CUTTING AIDS AND ACCESSORIES
PUSH BLOCK
1.
Select a piece of wood about 4-inches wide, 6-inches
long and 1- to 2-inches thick (a cutoff from a 2 by 4
makes a good blank for a push block).
2.
Drill a hole in the block and glue in a dowel to use as
a handle (you can angle the hole to provide a more
comfortable grip on the handle).
3.
Glue a piece of rough or soft material such as
sandpaper or rubber to the bottom of the block
to grip the workpiece (old mouse pads work well).
(Fig.29).
FEATHERBOARD
Featherboards are used to keep the workpiece in contact
with the fence and table (Fig.
kickback. Featherboards are especially useful when
ripping small workpieces and for completing non-through
cuts. The end is angled with a series of narrow slots to
give a friction hold on the workpiece, It is locked in place
on the table or fence with a c-clamp.
TO AVOID BINDING BETWEEN THE
WORKPIECE AND THE BLADE, MAKE SURE A
HORIZONTAL FEATHER BOARD PRESSES ONLY
ON THE UNCUT PORTION OF THE WORKPIECE IN
FRONT OF THE BLADE.
Dimensions for making a typical featherboard are shown
in
Fig. 30.
Make your featherboard from a straight piece of
wood that is free of knots and cracks. Clamp featherboards
to the fence and/or table so that the featherboard will hold
the workpiece against the fence or table.
30),
and help prevent
FIGURE 30
22
FIGURE 29
1.
Select a solid piece of lumber approximately
thick, 2
/
-inches wide and 12-inches long.
1
2
2.
Mark the center width on one end of stock. Miter
width to 70° (see miter cut section for information on
miter cuts).
3.
Set rip fence to allow approximately a �-inch "finger"
to be cut in the stock.
4.
Feed stock only to mark previously made at 6 inches.
5.
Turn saw off and allow blade to completely stop
rotating before removing stock.
6.
Reset rip fence and cut spaced rips into workpiece
to allow approximately �-inch fingers and
spaces between fingers.
-inch
/
3
4
/
-inch
1
8