Correct side of blade for "good" material

[Wilson]

I suppose this question could also apply to table saws.

On my bandsaw I would like use a fence to trim equal thickness (~ 1/8 inch) pieces from a block of 4x4 stock. If I set the fence to 1/8 inch I can ensure that each pass will be the same thickness. This method appears to present the danger of pinching the blade near the end of each cut due to possible side loading of the stock I am pushing through.

If I place the stock against the fence and let the good material fall freely to the side I then need to reset the fence for the next cut and may add variation each cut pass thickness.

Which method is best? Does it matter which side is waste? Is using the fence the correct thing to do?

[Ken Massingale]

I have the cutoff slice against the fence. For thin slices down to 1/16 I have a high featherboard keeping the stock snug against the fence.
There is some issue getting the thin slice past the blade at the end of the cut, I usually try to be ready to pull it from the back side if safety allows it.
ken

[John Hunter]

I would use a gauge block if the pieces are short. Here is how to make one. http://www.newwoodworker.com/buldgagblk.html

[sacherjj]

That works fine for small crosscuts, but not well for rips on the tablesaw. In that case, I like to use a board with a little finger sticking out at the back. I adjust the fence such that it is the desired thickness, plus the width of the carrier board. This board has an extra little piece sticking out on the back side (think push stick laying down). Then I push the cut through with the board assisting between the piece to be cutoff and the fence. The finger at the back of the board drives the thin strip past the back of the blade without having to get dangerously close to the blade myself. If the finger is a little too long, it isn't after the first cut. Then you can take the left overs and run it through again and get perfectly reproducable strip widths.

For the bandsaw, it seems like you could just put a backer piece against the fence and end of the 4x4 and that would help push the thin cutoff past the blade. You just pull back the piece after it is clear and reuse the grove on the next cut.

[mschrank]

How about mounting a stop block on the side of the blade opposite the rip fence? On the BT, the stop block could be clamped to the miter fence. Might be trickier on a bandsaw or non BT table saw, unless you have a way to clamp things in the miter slot. Or you could clamp to the table, but might be difficult to set the right distance from the blade and then move the stop block so it isn't next to the blade.

You would still have to move the rip fence for each cut, but by keeping your stock against the fence, you would at least have a reference point for repeatable cuts.

I got the idea from this WOOD webpage, picture "B" at the bottom.

[JimD]

A safe and easy method for longer rips that are still fairly short is to take a piece of scrap 6-12 inches wide and a little longer than the 4x4 you want to rip up. Put a notch near one end on the long side of the scrap. Now you position you fence such that the part of the scrap before the notch is 1/8 away from the blade. Put your 4x4 up against the notch and use the scrap as a push stick to make the cut. You can safely keep doing this until the 4x4 is gone.

If 4x4 is too long for this method, I would probably just rip it with the fence set at 1/8 inch. Be sure you have an appropriate push stick, however, to finish the cut with. The biggest problem with cuts on the table saw like this is the lack of ability to use the guard. On a band saw, that should not be an issue.

Jim