# Homemade Grr...ripper smart hook (push pad with retractable rear cleat)



## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

I recently came across this product, which looks like a great idea:

http://microjig.com/products/grr-rip-block/index.shtml

It's a pushblock/push pad with rear cleats that stay down when pushing from the back end of the workpiece, but retract up when pushing in the middle of the workpiece. (I originally thought they were spring loaded but it looks like just work via gravity.)

I don't really want to shell out for this item when it seems like there should be a simple shop-made solution using a normal push pad (I have the Bench Dog pads and a normal Grr…ripper). I toyed with the idea of using spring loaded barrel bolts or spring hinges to make the cleat, but those seem clunky and I'm not sure I want that much metal next to a saw blade. I also thought about attaching a piece of wood with a vertical slot or t-track just off the back of the push pad, so that I could drop a piece of scrap in the slot to make a cleat that would slide up when not needed. That seems like it would work, but I'm just wondering - does anyone have other ideas for how to rig up a retractable cleat to the back of a Bench Dog/homemade push pad?


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Drill two holes, 3/8" diameter, through the push pad, top to bottom, near the rear edge.
Insert two lengths of 5/16" dowel rod about a half inch longer than the pad is thick.
To make very weak springs use strips of plastic banding material about 3" long and attach them to the tops of the dowels. Attach them with small screws, or epoxy, or both.
After the glue cures, if you glued it, then screw the other end of the strip to the top of the pad. Use short screws, like 1/4" or 3/8", so they don't protrude through the pad.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

If you have enough room for a gripper then you have enough room for your hand or a traditional push block. They don't raise your hands enough that it's going to be much if any safer. If used sideways they put your hand right over the blade.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

There's the yahtzee. Thanks Michael!


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Rick, I'm not sure I follow your reasoning.

I'm recalling situations where I was using a push pad and it was gripping fine but it would have been helpful to have cleats on the back to help exert pressure guiding forward, while the pad exerted pressure down and toward the fence. And it would have been awkward to use my hand behind the piece to push forward, or else I was using my other hand to hold a second push pad on a longer piece. In those cases, there would be a fair amount of utility in a block with a cleat (like a typical push stick) on the back of the wider/grippier surface of a pad.


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## Kobra (Mar 13, 2013)

The GRR-Ripper is an excellent pushing tool. However there are certain widths where it will not work. Here's a push pad I made a couple of days ago to supplement my GRR-Rippers. It was made using a scrap of 3/4 inch plywood and a piece of 2X6. I drilled three 5/16" holes to allow for the 1/4" bolts. I then stapled a couple of pieces of non-slip safety mat to the wood.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Nevermind me Dan, I shouldn't have distracted from the point of the thread. It's just I've only used pushers on a jointer, never a tablesaw.

Back to the question. I'm imagining a leaf spring that pushes the cleat downward but what to use for the spring?


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

It would appear I overthought this to a ridiculous degree. A few holes for bolts/dowels is all it takes. Thanks Jocks.


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## BigMig (Mar 31, 2011)

Watch out that your bolts don't EVER get near the cutting surfaces - better to use *wooden dowels *than *steel bolts*, right?


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## mprzybylski (Nov 21, 2011)

I too thought they were a neat idea and made these: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/84798


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