: Good Monday. I finally tried my hand at ripping strips this weekend, with
: almost satisfactory results. I'm using a tablesaw set up gleaned from many
: posts which includes: inexpensive Ryobi saw with bolted-on 3/4" ply
: top; zero clearance insert; aux fence that stops just before the center of
: thin kerf, 24-tooth blade (8.5"); vertical and horizontal
: featherboards (one directly over blade), and 10-foot infeed and outfeed
: tables. I've checked and re-checked for blade-to-table squareness (fence
: to table, too), and I've aligned the fence as close to parallel to the
: blade as I can get it. Possible problems with my set up: no splitter, no
: wax to ease board passage. My known problems are: 1. The last few inches
: of each strip are problematic. I push each strip through by hand until
: about 2 feet until the blade, at which point I switch to a push stick.
: When I get to an inch or so away from the blade, I walk to the other side
: and pull the board/strip through. At this point, the saw whines, and
: yellow dust (from the paint on the blade) is seen. The resultant strip is
: uniform until the last few inches, over which it decreases to the point of
: uselessness. I'm careful to push/pull straight through, but I seem to get
: a bit of angle over the last few inches. Aside from using a powerfeeder,
: how can one ensure consistent feed angle (zero) when there's no longer a
: fence (it having ended mid-blade) to push against?

: 2. My blade (DeWalt, 8.5" thin kerf, general purpose) leaves marks on
: the strips. I can't recall if the Freud Diablo I used before left them,
: too. What level of finish should I expect for strips fresh from the table
: saw? The marks look to be easy enough to sand out, but what's the
: standard?

: Thanks for the help, and have a great day.

Yah, I thought the half fence ending next to the blade sounded good too.

I've never done it that way. I'm sure it's great for short pieces of wet wood you're
shoving through with a push stick.

But, it's obvious to me you, need that full fence, to guide a long board through
so the last few inches of each strip are uniform.

Thanks! I was going to try that half fence, but now I'll just stick with what already
works prefectly, a full fence.

Cutting thin strips is, potentually, the most dangerous thing you can do with a
table saw. You can't keep your fingers away from the blade when you're making
small cuts and using a push stick to go past the blade.

You just don't want to get your fingers anywhere near the blade.
That's why I use a wide featherboard right on top of the blade.
It forces me to pull the last part of the cut from behind the saw.
Sounds slow, but it's safe.

I have a power feed. They're great for big cutting jobs, hundreds of feet.
I don't use my power feed as much as I did when I first bought it.

They take a fair amount of time to set-up correctly. I find myself just using
the fence set-up I've described. It's pretty darn fast and much easier to adapt
to different board thickness, which require re-setting a power feed.

I enjoy handling the wood at a slower pace and looking at what the saw is
revealing in each strip.

Those blade marks on your strips are excellent markers.

For the rough sanding stage of you hull, the dissapearance of those blade marks,
are the perfect indicator of when you done sanding.

Wax, wax, wax, that saw!

All the best,
Rob