I have heard of something called a “half fence” for improved tablesaw ripping safety and would like to learn more.
In an article entitled Ripping Long Boards On The Tablesaw by Barb Siddiqui & Richard Jones (thanks Slainte!) there is mention of its use, including a nice picture. The article can be seen on WoodCentral here: http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/powertools/articles_108.shtml.
If I understand correctly it is simply an L shaped aux fence, about a handspan wide, with the tall leg of the L fastened or clamped to the rip fence, that ends about half way along the saw blade.
What I’m interested in, is a more detailed discussion of the half fence, which I believe is little used in the USA but more common elsewhere. Any insights, especially from experienced users, on aspects such as construction, setup, procedures for best use, and above all why is it safer would be greatly appreciated.
-robert
Replies
A half-fence isn't all that complicated. The "why it's safer" part is easy -- because it completely eliminates the possibility of the board being ripped getting pinched between the fence and the blade, thereby greatly reducing kickback potential.
Construction can vary from the aforementioned L-shaped fence to a simple short board clamped to the stock fence (clamps obviously must be high enough not to interfere with the lumber sliding along the fence). The most important thing it would seem is the placement of the end of the fence with respect to the blade. I'm no expert, but I have mine stop just on the operator side of the arbor. See the first illustration on this page from Mulecab.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Robert
Takes about 15 minutes to make, set up & try it. You'll probably make one quicker than I can type this.
We can move the fences on both the (European) slider & rip saw used in my workshop as mentioned by Richard in the article. Altough we had been using this technique I gave a copy of the article to my 2 apprentices who at least gained some understanding of the rationale behind my teachings.
To follow on from FG we set the end of the fence about half way between the leading edge of the blade & the arbour when ripping. Height of the blade varies - I tend to set it about 10mm above the board but don't get pedantic about it, whilst the lads usually leave it where-ever it was before (they call it economy of movement. I've got another description:-). We generally use a 14" blade for ripping, occassionally a 12" but always use a riving knife & guard; but the idea holds true for all sizes of blade.
One other thing is that Barb advocates a rebate to prevent saw dust building up between the fence & board, I found it quicker to just bevel the arise with my trusty old No. 5- it has the same effect.
Why is it safer? It reduces the tendancy of boards to kick back, rise off the table from forces generated from the back of the blade or jam.
Hope this helps shed some light on the technique, it is commonplace in this corner of the world.
Don
DDU,
Thanks to you and FG. I've been preoccupied with various urgent calls on my time from my day job, hence the late reply. Really appreciate the experienced insights.
-robert
I just want to thank you all too. I have never heard of this fence attachment but will make one for my saw before my next rip job.Info for all http://www.hoistman.com Bad spellers of the world- Untie
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled