Making narrow rip cut can be scarey, and if it does not give you a bit of trepidation at the least, then maybe it is time to stop and think, because if you are not a little leery then you are looking to get injured. The folks who have been around for a while have probably seen and or read about this method as I have expounded on it before over at the Ryobi Forum.
Making a single narrow rip is a bit scarey, but making repetitive equal width rips just makes it that much more so. You could just set the fence 1/2" from the blade and keep battleing piece through with a push stick, having your hands close to the blade for all those cuts. But what if you need to make a bunch of 1/4" wide strips? I would much rather have the wider part of the piece between the fence and blade and make my narrow pieces on the off cut side. Check out the pic.
By attaching an auxilliary fence to the SMT fence (or to a standard miter gage) you can rig up a stop block on that side to slide the piece against to do repeated narrow rips. Slide the Miter device forward to the front teeth of the blade, attach your aux fence such that the edge is the distance from that side of the blade that you want your finished ripped pieces to be. Slide you miter device to the orientation shown in the pic and lock it down. Now set your rip fence about 1/2 kerf width less than the beginning width of your stock, and shave the piece so you've got a straight edge on the workpiece parallel to the edge against the rip fence. Unlock your rip fence and, with the workpiece against it, slide the fence toward the blade till the opposite edge of the work piece contacts the edge of your aux fence on the miter device as shown above. Lock the rip fence down and make your cut. Bring the piece back to the operator side, unlock the fence and again slide it so that the workpiece contacts the edge of the aux fence, lock the fence and make you next cut . . . until you have cut as many pieces as you need or until the workpiece becomes too narrow to repeat.
How many times have you painstakingly set up to make a cut then realized that you need to offcut the end that needs to go against a stop block, or a piece of stock comes up a bit shy of the number of repeat pieces you need to make, so you've got to grab another piece of stock to continue cutting, but you've got to trim it straight or square before you make your cuts. Often times a set up won't allow it without making changes, but this setup has the added bonus that you can trim up the edge without taking down your set-up.
Jerry
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
~ Thomas Paine ~
Making a single narrow rip is a bit scarey, but making repetitive equal width rips just makes it that much more so. You could just set the fence 1/2" from the blade and keep battleing piece through with a push stick, having your hands close to the blade for all those cuts. But what if you need to make a bunch of 1/4" wide strips? I would much rather have the wider part of the piece between the fence and blade and make my narrow pieces on the off cut side. Check out the pic.
By attaching an auxilliary fence to the SMT fence (or to a standard miter gage) you can rig up a stop block on that side to slide the piece against to do repeated narrow rips. Slide the Miter device forward to the front teeth of the blade, attach your aux fence such that the edge is the distance from that side of the blade that you want your finished ripped pieces to be. Slide you miter device to the orientation shown in the pic and lock it down. Now set your rip fence about 1/2 kerf width less than the beginning width of your stock, and shave the piece so you've got a straight edge on the workpiece parallel to the edge against the rip fence. Unlock your rip fence and, with the workpiece against it, slide the fence toward the blade till the opposite edge of the work piece contacts the edge of your aux fence on the miter device as shown above. Lock the rip fence down and make your cut. Bring the piece back to the operator side, unlock the fence and again slide it so that the workpiece contacts the edge of the aux fence, lock the fence and make you next cut . . . until you have cut as many pieces as you need or until the workpiece becomes too narrow to repeat.
How many times have you painstakingly set up to make a cut then realized that you need to offcut the end that needs to go against a stop block, or a piece of stock comes up a bit shy of the number of repeat pieces you need to make, so you've got to grab another piece of stock to continue cutting, but you've got to trim it straight or square before you make your cuts. Often times a set up won't allow it without making changes, but this setup has the added bonus that you can trim up the edge without taking down your set-up.
Jerry
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
~ Thomas Paine ~
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