Anybody ever use these featherboards?

[jtpr]

that my finger is (kind of) getting better I might get near (but not REAL) near that saw again... I just wondered if these worked as they look like they could be a good idea.

[David Babcock]

Never having used them, the only problem I can foresee is if you use a sacrificial piece on your fence, or if the face of your fence isn't steel.

Dave

[Bob S.]

Jim,

I have two of them along with featherboards that slide in the miter slot. The problem with the Grip Tites is that if they end up over the miter slot (and they do) they won't hold well at all - that's where the featherboard will work better. Also, they can exert enough force on the wood to mar it so you want to be careful when doing final passes and not apply to much pressure.

A side feature is that mine are made from wood (early versions) but you could do the same with the plastic ones, is to make the front exactly perpendicular to the magnetic base if it isn't already. When I need to align my jointer fence to 90deg, I just slap that on the fence, push it down so the front end is on the outfeed table (node down) then align the fence until the front of the Grip Tite is flush with no gaps to the outfeed table - works like a champ.

I don't have the metal base for the TS fence like that shown in the pic but unless it's quickly installable and removable it would be more of a pain to use. If you'll note in that same picture, they are not using a splitter of any kind - bad pic! By all means, get and use the safety devices but realistically, for $80 you can build a set of featherboards a lot cheaper.

You could also conjure up some similar devices by getting a few of those large rare-earth magnets from Lee Valley, epoxy them into a base laminated up from some maple/white oak/exotic wood pieces and I'm sure someone here can tell you what that "plastic" is and where to get it - I'd like to know that too. It is tough stuff and flexible and a 12"x12" sheet of that would be more than enough to make a half-dozen hold downs.

My big scare and awakening came they day I had a kickback that missed me put one helluva dent in a shop cabinet. I was ripping a piece oak and it decided to close on the blade - guess who got in a hurry and forgot to put the Bies splitter in-place? Later found out the 250bf of white oak I got was not dried properly and was case hardened. So now I'm a real convert and try not to do anything too stupid - the sound of that kickback was like a shotgun blast and the damage to the cabinet is a reminder.

Bob S.

[Jerry Gilreath]

I just got one a month or so ago, so far so good.

[Dustmaker]

I bought a complete kit of magnetic featherboards at the Woodworker show (good discounts at the show), including the steel fences for the rip fence and router fences. I can't imagine working without them. The newer style (plastic) clamp to the fence and use a sandpaper roller to hold the work down and to the fence. Perfect for holding plywood when ripping and also for router work. I plan to use them on my new band saw for resawing. They take a while to get used to. The kit included a video which I re-run on occasion to remind me of the possibilities.

For narrow cuts, you can remove the factory guard and splitter for close work and use the little insert kit they provide to make a splitter in your zero clearance table saw insert plate. It's basically a 1/8" post in an adjustable hole to line it up with the blade.

If you are making a cut that involves having the blade under the fence, I imagine you could use some magnets imbedded into a sacrificial fence (make sure it is S4S) and merely attaching it to the fence. A bit of wax on the sacrificial fence should allow the workpiece to feed smoothly.

[Bay Area Dave]

I have two of them and use them all the time. I bought them despite some negative comments on the Wreck. I agree with another poster that if you place them directly over the slots, they won't hold. I merely turn them at an angle and the hold well enough for me. I've never had them mar the wood either. What I like best about them is that I can set them in place in a few seconds and I can use them on the jointer also.

dave

jtpr wrote:

[Mike G]

Own one, use it, like it.

Good luck.

[Jim Ryan]

Thanks for all the input, think I'll get a set.

[Phisherman]

They are a good idea. But, I make my own featherboards of various sizes form scrap pine for a fraction of the cost. They are very easy to make.

[Roy Smith]

I've done the same.

I recently bought one of those pre-made featherboards that fit into a miter slot

and found that the fingers are way too stiff. As you adjust the pressure on the workpiece, it goes right from not doing anything at all to being much too tight. This also means it's useless if the edge it's riding on is a rough edge.

The pine is just so much more flexible. I think I'm going to keep the hardware and replace the wood part with one of my own.

The bigger problem is that I'm limited to using it on rips where the part on the outside of the blade is no wider than the distance from the blade to a couple of inches shy of the miter slot. For that reason alone I'm thinking of getting the magnetic ones that you can plop down anywhere on the table.

Board buddies seem like a clever solution to the problem, but also seem like they'd be a lot of commotion to use. I've got a Unifence, and I'm not even sure if you can mount them on that.