuuh!!! Do you use any kind of threaded inserts for the hex screws, or do you just screw them into the wood, and let them be a friction fit?

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While I can appreciate Eric's sentiments on Ramsey, as he is more of a DIY'er than a fine wood worker, he still serves as a great introduction as to what you can do with limited tools and budgets.  He's a decent gateway into better things.  I say this from being that guy who watched him and said "I can do that!", and then I see the real wood worker's out there, and say "Well, since I did that easy project first, I can see how that one is done, with a little practice I'll get there.".  But I think the word @Eric is looking for is "hack", 

 As to the different cuts you can do with a gripper, with my scrap box project, I had to rip some of those 6" long pieces to a consistent width.  Without the gripper, I don't think I would have tried that cut on the TS.  It makes cutting thin stock a breeze.  I still use a joystick style pushstick for bigger stuff though. 

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25 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

 

+1 on 1/2" ply and allen screw levelers.  I have not had a saw where the insert is not retained in some way but, that is easy enough to factor in using your original as a guide.

 

ZCI (7).jpg

DSCF0011.JPG

When making consumables like ZCI's the setup is the bulk of the effort so, I make a half a dozen or so at a time.

DSCF0048.thumb.JPG.d0e51f86fa82b70acc92aa6f4239b89f.JPG

What table saw is that G?  I think I have the same one.  

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1 minute ago, Tom King said:

The scariest thing to me, that I see way too often, involving table saw use, is the number of people that use sleds without a safety box on the back.

Define a safety box please, Tom.  I may use one but not know it.  A new sled is on the to do list, and that would get added to the design if it isn't already. 

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8 minutes ago, bleedinblue said:

I have had a gripper for a couple years now and rarely use it as intended.   It typically gets used as a normal push block.  I can't get used to running my hand over the blade.  

You will probably outgrow Steve Ramsey soon enough.   It's almost a natural progression through the hobby I think.   I started Ana White, then "upgraded to Ramsey, then Jay Bates, now almost exclusively TWW.

 

Next up...Doucette and Wolfe. :)

 

3 minutes ago, Marmotjr said:

While I can appreciate Eric's sentiments on Ramsey, as he is more of a DIY'er than a fine wood worker, he still serves as a great introduction as to what you can do with limited tools and budgets.  He's a decent gateway into better things.  I say this from being that guy who watched him and said "I can do that!", and then I see the real wood worker's out there, and say "Well, since I did that easy project first, I can see how that one is done, with a little practice I'll get there.".  But I think the word @Eric is looking for is "hack", 

 As to the different cuts you can do with a gripper, with my scrap box project, I had to rip some of those 6" long pieces to a consistent width.  Without the gripper, I don't think I would have tried that cut on the TS.  It makes cutting thin stock a breeze.  I still use a joystick style pushstick for bigger stuff though. 

 

True, good point.  If he's being used as a gateway drug to spark interest, cool.  But you should move past it in about ten minutes and ignore all his bad habits and sloppy approach...which is difficult to do if you don't know the difference.  It's a pretty lousy foundation to build a house upon.  IMO  Not to be a dick.  Which I'm sure I just was.

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1 minute ago, Eric. said:

 

Next up...Doucette and Wolfe. :)

 

 

True, good point.  If he's being used as a gateway drug to spark interest, cool.  But you should move past it in about ten minutes and ignore all his bad habits and sloppy approach...which is difficult to do if you don't know the difference.  It's a pretty lousy foundation to build a house upon.  IMO  Not to be a dick.  Which I'm sure I just was.

Nah, you're usually a dick with good intentions, but this was just truth.

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5 hours ago, Marmotjr said:

Define a safety box please, Tom.  I may use one but not know it.  A new sled is on the to do list, and that would get added to the design if it isn't already. 

Tom means a box on the front side of the front fence...so that when you push the front fence through to finish your cut, the blade is inside the box.   Without such a safety box, the blade comes through the fence and where do you tend to hold your sleds?  On the fence.  You can easily imagine doing repetitive crosscuts with a sled and mistakenly pushing the sled forward with your hand on the fence right where the blade will come through.

So basically make a small box (top as plexi so you can see can be preferable) to contain the blade and make it impossible for your hand to be there.

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I call them a "dummy block".  You can see two examples on the top of my larger sled in the rear and the right of my medium sled in the middle

57c032aab5a68_BoxSled(14).jpg.779856ac2858f49d9b8498b61fae5565.jpg

Here's another shot of the medium sled.

580d301c6fc91_TSSledSupport(7).jpg.3969f5c6673b6465bb57102c4ef987f7.jpg

My smaller sled uses a box.

57c030e16f9cf_BoxSled(17).jpg.b1fab6b583c2d806b520c49adcaca04a.jpg

Regardless of the name, safety, safety, safety . .. always.

 

 

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