Safely cutting thin edging

[jarhead]

What is a safe procedure for cutting a thin strip of edging thinner than 1/4"?

[gary]

Bandsaw if you have one is my first choice.

[LarryG]

I too would use a bandsaw if I possibly could (the cut tends to be rough, so that must be dealt with, somehow).

But I presume you mean using a table saw. Some variation of this basic concept is the safest while maintaining repeatability (all pieces cut to the same thickness).

[jarhead]

quote:Originally posted by LarryG

I too would use a bandsaw if I possibly could (the cut tends to be rough, so that must be dealt with, somehow).

But I presume you mean using a table saw. Some variation of this basic concept is the safest while maintaining repeatability (all pieces cut to the same thickness).

Larry,
I do have a bandsaw, but wanted to use a TS for this operation. Thanks for the link.

[stoli]

For thin strips, I like to use a modified taper jig that has no taper. Basically, take a piece of plywood about 6" wide and as long as the strips you want to cut. Attach a "shoe" to one of the short sides that sticks out past the edge. You can now set the fence so that the edge of the jig is the right distance away from the blade, and rip many strips, all of the same length.

I tried the method above where you have a stop block on the far side of the blade, and you need to reset the fence each time. I got too much thickness variation with this method for my tastes.

-=[doug]=-

[jarhead]

quote:Originally posted by stoli

For thin strips, I like to use a modified taper jig that has no taper. Basically, take a piece of plywood about 6" wide and as long as the strips you want to cut. Attach a "shoe" to one of the short sides that sticks out past the edge. You can now set the fence so that the edge of the jig is the right distance away from the blade, and rip many strips, all of the same length.

Doug,
Come to think of it, IIRC, I saw something that you just described in Jim Toplin's book while killing time in a book store.

[Tom Miller]

Has anyone here every tried using a micropositioner for this? For 1/4" strips it would take 7 revs on a 10-32 screw (3 turns for the kerf). Not nearly as fast and convenient as a stop block on the far side of the blade, but maybe it would give more consistent results?

Re: the stop block with a screw head as the stop -- I think you'd want a much larger contact area for consistent results.

Regards,
Tom

[stoli]

Tom,
You could use the micropositioner to yield uniform thickness strips (remember to account for blade kerf). However, you'd eventually run out of travel on the micropositioner. Plus, the taper jig would be faster.

-=[doug]=-

[Stan]

quote:Originally posted by jarhead

What is a safe procedure for cutting a thin strip of edging thinner than 1/4"?

Alex,
I have a couple spline jigs as shown below that I use for cutting inlays for picture frames. With the micro-positioner, it only takes 2-5 adjustments to make the proper sized strips (depends on how much coffee I've had before the setup).
I've use it for strips up to 30" long in widths from saw kerf width to 3/8" wide.

Hope that helps.

[monte]

I use a jig very similar to what Stan has posted above. Not only does it work well, it's also safe. My only question is how long do the strips need to be?

[Tom Miller]

quote:Originally posted by stoli

You could use the micropositioner to yield uniform thickness strips (remember to account for blade kerf). However, you'd eventually run out of travel on the micropositioner. Plus, the taper jig would be faster.

Yeah, the solution you mentioned, and shown in Stan's picture is the best, provided you can deal with the required length. Otherwise, I'm not sure which would be better between a stop on the far side and the micropositioner.

Regards,
Tom

[Brian G]

I'm currently working on a project that requires lattice strips 3/8" thick and up to 6' long. I'm ripping them out of 2" x 4" cedar. Granted, my needs for this project don't require fine accuracy, but I wanted something simple to make, easy to set-up, and consistent when I needed to use the saw for something else. My concept is similar to the tip posted above, but like Tom, I was concerned with surface contact for aligning the fence.

First, I rooted around in my scrap bin for some 3/4" MDF. It fits nicely in the slots of the accessory miter table. I stuck a small length. . . about 12" in the slot and measured the distance between the MDF in the slot and an inside tooth (i.e., MDF-side). My measurement was 3-5/16". I subtracted 3/8" (the thickness of the strip I needed) to yield 2-15/16". I ripped my chunk of MDF to that width. Then I put the offcut of MDF in the slot and screwed it to the 2-15/16" like this:



Ignore the hole. . . it was a test piece for something else. Please also excuse the dust. . . I was workin'!



To use it, I place the contraption in the miter slot and snug my stock to the edge of the stop. Then I slide the ripfence next to the stock and tighten it down.



Once the fence is set, I remove the stop and install my featherboard. It helps if all stock is of uniform width (jointed edge and then ripped parallel) at the start. That way, the settings don't have to be messed with for each board.

I grant that the appeal of this method wanes as the width of the stock gets to less than 1". By that time, I find that the last 3/4" isn't of much use, anyway.

[monte]

quote:Originally posted by Knuckles

I'm currently working on a project that requires lattice strips 3/8" thick and up to 6' long. I'm ripping them out of 2" x 4" cedar. Granted, my needs for this project don't require fine accuracy, but I wanted something simple to make, easy to set-up, and consistent when I needed to use the saw for something else. My concept is similar to the tip posted above, but like Tom, I was concerned with surface contact for aligning the fence.

First, I rooted around in my scrap bin for some 3/4" MDF. It fits nicely in the slots of the accessory miter table. I stuck a small length. . . about 12" in the slot and measured the distance between the MDF in the slot and an inside tooth (i.e., MDF-side). My measurement was 3-5/16". I subtracted 3/8" (the thickness of the strip I needed) to yield 2-15/16". I ripped my chunk of MDF to that width. Then I put the offcut of MDF in the slot and screwed it to the 2-15/16" like this:



Ignore the hole. . . it was a test piece for something else. Please also excuse the dust. . . I was workin'!



To use it, I place the contraption in the miter slot and snug my stock to the edge of the stop. Then I slide the ripfence next to the stock and tighten it down.



Once the fence is set, I remove the stop and install my featherboard. It helps if all stock is of uniform width (jointed edge and then ripped parallel) at the start. That way, the settings don't have to be messed with for each board.

I grant that the appeal of this method wanes as the width of the stock gets to less than 1". By that time, I find that the last 3/4" isn't of much use, anyway.

Good solution for ripping long lengths!

[jarhead]

quote:Originally posted by Stan

I have a couple spline jigs as shown below that I use for cutting inlays for picture frames. With the micro-positioner, it only takes 2-5 adjustments to make the proper sized strips (depends on how much coffee I've had before the setup).
I've use it for strips up to 30" long in widths from saw kerf width to 3/8" wide.

Hope that helps.

Stan,
That is exactly the type of jig that I saw in Jim Tolpin's book.