Rockler Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig

Nice review, Tim. I have looked at one of these and been debating whether to get one or not. It is nice to hear from someone who has used one.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Tim,

Thanks for a very nice review. I am sure it is a great product, but to me it looks like a kickback just waiting to happen. I certainly hope I am wrong.

I did a review on this item about a 1 1/2 months ago. I like it allot and think it is worth the money. Although in that first picture you have it set way too close to the blade. The directions said to position it at the bottom of the table saw insert. From my personal experience when I placed it any closer than that, I was getting burning on the keeper piece due to the jig pushing the piece back against the blade, and I think it drastically increases the chance of pinching the blade and kicking the piece back.

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Thanks for the review. Interesting jig.

-- Tim from Iowa City, IA

Shopnotes had a jig like this in their magazine once. Setup right it shouldn’t kick back as the keeper piece is thin and should peel away from the saw. Its basically a really low friction (Ball bearing) single point feather board.

Interesting.. can you show more pics of it in use…

-- making sawdust....

Thanks for the comments.

1) The bearing is actually touching the blade. I think I was more interested in getting a picture than anything else. In actual use it would be closer to the operator. I have never experienced anything close to kick back using this jig.

2) I usually make it a hair or two thicker than it needs to be and finish it with my Smoothing Plane. This also helps because it can be very difficult to move the blue adjusting piece.

-- www.responsetolight.com - A Woodworking & Renovation Blog & www.craftedbytim.com - I make. You buy.

I have one of these, and I agree with your review comments: difficult to adjust and I wish it had some numbers (any sequential numbers) instead of just ticks on the slide. I lubricated it with a little Waxilit, and that has helped with the slide. I do not use it often, but when I have it did the job. I always have a riving knife in place when rip sawing, and I have had no problem with kickback.

-- Bob

The increments on the unit are 1/16 and 1/32. The reason it doesn’t have any numbers is every saw and blade is different. To get an accurate measurement you touch the blade tooth with the bearing, and then use the marks to move the unit back the thickness of the piece. I like the fact that the jig was snug…it made it easier to hold my settings while i slid it down and tightened it up in position.

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

cool review, i’ve had my eye on this for awhile. looks like a cool little tool!

Picked one up last week, ripped a bunch of strips for screen door screens. Worked great. A keeper.

I made one similar to this a few months ago, there was a pattern in one of the woodworking magazines. It does the same thing and is a very reliable way of reproducing thin strips. I think this one or the one I made are very worthwhile additions to the shop.

-- Paul, La Center, Washington

I’m not new to woodworking and have been staring at the pictures but haven’t a clue what this device does. Do you use it instead of a fence?

-- Don, Pittsburgh