Many years ago, Norm Abram taught me never to use the rip fence as a stop when crosscutting with a miter gauge or sled, as loose cutoffs will be trapped between the fence and blade, turning them into potential projectiles.
Instead, I learned to clamp a block to the fence, ahead of the blade, so the workpiece can bump up against it but then be free to skitter away safely once the cut is made.
Here’s the easiest way I know to add a separate stop block to the fence. I use a magnetic base, the type that’s attached to a dial indicator. I bought mine at Harbor Freight for $15. Place it against the rip fence with the magnet turned off, and move the fence and base until you have the desired distance between base and blade.
Now lock the fence there and slide the base a few inches toward the front of the saw. Turn on the magnet and you’re good to go. In fact, you can pull away the rip fence entirely to give the cutoff more room to move and make it easier to flick away. To use your magnetic stop, bump the workpiece against it and then push forward to make the cut.
—RICHARD THORNTON, Bacliff, Texas
Illustrations by Dan Thornton From Fine Woodworking issue #277
Fine Woodworking Recommended Products
Rockler Dust Right 1250 CFM
The big motor on this collector left the chamber under my jointer very clean. You’ll need help to get this heavy unit onto its bracket, but if you’re looking for a central dust collector that won’t gobble floor space, this may be the unit for you. Strangely, this huge unit comes with the smallest plastic chip bag, but you can replace that with a taller one from Rockler.
Regardless of the board’s grain, this jointer produced excellent results. Its fence was totally flat, worked smoothly, and locked well, staying in place even after jointing multiple edges. Getting the fence to 90° was very easy, but the 90° stop was a little tricky to set and the fence did not go back to square when using it. For those who would use it, there is also a digital depth-of-cut scale.
The thick, felted bag on this Shop Fox is a plus and a minus. On one hand, it makes the unit much less expensive than collectors with canister filters, and also lighter and easier to hang on the wall. Without a separate plastic bag to catch chips, however, they stay in the felt bag, and the shortish zipper on the bottom makes it tough to shake them out. Otherwise, the W1826 is an excellent value.
While all five of the smaller units will collect chips efficiently when deployed properly, the 3/4-hp Rockler was just a bit more powerful in our suction test. Bag changes were very easy too, thanks to a lip on the lower edge of the
canister, which holds the bag in place while you operate the clamp. The Rockler 650 also hangs very solidly on its bracket, which helps when you turn the filter-cleaning crank.
With its graceful curves, cabriole legs, and ornamental back splat, a Queen Anne side chair is a bucket list build for many woodworkers. Dan Faia had a very specific Queen…
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Comments
love this!!! I however used the scale on my saw to set the distance for the stop, slid it up the fence, then backed the fence off. great idea!
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