Quote Originally Posted by Erik Loza View Post
Would the cut you are thinking of be the first rip or the second (parallel) one?
I'm thinking of the second parallel cut.

Let me start over with a simple hypothetical. Let's say I have an 8 foot long, 6" wide board. It has already been milled: it's flat, square, straight, etc. The problem is, I need to cut the 6" wide board down to 5.5". I need to take half an inch off. Let's pretend I don't have a planer, where I could put a thick board on edge and run it through until it was 5.5".

With an 1/8" wide blade, that only leaves 3/8" of waste. If I were to use the technique as described, where you move the rip fence over so that the space between the rip fence and the blade is 5.5", press the "keeper" side of the workpiece against the fence, and attempt to slide the board through the cut using the sliding table, how could I hold it down without letting my hands get close to the blade? Clamps wouldn't be able to hold the piece down without hitting the blade.

This is the scenario I'm picturing when I ask how a slider is safer than a standard cabinet saw when ripping.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me.