: The idea is sound, and frequently used, in slicing boards from logs. But,
: when ripping strips you have to make the spacers equal to the size of the
: strip you want PLUS the width of the kerf, which is the amount that the
: blade cuts away and turns into sawdust.

: Otherwise you will get strips that are too thin.

: For example, suppose you have a wide blade that makes a slot (or kerf) 1/8 th
: inch wide. if you use a spacer that is only 1/8th inch thick then you will
: have aligned your board so the outside edge of the blade is exactly in
: line iwth the outside edge of your board. You will chew up 1/8th inch of
: material from that board, and you won't get any strip at all.

: If you use a 1/4 inch spacer with this, you will get 1/8th inch thick strips.

: For 1/4 inch strips you would need to use 3/8 inch wide spacers.

: This all works fine if you know the EXACT thickness of that kerf, and you can
: make spacers in the proper size. Otherwise, as you cut more strips from
: the board your errors compound and the size of your strips will vary
: considerably.
: If you are off by 1/64th of an inch, after 8 strips the error is 8/64, or
: 1/8th inch -- and that would be half the thickness of a strip ! Not many
: of us can work to such tight tolerances, so we generally don't use this
: method.

: pgj

Paul,

As always, thank you very much for a well-written response!

Hope you have a great Holiday Season,

kellyt