Project Information
We, who still have 10 fingers are aware of the dangers of ripping thin stock on the tablesaw and those without are now aware through the process of elimination… medically known as self-amputation.
Jokes aside, it is a serious issue fraught with dangers. I used to cut the "veneers" on my bandsaw (and my fingernails), but what I saved in the narrower kerf, I quickly sacrificed on the thicknesser and/or drum sander, cleaning it up. Furthermore, I must admit that for thin stock… I hate using sleds… without snow.
In an attempt to minimise aggression, I tried the "off fence" cut method (or whatever the right terminology is), however, by continually having to move the fence my subsequent thinning clean up on the thicknesser often provided optimum competition for my inappropriate bandsaw efforts.
Since I migrated to thin kerf blades on my TS, the wood sacrifice between the TS and BS (doesn't this sound like BS) was negligible and saved me a helluva lot of extra rework.
But the normal operating procedure is still dangerous so when it comes to thin stock, I now pick the "just right" Push Stick (PS) to fit the job… hello Goldilocks.
I used to use one of the many plastic PSs I've managed to amass in my clandestine visits to tool shops but I always found them not very friendly and they just hated getting unwanted attention from a spinning tablesaw blade. I like to picture them in an 'X' pattern to remind myself not to use them,
OK, the picture was posed but I just wanted to prove I had some.
I then came across the following pattern somewhere in a magazine (I think it was Woman's Weekly) and adopted it for a while.
It was better than the plastics for timber hold down and even though it was offensive to my delicate hands, that was quickly rectified by rounding over the edges (of the PS).
Sometime later I progressed to this laser cut PS based on the above design,
but it lost out badly in the workshop popularity contest… not only that, the handle was ugh!
At the moment I have 3 PSs (I drink a lot of liquids… and I am leaving my yellow bought push blocks out of this equation… bet the "yellow" after drinks had you squirming) with 3mm, 6mm and 19mm thicknesses respectively (pic #6), loitering on the off side of my TS fence and the appropriate one is readied according to the job at hand… actually I gab the nearest and hope it's the right one… nearly joking… 1/3 of the time I'm right and the other 3/4 is just a narrow miss. I am still toying around with the idea of mounting some sort of a cradle for them on my tablesaw fence.
My 19mm PS is made of pine and utilizes an old recycled plastic handle. This will eventually morph into an 18mm MDF PS but without the plastic handle which I should be able to recycle in a similar fashion to this (push block for jointer… same handle),
(I BS'd about not mentioning push blocks.)
Looks like we're back to my sad old saga when mentioning that the thinner PSs are laser cut. In reality, if you just don't happen to have a laser lurking in a corner of your workshop, take a closer look as you may find a CNC hiding behind one of those oversized Stanley FatMax tape measures. If your eyesight is failing and you succeed in finding neither… rather than continuing your search… you could hack the shape out on your bandsaw, jigsaw, fretsaw, scroll saw, hacksaw, copingsaw, Japsaw or any other type of eyesore that you have amassed in your mancave. Grab the result and attack it with a rasp or file and finish it off with your favourite sanding implement(s).
If you happen to be a "bandsawee" or one of the abovementioned "sawees", or just a wall flower that hasn't been mentioned, I recommend you keep your best sculpture as a routing template for all future PS's. If you don't have a xxxsaw (no not cussing, just replace the xxx with an appropriate saw name) and/or router… may I suggest you take up cooking… smartrrs Google informs me that most houses do at least have a stove.
You may have noticed the body has a number of holes in it and if you haven't, go back and have another look (or save your neck strain and look at the picture below),
They are not there to make it lighter or more streamlined, but are designed for alignment dowels in case you want to laminate a customised thickness… (I need it as my laser will only cut 6mm MDF comfortably). You will notice the grips have the similar holes that align with the holes of the body.
Just ensure that the bottom of the grips clear your fence. I build up the layers in the grips from a combination of 3mm and 6mm MDF till the handle is comfortable. You may notice I don't glue on the grips to the PS body but hold them in place by blue masking tape.
That way the grips are reusable, as I quickly wear down the body by far too many shaving cuts. I believe in re-cycling and cycling is a great source of exercise. If you look closely you will find a smearing of super glue over the back "engage lip" of the 3mm PS just to provide a bit more strength against wear.
Unfortunately the blue tape has gone to pot,
Moral of the story is… use low grip tape or better still don't use high grip tape… you decide.
The customised grip make groping MDF a more pleasurable experience.
There are a couple of modifications I have used in the past,
This PS has a slot to accept hardware so that I can add supplementary PS aids,
The next format is designed to finish off small pieces fed under any used fence's feather board that will not let a normal PS slip past undetected,
The shape is so designed that after manipulating the workpiece's tail end close to the saw blade, you use this push stick to finish off the pushing, stopping the feed after the end of the stock passes the blade and before you knuckles hit it. The narrow profile is quite fragile and that's why I haven't got a picture of one as it was mangled during its last engagement and I haven't got around to it,
to making a new one.
While the design includes a dedicated grip for it, I've found that for a 1 or 2 use operation it was not worth making them.
There are 2 PDF's, one using 6mm dowels and the other with the additional .35mm added on to give bigger holes. The PDF's are in A3 format so if you don't have an A3 printer, improvise or buy yourself a BIG magnifying glass. Feel free to use them for creating the same design as mine or at least it may give you an idea of how to customise your cherished shape (or go adventurous)... with padded hand grips it could be even more sensual… Thx tyvekboy.
If you already have your own PS's and are happy with it, just clap your hands (over your eyes) and don't read this article.
Jokes aside, it is a serious issue fraught with dangers. I used to cut the "veneers" on my bandsaw (and my fingernails), but what I saved in the narrower kerf, I quickly sacrificed on the thicknesser and/or drum sander, cleaning it up. Furthermore, I must admit that for thin stock… I hate using sleds… without snow.
In an attempt to minimise aggression, I tried the "off fence" cut method (or whatever the right terminology is), however, by continually having to move the fence my subsequent thinning clean up on the thicknesser often provided optimum competition for my inappropriate bandsaw efforts.
Since I migrated to thin kerf blades on my TS, the wood sacrifice between the TS and BS (doesn't this sound like BS) was negligible and saved me a helluva lot of extra rework.
But the normal operating procedure is still dangerous so when it comes to thin stock, I now pick the "just right" Push Stick (PS) to fit the job… hello Goldilocks.
I used to use one of the many plastic PSs I've managed to amass in my clandestine visits to tool shops but I always found them not very friendly and they just hated getting unwanted attention from a spinning tablesaw blade. I like to picture them in an 'X' pattern to remind myself not to use them,
OK, the picture was posed but I just wanted to prove I had some.
I then came across the following pattern somewhere in a magazine (I think it was Woman's Weekly) and adopted it for a while.
It was better than the plastics for timber hold down and even though it was offensive to my delicate hands, that was quickly rectified by rounding over the edges (of the PS).
Sometime later I progressed to this laser cut PS based on the above design,
but it lost out badly in the workshop popularity contest… not only that, the handle was ugh!
At the moment I have 3 PSs (I drink a lot of liquids… and I am leaving my yellow bought push blocks out of this equation… bet the "yellow" after drinks had you squirming) with 3mm, 6mm and 19mm thicknesses respectively (pic #6), loitering on the off side of my TS fence and the appropriate one is readied according to the job at hand… actually I gab the nearest and hope it's the right one… nearly joking… 1/3 of the time I'm right and the other 3/4 is just a narrow miss. I am still toying around with the idea of mounting some sort of a cradle for them on my tablesaw fence.
My 19mm PS is made of pine and utilizes an old recycled plastic handle. This will eventually morph into an 18mm MDF PS but without the plastic handle which I should be able to recycle in a similar fashion to this (push block for jointer… same handle),
(I BS'd about not mentioning push blocks.)
Looks like we're back to my sad old saga when mentioning that the thinner PSs are laser cut. In reality, if you just don't happen to have a laser lurking in a corner of your workshop, take a closer look as you may find a CNC hiding behind one of those oversized Stanley FatMax tape measures. If your eyesight is failing and you succeed in finding neither… rather than continuing your search… you could hack the shape out on your bandsaw, jigsaw, fretsaw, scroll saw, hacksaw, copingsaw, Japsaw or any other type of eyesore that you have amassed in your mancave. Grab the result and attack it with a rasp or file and finish it off with your favourite sanding implement(s).
If you happen to be a "bandsawee" or one of the abovementioned "sawees", or just a wall flower that hasn't been mentioned, I recommend you keep your best sculpture as a routing template for all future PS's. If you don't have a xxxsaw (no not cussing, just replace the xxx with an appropriate saw name) and/or router… may I suggest you take up cooking… smartrrs Google informs me that most houses do at least have a stove.
You may have noticed the body has a number of holes in it and if you haven't, go back and have another look (or save your neck strain and look at the picture below),
They are not there to make it lighter or more streamlined, but are designed for alignment dowels in case you want to laminate a customised thickness… (I need it as my laser will only cut 6mm MDF comfortably). You will notice the grips have the similar holes that align with the holes of the body.
Just ensure that the bottom of the grips clear your fence. I build up the layers in the grips from a combination of 3mm and 6mm MDF till the handle is comfortable. You may notice I don't glue on the grips to the PS body but hold them in place by blue masking tape.
That way the grips are reusable, as I quickly wear down the body by far too many shaving cuts. I believe in re-cycling and cycling is a great source of exercise. If you look closely you will find a smearing of super glue over the back "engage lip" of the 3mm PS just to provide a bit more strength against wear.
Unfortunately the blue tape has gone to pot,
Moral of the story is… use low grip tape or better still don't use high grip tape… you decide.
The customised grip make groping MDF a more pleasurable experience.
There are a couple of modifications I have used in the past,
This PS has a slot to accept hardware so that I can add supplementary PS aids,
The next format is designed to finish off small pieces fed under any used fence's feather board that will not let a normal PS slip past undetected,
The shape is so designed that after manipulating the workpiece's tail end close to the saw blade, you use this push stick to finish off the pushing, stopping the feed after the end of the stock passes the blade and before you knuckles hit it. The narrow profile is quite fragile and that's why I haven't got a picture of one as it was mangled during its last engagement and I haven't got around to it,
to making a new one.
While the design includes a dedicated grip for it, I've found that for a 1 or 2 use operation it was not worth making them.
There are 2 PDF's, one using 6mm dowels and the other with the additional .35mm added on to give bigger holes. The PDF's are in A3 format so if you don't have an A3 printer, improvise or buy yourself a BIG magnifying glass. Feel free to use them for creating the same design as mine or at least it may give you an idea of how to customise your cherished shape (or go adventurous)... with padded hand grips it could be even more sensual… Thx tyvekboy.
If you already have your own PS's and are happy with it, just clap your hands (over your eyes) and don't read this article.