Bought Some Board Buddies

[-MIKE-]

goo.gl/zlWjB1

I've wanted to get a pair of these for the longest time and just forgot about them until I accepted with the recently posted-about job requiring me to rip over 50 sheets of 1/2" plywood and even further cutting to size on the tablesaw.

I found that Woodcraft either bought them out or have licensed the product under their home brand "WoodRiver." These are identical in every way to the ones I saw on other suppliers' websites and catalogs.

The only hesitation I had were some bad reviews on Woodcraft's website claiming they switched the materials that the rollers were made from, making them "slippery." I haven't found that to be true, so far. Here they are installed.

This is another product I purchased and used which gave me the immediate feeling of, "Why didn't I get these years ago?" Such a simple addition to the saw that really improves overall performance. It's much easier to guide to stock against and along the fence. These are so much easier to use than a vertical featherboard and are pretty self-adjusting once you quickly get them "in the ballpark" with the adjustment eye-bolt.

I'm very pleased, so far, and highly recommend them. They can be had for cheaper on Amazon if you don't need them "today" like I did.

[Bob La Londe]

I recently had that revalation about swivel blade deburring tools. Now I have four of them around the shop at locations where I use them. It happens. They are pretty cheap too.

I'll have to check out those saw board buddies, but I think if I was ripping lots of plywood I'd invest in a decent panel saw. Since I don't do to much those saw board buddies might be just the ticket.

[Bob La Londe]

Pretty straight forward. A couple one way clutch bearings in the wheels is the easy part. Price seems pretty reasonable for that they are. Now for something that does that when you are cutting small pieces. A tiny piece of blocking will shoot across the garage with enough force to ... well I ain't admitin' to nutin'. Just saying, " never stand in front of the blade if you can help it and never ever without a face shield." LOL.

[-MIKE-]

Most people seem very pleased with this product for the purposes you describe.

[Larry Blanchard]

I like these better:

They can be moved in and out and can be angled towards the fence to hold the board against the fence. And they flip up out of the way (well, almost).

[krw]

I believe the ones Mike pointed out are cambered into the fence.

Here is another, real purdy, set:

[Swingman]

Yep ... basically my only choice for any "hold-down_ purposes with a unisaw and unifence.

The board buddies work great with a Beismeyer, or one that is attached both front and back. Not so much with a unifence, or one that is only attached at the front, as it will lift up slightly, defeating the ideal purpose.

Too bad ... I would prefer the board buddies, particularly when using a dado stack where even the slightest bow in the stock will result in a uneven depth in spots.

[-MIKE-]

Jessem makes a version like that for $250. Overall better, but much more expensive. FWIW, the Board Buddies slide right out of their mounts with the turn of a couple wingscrews.

[-MIKE-]

buddies-hold-down-wheels-100_1889.jpg>

Upp... beat me to it! :-) I haven't yet figured out of they are angled towards the fence. However, with some forethought on the mounting, you can mount them with a slight angle.

[-MIKE-]

The Beismeyer isn't held down at the back, but it has plenty enough downward force to keep these holding.

The subject has come up before about the Beismeyer fence's downward pressure and in all my testing it hold down fine. I've used other vertical featherboards before and while there is some slight lift, it's negligible. We're talking perhaps a sheet of card stock at the back end.

I can't speak to the construction/design of the Beismeyer vs. Unifence because I've ever used the Unifence. The clamping mechanism does aprear to be more "delicate" on the Unifence, though.

[krw]

They are toed in 5 degrees towards the fence, IIRC.

[Unquestionably Confused]

So have your cake and eat it too! ;)

Anything stopping you from using a large clamp or quick set Irwin clamp to hold the far end of that fence down when faced with a critical cut like the one you describe?

I've had a set of the Woodcraft Board Buddies for going on ten years. Love 'em!

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip

My take on the problem (with a fence not held down at the back of the table) is this.

If you use Board Buddies with the fence and the fence rises up from the table, you either have the Board Buddies exerting too much downward pressure or the fence is defective. You don't need to put that much pressure on the work piece to keep it on track and snugged up to the fence. There IS a slight angle to the wheels which keeps the work piece against the fence.

[-MIKE-]

I don't think you can so confidently speak to every situation and every TS fence out there. One of the advantages to the Beismeyer and Unifence is that they don't require clamping at the back of the table. While they have great strength to resist the lateral force generated when pushing the stock against their sides, I think (owners, correct me if I'm wrong) the Unifence doesn't offer much resistance to upward force. Why would they need it to do their job, really. Also, a whole lot of plywood is bowed and requires greater than normal downward pressure exerted on it to keep it flat to the table. Out of the box, my Board Buddies take a pretty severe bow out of the plywood I've been cutting. Some fences without a rear clamping mechanism don't require much force at all to lift them off the back of the table. As I mentioned, I don't have any issues with my Beismeyer, but I think the Unifence is a different story.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Fair enough. My point was (considering both of the responses that I posted) was that the OP should NOT shy away from Board Buddies because of this issue. It can be overcome rather easily and they remain a great product regardless of the fence you have so long as it nominally does its job.

Can we agree on that? ;)

[OFWW]

Yes, they are toed in and they also mentioned good for DADO's showing the rear roller right behind the saw blade. Useful for some but not all dado's. Even have some nice rollers for the router table..

[Swingman]

Spoken like a man who has no idea what a Delta Unifence looks like, or how it works?

[Swingman]

Yep, an outfeed table ...

Again, and with the Delta unifence, if you don't have an after market item like the Uni-T-Fence installed you need to fabricate a jig to mount board buddies on it, and, even then, board buddies do not perform as well on a saw equipped with a Unifence due to the unifence's tendency to to lift up at the back with less pressure than other fences.

[-MIKE-]

You must not build much with that crappy fence.

[Swingman]

Sad, ain't it ...