how to rip a board

This is going to sound really stupid, but what is the best way to rip a 1 x

2 into 1/8" x 3/4" strips? Do I put the fence to the right of the blade and keep moving it? or do I put it to the left so that it is 1/8" away from the blade? Thats the way that seems logical but what about kickback? When i'm all done I'll have strips that are 1/8" thick by 5/16" wide but 4 15/16" long. I appreciate your help. I'll be doing this on a table saw.

signature Troy & Michelle Hall Cogy Farm Clay Center, Kansas 67432

Reply to
Troy Hall
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Step one is to make or buy a push stick. You don't want to have your hands near the blade.

Keep the wider dimension of the wood between the fence and blade. You can make a stop for the other side to get a consistent dimension on the 1/8" strips. There was a diagram of how to make one posted on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking a few days ago. Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

There are no stupid questions, only stupid woodworkers with missing fingers.

Go here then view the complete thread:

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(watch out for line wrap)

I have a google groups search for this group as a bookmark because I use it so often:

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just can't figure out how to get it to check "only in rec.woodworking" in the bookmark.

More specific to your question, you want to be cutting the strips to your short length as the last step, you do not want to cut your 1x2 into ~4" lengths and then try to rip them down.

-Leuf

Reply to
Leuf

Step 2 is to use the push stick to make a narrow strip ripping block, like this:

The block has always provided me with much better quality strips, there are no flying pieces that used to be the stick, and the block is almost fool proof for keeping the work and the waste in the local zip code.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

"Troy Hall" writes

I did a very similar job only on a much larger scale.

I ripped 5/8"x1-1/2"x24ft strips from a 2"x12"x24ft piece of construction lumber but the method is the same.

The old saying about if you are going to eat a steer, first you have to cut him up in little pieces applies here.

First, rip the 1x2 piece into 1x1 pieces using a featherboard to hold the piece against the fence and a 2nd featherboard clamped to the fence to hold the piece down and the method described below.

Make sure your splitter is installed.

Next, set fence for 1/8" cut, and readjust featherboards as req'd.

Now you are ready to start cutting strips.

Feed the material into the saw until it projects over the back edge of the table 24"-36", then walk around to the back of the saw and pull the pieces thru to finish cut.

The above keeps you away from the blade as well as solving a whole bunch of possible kick back problems.

I work alone and still use it quite frequently.

Starting with a piece of 2" stock, should about 6, maybe 7 finished strips.

Good luck.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:43:00 GMT, Leuf calmly ranted:

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you an advanced group search for "search term" in rec.woodworking and puts 100 results on a page. "Safe=off" means it doesn't censor results. You can successfully leave out the &lr and &hl=en if you wish.

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Your Wild & Woody Website Wonk

Reply to
Larry Jaques

First let me say this can be a little dangerous. Its called slicing.

You'll want to cut the strips to the outside of the blade, not between the blade and the fence. I usually do this from wider boards and stop when they get down to about 2" wide.

Here are the steps.

  1. Set the fence to do rip cut that just barely trims the board.

  1. Remove the board and bump the fence over 1/8" and lock it down.

  2. Butt the board back against the fence as if ready to push it through for a rip but don't do it.

  1. I use an adjustable square, set the edge into the miter slot to the left of the blade and extend the ruler over to the edge of the board. If this doesn't make sense, what you are doing is setting up an easily removable stop block to the left of the balde near the leading edge of the table.

  2. Run the cut

  1. Check the slat you just cut, if it's the right width, now put the square back in the slot put the board in place and bump the fence over to snug with the board.

  2. Rinse and repeat.

Starting with a 2" wide board means you will have to use a push stick and after a few slices you will be down to a real thin board. Honestly, I push 3/4" cuts through all the time but I don't like it. I think it's dangerous.

I'll email you a picture because I don't know how to post images.

Reply to
Bill Wallace

Troy :

Best device I've seen is the "Grippper"

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you to do this very safely.

Also, you can make a sled out of ply (or other wood) that goes between the fence and the blade. Secure a ledge of wood at the rear and adjust the distance of the fence plus sled to the width of the cut you need. The ledge at the rear will push the wood thru the blade.

Search this "rec" for better info and I'm sure a link to a descriptive webpage.

MJ Wallace

Reply to
MJ Wallace

You can make one for ~$3. I posted a link to a photo.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

Reply to
Troy Hall

You want consensus on a single best answer ? You'll be lucky...

I'd start by crosscutting the strip to 3' lengths, just for ease of handling. Maybe longer if you have a spacious shop and long arms.

As a general rule, do the awkward jobs first, then do the rest, finally turn it into small pieces that become hard to handle.

I'd do it by ripping the thin strip off against the fence. This is easy, and the cutting is safe - so long as it can't go "down the slot" into the insert, and so long as the fence isn't skewed and going to bind it. As it's only 1/8" thick, binding in the kerf won't be a problem (unless that fence is skewed)..

I wouldn't do this without a zero-clearance (or damn near it) insert. I'd also get the dial gauge out and check alignment of the fence against the blade (or both against the mitre slot).

The hard part is getting the thin strip safely out past the blade. If it's long enough , it should come out easily enough. If it isn't, use a "top sled", or a very thin push stick from above.

Personally I'd use a push stick from the side and let gravity drop the thin strip out, just because visibility is better. I'd cut a new one from scrap specially for this job, and I'd lose 1/8" off the nose with every cut.

A top sled is a flat sled that goes on the top of the timber, with a handle on top, rubber or foam underneath, and a ledge at the tail. They're great for cutting a few thin slices off a wide board, really dangerous if the remainder starts to become narrower then the height of the board, because it might tip over and drop the sled onto the top of the blade. I don't like these things much....

With the strips thin, I'd cut the 1" dimension (this is easy).

Finally I'd clamp a stop into the crosscut box, then crosscut them all to length. I'd happily cross-cut a stack of half-a-dozen at a time. Be careful when removing offcuts with the saw still running - only do this if your crosscut box has a fully shrouded tunnel and you retract the blade right into it.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:27:59 GMT, "Troy Hall" calmly ranted:

Troy and Mikey: I just made some strips for my neighbor. (She's putting up plastic over the 1950 windows in their log cabin.)

I started out on the tablesaw and moved to the bandsaw. What a difference! The bandsaw is THE instrument of success, plus it has a finer kerf, leaving more strips. I set the fence once and cut against it (something that's dangerous to do on the tablesaw), and it cut more quickly than the tablesaw with its Timberwolf 3T hook blade.

It's safer, cleaner, quicker, more efficient, SO, if you don't have a bandsaw, borrow someone's shop for half an hour to use theirs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If God approved of nudity, we all would have been born naked. ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

I have NOT read the other replies...BUT

Really depends on just how long the original work piece is... if it is 8 foot long This is how I would handle it

I use a block of wood which is locked down 1/8 of a inch to the left of the blade... then I place the board on the saw with the edge touching the locked down block ...slide the fence over and make my cut... Second cut is the same...placing the board on the saw touching the block and sliding the fence over ...

If the workpiece is only 2 foot long I would make the cuts between the fence and the blade (on the right of the blade..)

Adjust the fence to 1/8 inch...lower the blade so it is only 1/4 inch above the thickness of the workpiece...then GRAP a push stick (I would use a 2x4 about 5 inche long ) with a piece of masonite protruding about 3/8 an inch to push the workpiece along... and I also would use a feather board placed just in front of the blade...

Just my methods...

Bob Griffiths

Reply to
Bob G.

I have to second this with a BIG thumbs up. Should use this as an excellent excuse to pick up a nice bandsaw. Depending on the quality of finish needed for these, too, it might be an excuse to buy either a nice plane or a drum sander..... In any case, the best tool I have found for ripping thin strips (or veneer) off larger pieces of wood is, indeed, a well-tuned bandsaw with a good, sharp blade. It is possible to get amazingly thin slices, with very good surface finish with almost no danger. Regards Dave Mundt

Reply to
Dave Mundt

Bob, I did just that. I added an auxillary fence so that I could get close without fear of hitting the blade, and since I didn't have any means of adding any thing else to it ( yet! ) as my saw is circa 1940ish, I added a thin piece of ply that sat the thickness of a paper higher then the strips. This was my "feather board" sans feathers. I didn't have a feather board infront of the blade as you suggested, other then my "stop block" and I noticed that on the very slim pieces, ( last rip ) they wouldn't stay in the blade. So next time I'm going to have to try to figure out how to make one. I can't believe how simple this all was. I also made a cross cut sled. and treated my table saw with the generic equivalent to "slip-it" and MAN!!!! what a difference!!! My fence has always been "sticky" and hard to adjust right-left or very close to the blade. Well after oiling the clamp hinge pins that lock the fence to the table & "slicking" the top, it works like a dream!!! The most minute adjustments are now simple. My cross cut sled slides so fast across the saw that I was throwing the cut ends on the floor even though there is a stop board on the back of it LOL I don't have a "zero clearance" insert unfortunately and don't see how to possible make one as my saw uses these weird clamps to hold the insert in place. I wish I had had one, but we were able to cut 369 finished pieces in under an hour with our setup. And this was one at a time when cross cutting. I think I could've easily done it in half the time had I put 5 or

6 at a time through. I had a goal of a .010" tolerance for this project, and I easily came within that. I call it a splended success.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR HELP!

signature Troy & Michelle Hall Cogy Farm Clay Center, Kansas 67432 "Troy Hall" wrote in message news:Oktld.15311$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...

Reply to
Troy Hall

good job, Troy!

*high five*

Reply to
mac davis

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