[JOAT]

The alternative as the piece gets thinner and thinner is a long, skinny push block. The pictures are of a variety of push sticks and simple shop made push blocks, any of which will increase safety.

Yup, safety first. I've got my Grrrrrrripper, and use it. But, I also use push sticks and push blocks a lot - all homemade. But when I start something new, usually cannot find either a push stick, or push block, but always find my Grippper, but not always my first choice. So every time I make new push sticks and/or push blocks, out of leftover pieces. Because if I can't find any, they are usually so chewed up by the saw blade they aren't something I want to reuse.
Works for me.

 

[Steve Pack]

i have the micro-jig with all the accessories. and i like ir with the exception of the 1/8 inch leg, I've cut 3 of the ripping thin strips. i finally purchased a thin strip rip stop and that took care of that. I've found that an accurate cross cut sled with a a depth stop clamped to fence is the easiest and most safe way to cut repetitive cuts on a piece of wood (and far cheaper than a trip to ER, I do not want to on a first name basis with the Er staff like Tim the Tool Man). Good luck with project.

 

[CharleyL]

Tom,

I think you should redesign some of those shop made pushers, because they aren't designed with the handle area high enough to be 6" above the blade as your hand passes over the blade while hanging onto it and there is no wide protection between your hand and the blade, like is present with a Grripper. Your first photo shows one that is a great design, but has way to low a handle. At least is does hold the work down and has a rear heel to push the work forward. Some of the others are a bit higher in design, but still not 6" above the blade to the bottom of the handle.

Charley

 

[oldluddite]

A friend of mine got kickback on a board he was cutting on his tablesaw. He was in the right position and using a pushblock and so had no injury, just a bewildered 'What was that?'
What that was, was represented behind him. He has an interior door behind him and his saw, and his workpiece very nicely impaled it, and nearly went through it.
He thought about it, and trimmed (shortened) the piece, but left it in the door as a reminder...

His wife finally talked him into taking it out, but it was several months.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

I wouldn't get too comp[lacent using a Grripper either. We had a member several years ago who said he was using one and somehow it got flipped over during a cut and he lost fingers as a result. It happened so fast that he wasn't sure how it did it. I tend to suspect that the board had compression stress in the wood and closed up the cut just past the blade and the back side of the blade lifted the board. I never got a chance to ask him for more details but I wonder if he had to push harder as the board went past the blade. I've had a few boards over the years do the same thing. It surprised me the first time but I realized every time after that what was happening and hit the stop button before bad things started happening.

I wonder if that's what happened to the person Old Luddite described? Welcome to the forum Bill, by the way.

 

[rmark]

A friend of mine got kickback on a board he was cutting on his tablesaw. He was in the right position and using a pushblock and so had no injury, just a bewildered 'What was that?'
What that was, was represented behind him. He has an interior door behind him and his saw, and his workpiece very nicely impaled it, and nearly went through it.
He thought about it, and trimmed (shortened) the piece, but left it in the door as a reminder...

His wife finally talked him into taking it out, but it was several months.

The man that taught me what I do know about working around a table saw has a wicked scar through his right wrist. It was from a kickback that he took straight through his wrist / forearm. It shattered the bones and he had a few surgeries to put it all together. He still has use of that hand but it is much less than the other.

Again, if I am needing a piece of wood 2" x 1/4" x 8', I would rip a 4-5" wide piece first. Then I'd set the fence for the 1/4" cut and raise the blade to cut 2" into the 4" piece. Finally, I'd lay the board down again and set the fence for the final 2" rip. This way, my fingers are never (too) close to an open blade. I have a "saddle" to ride over my table saw fence and I would have a "squeeze" board clamped to the side preventing the board from wobbling as I run the 1/4" run. Even with all that, I still need to stand in the right place and treat the cut with caution.

I also use this technique when cutting raised panels and their styles and rails.

 

[kp91]

The man that taught me what I do know about working around a table saw has a wicked scar through his right wrist. It was from a kickback that he took straight through his wrist / forearm. It shattered the bones and he had a few surgeries to put it all together. He still has use of that hand but it is much less than the other.

Again, if I am needing a piece of wood 2" x 1/4" x 8', I would rip a 4-5" wide piece first. Then I'd set the fence for the 1/4" cut and raise the blade to cut 2" into the 4" piece. Finally, I'd lay the board down again and set the fence for the final 2" rip. This way, my fingers are never (too) close to an open blade. I have a "saddle" to ride over my table saw fence and I would have a "squeeze" board clamped to the side preventing the board from wobbling as I run the 1/4" run. Even with all that, I still need to stand in the right place and treat the cut with caution.

I also use this technique when cutting raised panels and their styles and rails.

I would plane your stock to 2 inches thick, joint the corner on one side square, then rip the stock so that the 1/4 inch cut off is on the outside of the blade. Have your feather board set up before the blade to keep your stock held tight to the fence and control it. If the piece in my picture is too skinny for your liking, go wider. If your splitter is keeping the remainder against the fence you should have no problem keeping control over the piece.

In my case, where the guard keeps me from being able to pass the push stick between the blade and the fence without raising it, I would either follow this piece with another sacrificial piece to get the stock through, or go with a wider board.

 

[CharleyL]

Doug,

In your photo, what holds the work piece down? Is the blade guard capable of doing this?

I see one of those push sticks in the photo that does not do anything but push the work forward. It does nothing to hold it down. If the blade guard cannot hold the work piece down, using that push stick in this setup is an accident just waiting to happen. I don't even have that kind of push stick in my shop.

Charley

 

[Stick486]

here's a couple...

.

 

[kp91]

I would use one push stick to hold down, and feed with another. If I read the description right, it's an 8 foot long board? With a piece that size, the weight of the wood does the lion share of holding it down, and gives. You could also clamp a block to the fence to help hold it down.

That little 'finger' push stick is a great tool for holding things down and against the fence. The length and shape allow me to use it near the front of the guard yet still have my hands far away from the spinny part. The plastic material it is made of will slide across a piece of wood, so I can keep the downward pressure on while feeding.

 

[CharleyL]

OK, when used that way, I agree.

Charley