table saw push stick or push block or ???

[Electric Comet]

like the idea of storing with a magnet i notice some newer saws have mounts for storing the miter sled

[Electric Comet]

your email is almost a palindrome if you had made it ogopogo

this is what i was thinking when i made mine

[Electric Comet]

do people apologize here for giving their opinions i had not noticed

i use the push stick for small pieces

[-MIKE-]

Do you even know what a shoe/heel push block is and how it works?

[-MIKE-]

Someone is just stuck in his ways. Shoe blocks are overwhelmingly considered to be a much safer and more effective means of passing stock through a table saw blade by the vast majority of the woodworking community.

[-MIKE-]

Rarely. :-)

They do, however, use punctuation most of the time.

[Puckdropper]

Puckdropper wrote in news:55bd4507$0$42769$c3e8da3$ [e-mail]:

I decided to quantitize my assertation that a safer push stick is super easy to build... It took me two pieces of wood, two screws, and about 6 minutes to build a quick and dirty push stick that's much better than the birdsmouth style.

Check A.B.P.W. for some rough and awful woodworking.

Puckdropper

[Electric Comet]

i am planning on making a couple of jigs or at least one for the bandsaw so will have to research a little on form & function of feather boards

yes kind of obvious i think

this does make sense although i don't have a dado set yet

[Leon]

Well let me warn you that some times what appears to be flat and straight stock will can not appear that way after being cut. Be careful with any stock.

[Swingman]

Yep, about 95% of the time with the larger, heavy duty ones.

Most of the time I end up using the smaller ones, backed up by the larger ones if necessary.

[Swingman]

Yep that's true...

As is the case with almost all jigs (tenon, spline, taper, et al) used for various operations on the table saw that have been in use for a hundred years or more.

However, and having long respected your expertise and not arguing with your valid point, something else for the newer folks here to consider when deciding which is the best solution for them.

Since it is impossible to eliminate all risk, the idea is to _minimize risk_ with a design that:

~ Gets the hand a relatively safe distance away/above the blade.

~ At the same time uses the _minimum_ amount of force/effort to maintain adequate downward pressure AND pushing force.

IME, the further the hand exerting force is moved back toward the operator, and away from the workpiece being pushed, the more force/effort required from that hand to provide _downward_ force on the workpiece.

Using more force/effort than necessary on a workpiece being pushed in the direction of the blade arguably increases the chance of being injured during a kickback or bind.

Some folks, particularly those with very strong wrists, may not have a problem with this.

The ability to almost effortlessly maintain minimum force in both planes is why I like the design I use, which has stood the test of time for me with regard to safe operation ... so far.

YMMV ...

Table saw is a dangerous tool, best way to never get hurt by one is to not use one .... and not even a SawStop can protect you from all danger.

Have the scars of 13 stitches in a thumb from a table saw ... damned thing wasn't even plugged in, and didn't have a blade installed.

ER still classified as a "table saw accident". :(

[-MIKE-]

I probably missed it, but what design?

[krw]

Yes. I know a little about physics, too.

[krw]

Always. Which is why my fingers never go beyond the front of the spinning blade.

[krw]

Perhaps most but a taper jig shouldn't be on that list. It's easy to make them long enough such that the hand doesn't have to get anywhere near the blade.

Certainly. Everything has some amount of risk associated with it (even staying in one's bed). Life is about trading off risk and benefit. Woodworking has a benefit, so I assume some risk.

That's where featherboards come in handy (at least for ripping, where the most danger of kickback is).

OK. Again, if I'm worried about kickback (and that's often) I use featherboards in both planes, and a splitter (or knife).

Sure. But it's a fun tool. ;-)

The only damage I've done to myself on the saw was when it wasn't plugged in. I've come close when it was spinning down, though.

Sure, and if someone crosses a double yellow and hits someone coming home from happy hour, it's still an alcohol related accident, too. A friends wife got hit by a bicycle (she stopped and the kid kept going

- looking behind him). It was classified as an automobile-pedestrian collision and their insurance still paid. Who said that government statistics have any meaning? ;-)

[Leon]

Check further up, he has a link with a picture.

[Leon]

I came close the second time mine was spinning down. I was successful the first time.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not really. The typical bird's mouth grips only about 3/4" or so. With a block it can be as long as you want ti to be. Mine is about 8" and the handle grip in back of that. You can exert a reasonable amount of downward pressure and still stay behind the blade.

[J. Clarke]

One tool I have that scares me a bit is the 18v deWalt circular saw--my other saw is a worm drive Skil that pretty much demands to be handled with two hands, but the deWalt is so light that I often use it with one, and one of these days I'm afraid my other one is going to be in the wrong place. Still, it's so damned _convenient_.

[krw]

So you're saying the difference is only how big of a mouth the bird has? The leverage is working against you anytime you're pushing the stock. If the handle is up-front, I'd agree that it's less likely to cause a kickback (because the leading edge lifts). Leverage is working for you. But, as long as the handle is behind the stock, it's not in your favor. I'll stick with featherboards and a couple of birds.