How To Cut Very Thin Strips Of Wood

Video How to cut extremely thin strips of wood Making repeated cuts on a table saw is easy: Just put the fence and make as many cuts as you want, right? Each will be exactly the same, no matter how many you make. Trouble is, because all those identical cuts take place between the fence and the blade, it’s not a practical method for extremely thin workpieces. Sometimes the space between the blade and the fence is too narrow to handle the workpiece safely, or even a push rod can be fitted into the gap. Of course, you can cut those thin strips on the outside of the blade, but you have to move the fence with each cut, and it’s impossible to get it in place all the time – those thin pieces are bound to break. out bits from one to the next. However, if you give your main workpiece something to register, you can set precise distances with a single measurement and then easily re-fence the workpiece itself for each further cut. follow. We’ll do this with a magnetic stop. STEP 1: Let’s start by setting up that first cut. For this example, I decided to cut a series of identical 1/4″ strips from the 1″ thick master workpiece. Measure from the outer edge of the blade – make sure to register the gauge from one of the teeth – and align the workpiece at exactly 1/4″. When the workpiece is correctly in place, bring the fence up to the opposite edge and lock it down. Double check the measurement to make sure you don’t accidentally push the workpiece out of place while adjusting and setting up the fence, and make corrections as necessary. STEP 2: With the workpiece set and ready for the first cut, set the stop against the outer edge of the workpiece about halfway between the blade and the front of the table saw. To stop, I’m using a back corner of a magnetic board; the “switchable” magnets keep it rock-solid on a cast iron table. Note that I only used one of the corners to register with the cast. It’s all you need, plus the single point of contact ensures that you’ll be able to feed the work smoothly with no tie between stop and fence. Read more: How long does it take to learn how to skim Step 3: Now, you just need to light the saw and feed the workpiece to start your first cut. STEP 4: Continue cutting until the workpiece clears the stop and smoothly pass the workpiece through the blade until the first strip is gone. Disconnect the saw and wait for the blade to turn down. STEP 5: Return the main workpiece to the front of the saw so that the outer edge registers again against the magnetic compartment. Loosen the tear barrier and slide it up against the other edge of the workpiece. Once you have it in place with the workpiece against both the stop and the fence, lock it up. You want the workpiece to be just slightly firm on both sides – the stop on one side and the fence on the other – but it shouldn’t be so tight that it makes it difficult to slide the workpiece. Likewise, there should be no mess at all. Re-adjust the tear barrier as needed until it is just right. Read more: how to get recruited for college football as a senior STEP 6: That’s it. From this point on, you just have to repeat the process until you’ve created as many strips as you want. Step 7: Now, if you need multiple strips, it is likely that you will go through the original master workpiece in short order. If so, when you’ve made so many cuts that you’ve moved the fence too close to the blade to safely handle the rest of the workpiece, throw it in the scrap bin and start with a new piece. The beauty here is that you don’t have to re-measure. Just pull the tear fence back, then register the new workpiece against the stop as before, move the fence back, lock it down and start cutting. The Rockler Thin Rip Table Saw Jig allows you to tear the thin strips on the left side of the blade, eliminating the risk of pushing narrow strips between the saw and the fence. Since the strip doesn’t get caught between the blade and the fence, there’s also less risk of binding and kickback. It’s simple to use; a single knob locks the fixture to the cutting track and locks your installation at the same time. Read more: how to deodorize the chicken coop