Cutting thin strips without loosing a finger?

[Bill Dindner]

I'd recommend the Grriper as well. Makes allot of cuts much safer.

Is is it worth it? To me it is, although I have a SawStop Jobsite Table Saw, spent more than double on the Saw just for the safety features.

[Glen Gunderson]

I've never had any issues just setting the fence to whatever thickness cut I want and going at it (at least down to about 1/4"). Though I wouldn't even consider this type of cut without a splitter, guard, and a sacrificial push stick to prevent kickback. I also make sure to stand to the side and generally use a zero clearance insert.

[Rod Sheridan]

There are 2 easy ways to safely saw thin strips, both require that you keep the guard and splitter/riving knife on the saw, which eliminates solutions such as the Gripper which remove the guard.

1) Use a short rip fence that ends just past the start of the saw blade, and use push blocks or sticks to feed the material. The short fence is used for ripping for solid material and improves safety by allowing cut material to fall away from the blade as it's not trapped by the fence.

2) As others have suggested, use a sled and leave the guard and riving knife/splitter in place.

Regards, Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

Depending on how stable your fence is on the "cheap saw" just make a jig out of scrap wood - similar to this one http://www.finewoodworking.com/2008/...ng-thin-pieces

This Fine woodworking jig looks great, but I am uncomfortable with the proximity of the left hand to the blade. If I were doing this I would make a second push block to hold/guide the piece being cut as you get that close to the blade.

If you use this jig for cutting your 1/4" strips into squares that you make provisions to hold the thin stock down against the table to eliminate chatter and be sure to use a zero clearance insert.

[lowell holmes]

I cut thin strips by letting them fall to the left side of the blade.

I set it up by setting the rip fence to the right of the blade, adjusting the fence
to leave the thin strip to the left of the blade.

I do this with a magnetic base marking the thickness to the left of the blade.
The base is at the front of the saw table.

I move the fence to the left with the wood touching the fence. The fence
being to the right of the blade. I move the fence after every cut,
addressing the wood to the magnetic base. This leaves the interval needed
to rip the strip.

As with all ripping operations, guard your fingers against touching the saw blade.

I position my body so if kickback occurred, I would not be hurt.

[Andy Giddings]

This Fine woodworking jig looks great, but I am uncomfortable with the proximity of the left hand o the blade. If I were doing this I would make a second push block to hold/guide the piece being cut as you get that close to the blade.

If you use this jig for cutting your 1/4" strips into squares that you make provisions to hold the thin stock down against the table to eliminate chatter and be sure to use a zero clearance insert.

Lee, good points and agree

[Warren Wilson]

Like lowell said -- cut the pieces on the outside of the blade. Move the fence each time.

Google "Thin strip jig woodworking" and you'll get lots of ideas, like this one from Fine Woodworking: http://www.finewoodworking.com/2007/...n-the-tablesaw

I have made a similar jig and used it for years now -- very nice to be able to safely cut skinny bits.

Are you determined to start with 1/2 x 1/2 stock? If I was doing this, I would start with a wider piece of 1/4" stock and cut my pieces on the outside (a feather board mounted above the main, wider piece of stock to keep it flat to the table beside the blade would help to minimize the chatter that could catch your tiny piece and fling it). In fact, for something that tiny, I'd use two feather boards -- one beside and one above -- and use regular push sticks rather than the grrriper.

(I have one of those Grrripers, and it does help to get a nice cut, but it's a lot off setup for every cut, so I seldom use it).

I am sure a zero clearance throat plate would also help. Tear-out on such tiny bits can have quite an impact on the final size.

[glenn bradley]

I do this:

MJ Splitter and Grr-Ripper 001.jpg

[Chris Padilla]

I need to rip 1/8" thick strips for edge-banding all the time. I normally use my band saw so a scrap piece of wood works fine to push it the final couple of inches past the blade.

For a table saw, scrap works equally well. I do have the Yellow Grippers...even with the thin leg...but I've found this simple scrap pusher much easier to use:pushblock1.jpgpushblock2.jpg

Is is a 3/4" piece of plywood that is 4" x 12". I cut a notch in it to lock in the piece being cut and then ran it through the blade. It cuts both the pushblock and your piece and you essentially have a zero clearance pushblock that fully supports the piece being cut throughout the cut. As simple as it is, it works surprisingly well.