# Ripping diamonds on the table saw



## gwebb (Apr 6, 2009)

I'm new to woodworking and I had a safety question regarding the table saw. I wanted to make an endgrain tumbling block cutting board. The way I envisioned doing this is cutting 1.5" by 3/4" by long pieces of wood into diamonds onto the table saw and then cutting them on a mitre saw to proper thickness.

To keep the piece stable I was thinking I would clamp a piece onto either side of the stock (running on the 3/4" edge) and run it through the table saw with the blade set at 60 degrees. Then I was thinking this could cause a kickback due to the trapped piece of loose stock. Is this thinking correct? and could I fix this by having another board behind the pieces I was working with (like a crosscut fence)?

thanks,
Gordon

since I don't have pictures online here is very simple ascii drawing. The brackets are the guide wood, the upright lines are the stock I am cutting, the v is the cut lines although they would go through the edge of the good stock.
[]|v|[]


----------



## gwebb (Apr 6, 2009)

thanks for the advice.


----------



## darryl (Jul 22, 2006)

personally, I prep my stock to the thickness I want prior to using my tablesaw/jig to cut my pieces for segmentation. I wouldn't try and cut a small piece in half on a mitersaw…


----------



## gwebb (Apr 6, 2009)

What I meant by proper thickness was that, since it was going to be alot of 1/2" to 3/4" end grain pieces, was that I would mill the shape and be left with a diamond shaped piece of stock a couple feet long which would then be cut into small segments. When I was down to short stock I would clamp it down for when I was cutting


----------



## ShawnAllen (Dec 11, 2008)

Since you are cutting pieces off larger stock, that should be do-able. Use a jig and a wooden hold-down if you are trying to get that last part, assuming this can hold the piece securely (sandpaper between your hold-down and stock for a good grip)

Definately do not even think about using the fence in a way that traps bits betwen the blad and the fence - you literally won't have time to blink before that cut-off becomes a projectile.

What other shop tools do you have (miter/chop vs band saw)?


----------



## gwebb (Apr 6, 2009)

I'd be working in a well equipped shop (tablesaw, bandsaw, compound miter etc).

I would start with a decent sized piece of lumber, lets say 1" by 2" by 4'. I would mill it down to 3/4" by 1 1/2" keeping 4' length. Then I would cut it to make a diamond 1 1/2" long 3/4" at the widest point and 4' long (probably on the bandsaw as skarp suggested. I would then cut off 3/4" pieces off the end of the stock to leave myself endgrain diamonds 3/4" thick, getting the final shape from a miter saw cut from a long piece of wood.


----------



## chriswright (Nov 13, 2008)

Check this guys video out. He's turning a segmented vase, but how he cuts the segments might be helpful to you. The cross cut sled he's made might be able to do exactly what you need.

http://marleyturned.com/id99.htm

Segmented turning requires cutting small pieces of wood at precise angles, and his sled holds both pieces securely with little risk of kick back.


----------



## gwebb (Apr 6, 2009)

Thanks for the video. The difference is I wanted to work with endgrain so that cutting technique doesn't really work for me. I was just trying to figure out the best way to cut a long diamond but I think the bandsaw will work fine with the proper jigs and fences.


----------



## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

Gidday gwebb,
I am in the process of writing a blog on how I made the endgrain tumbling blocks butcher block [ project #15974] using the table saw.


----------

