feather board use with TS

Yes, that is the standard practice. And especially with dados, it is also beneficial to have another one holding the workpiece firmly down to the table.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Agreed, though, I find it better to put the feather board across from the front of the blade, especially if you are doing long pieces, to be sure the stock is square against the fence before as the cut starts. I once had to dado a long piece about 7 feet long, and was not set up properly, stood about 2 feet from the saw so I could easily balance the board, because I didnt have a hand pressing it agianst the fence, I was just watching it make contact with the fence, when it finally got to the featherboard, it slid over the 1/32, 1/16 whatever, and kicked back pretty bad.

If you are pressing it firmly against the fence when you start, it shouldnt be an issue. Of course, if you dont let you hand slip you should never need a push block either, but none of us are dumb enough to assume that.

I would agree that there is nothing wrong with having a featherboard directly across from the blade when doing a non-through dado cut, but I don’t see much point in it either.

The main thing I want my featherboard to do is ensure that my board is properly against the fence when it contacts the blade. This is true no matter whether it is a through cut or not. For that reason, I still position my featherboard before the blade. I’m not really seeing what the advantage would be of putting it next to the blade instead.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I tend to agree with CharlieM1958, The whole point is to hold the stock tight up the fence just prior to it contacting the blade, not a whole lot of point shoving it sideways as it comes across the blade.

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!