Jessem Feather Boards... WOW they are great.

[Bill Huber]

Got the Jessem feather boards today and are they great. I have some mag type I use on the table saw and band saw but they don't work with the router table.
I also have some Bench Dogs which are really good and that is what I have been using on the router table. They set up ok they are a little pain to set up. You have to place them where you want them and set the pressure at the same time.

The Jessems are a little different, you place them were you want them and lock them down, then you set the pressure you want and lock that down. If you want to move them form side to side a little just do it and you will still have the pressure set just like it was.

Changing them from one setup to the next is kind of a mess, all the hardware you have to mess with but its really not that bad and you will not be doing it all the time.

Yes they are a little high in price but I think they are well worth it. I got 2 twin packs, which give you 2 double height or 4 single height feather boards.

What you get in a Twin Pack, 2 feather boards and a sack of hardware. The hardware lets you set it up as 2 single or one double. You also get the bolts to use with the Jessem T slot on the fence. (picture 1)


When you take a twin pack apart you have all of this. (picture 2)


In use they are great, it is so nice to set them were you want and them set the pressure you need. They are so work just fine on the saw.

[Steve Stram]

I got a two pack about a month ago and agree they do an excellent job after you modify them.

The key to the design are some rectangle head bolts that slide in slots molded in the plastic feather boards and then lock with knobs on the top. Problem is that whoever is molding the plastic components is all over the map in their tolerances or the tooling needs to be revised.

The slots you would use if the feather board was to the right of the TS blade are a correct width and the product adjusts and works well. My TS is left tilt and I use the fence on right of the TS blade. To use the product in slot to the left of the TS blade, you need to flip the plastic feather boards and that is where the problems start. The slots that the rectangles slide in for that side of the TS blade are too narrow. The bolts don’t even want to assemble smoothly to start with. The slots are 0.56 on one side of the feather board for right of TS blade and 0.58 on the other side of the feather board for left of TS blade. The rectangle width of fasteners is 0.57, do the math. To use it I had to file the rectangle fastener sides down. Simple and quick with a file.

From my experience either the molding equipment isn’t running at the right conditions, machine isn’t set for proper cooling or the tool designer was quite inexperienced. Ejector pins are on side of larger slots and material input sprue is on the narrow slot side.

After all of this, I recommend the product. I’m going to file down the rectangle sides and call it done. I only use the miter slot to left of blade for them and should be good after my design modification.

[Michael Perry]

Where did you buy the featherboards? Thanks

Mike

[Bill Huber]

I got a two pack about a month ago and agree they do an excellent job after you modify them.

The key to the design are some rectangle head bolts that slide in slots molded in the plastic feather boards and then lock with knobs on the top. Problem is that whoever is molding the plastic components is all over the map in their tolerances or the tooling needs to be revised.

The slots you would use if the feather board was to the right of the TS blade are a correct width and the product adjusts and works well. My TS is left tilt and I use the fence on right of the TS blade. To use the product in slot to the left of the TS blade, you need to flip the plastic feather boards and that is where the problems start. The slots that the rectangles slide in for that side of the TS blade are too narrow. The bolts don’t even want to assemble smoothly to start with. The slots are 0.56 on one side of the feather board for right of TS blade and 0.58 on the other side of the feather board for left of TS blade. The rectangle width of fasteners is 0.57, do the math. To use it I had to file the rectangle fastener sides down. Simple and quick with a file.

From my experience either the molding equipment isn’t running at the right conditions, machine isn’t set for proper cooling or the tool designer was quite inexperienced. Ejector pins are on side of larger slots and material input sprue is on the narrow slot side.

After all of this, I recommend the product. I’m going to file down the rectangle sides and call it done. I only use the miter slot to left of blade for them and should be good after my design modification.

I will have to check mine but I saw no difference in the way they worked putting them on either side. Maybe they found their problem and fixed it.

[Bill Huber]

Where did you buy the featherboards? Thanks

Mike

I just ordered them on Amazon, just search on jessem feather boards.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/amazon.php

[Steve Stram]

Bought mine at Woodcraft store.

[Rod Sheridan]

Interesting product Bill, thanks for posting this.

Are they made in North America?

Regards, Rod.

[Bill Huber]

Interesting product Bill, thanks for posting this.

Are they made in North America?

Regards, Rod.

No, just like about everything now they are made in China.

They are well made and work very well. I did check mine this morning and found that the slot is wider on one side then the other as Steve said.

[Bill Huber]

Bought mine at Woodcraft store.

Steve you were correct, checked mine this morning and found the same problem. I did fix it a different way then you but the end results were the same they work.

I put a 1/4" bit in the router and set the fence so as to just take off the amount of plastic I needed, worked great.

I will agree you should not have to do that with a new tool.

[Brad Westcott]

Got mine in the mail yesterday for Woodcraft. They are a little fussy to take apart but all the necessary hardware to use them in stand alone mode is provided. Fit my Wonder Fence with no problems. Just had to use the shorter hex head bolts to get them mounted.

I like the fact that they stay perpendiular to the work (much easier to adjust holding tension and keeping it equidistant from the work than any other featherboard I have used or seen), they can be reversed for further reach, and come with everything you need.

My first Jessum product and I am happy.