Every time I get into a project where I have to crosscut wide pieces of
plywood I end up going to my friend's millshop and using their Italian
3-phase radial arm saw that will make a 24 inch cut. I do it because
I can't think of anything more expedient for speed and accuracy, but I
get tired of mooching after 24 years. I was just wondering about other
methods to acheive the same results for less of an investment that I
could set up in my own meager little shop. Any ideas, anybody?
Mike in Mystic wrote:
>A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I think
>the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled might
>have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board, but
>it could come close.
>
>An easy solution is to use a circular saw and a straight edge clamp. You
>have to take care to set it up, but if you have a good blade you can get
>perfectly square cuts this way. Definitely a lot less than $3000!
>
>Mike
>
>
A 27 inch deep table top is just about standard on most common Table
Saws... and I just have
a HUGE sled stashed behind my workbench for making cross cuts up to 30
inches in my shop...
darn thing weight s ton but works like a charm... BUT I agree with you
that for the initial cuts on a 4x8 foot piece of plywood a simple
straight edge and a circular saw is the way to go... ..IF I worked with
large sheets of plywood all the time...then a panel saw would be in my
shop...and my Tablesaw would have extension tables on all 4 sides ...and
I would have a hell of a lot larger shop..
Bob Griffiths
http://www.exaktortools.com/pages/slidingtable.htm
"BUB 209" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every time I get into a project where I have to crosscut wide pieces of
> plywood I end up going to my friend's millshop and using their Italian
> 3-phase radial arm saw that will make a 24 inch cut. I do it because
> I can't think of anything more expedient for speed and accuracy, but I
> get tired of mooching after 24 years. I was just wondering about other
> methods to acheive the same results for less of an investment that I
> could set up in my own meager little shop. Any ideas, anybody?
>
"Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
about
> WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood. So,
> w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run the
> wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
this?
Yes Igor, cross cutting is generally accepted as cutting across the grain.
But, with plywood, IMHO a cross cut would be using a fence to cut a piece
that is wider than it is long regardless of grain orientation. With that in
mind though cross cutting with the fence is inherently more risky than using
a sled or miter gauge. Unfortunately pieces can be to large for a sled or a
miter gauge to cut safely also. Bigger wider pieces being guided by the
fence will tend to be a safer cut. As long as the edge of the board that is
being guided by the rip fence is long enough that you can easily keep it
flush against the fence, there should be no worry about kickback. With a
push stick and a helper for the long panels this is a safe operation. I
build lots and lots of cabinet doors and generally do not pay a whole lot of
attention to the rails and styles being in perfectly alignment on the ends
as long as the door is square. When the glue has set, I use the rip fence
to guide and put a clean edge along the tops and bottoms of the doors.
Essentially I am cross cutting the ends of the doors and using the fence as
the guide.
Now, this is not to indicate that all cross cuts with the rip fence are
safe. Certainly a short width panel or board should always be cut with a
sled or miter gauge and away from the rip fence. In those instances, the
piece between the blade can VERY easily rack and come flying back at you.
Panel saw. Many on the market are just kits designed to add you Circular
saw. Rockler sells 2 and I have seen even more. However expect to pay
1,000 - 3,000 US.
--
Young Carpenter
"Save a Tree, Build Furniture"
"BUB 209" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every time I get into a project where I have to crosscut wide pieces of
> plywood I end up going to my friend's millshop and using their Italian
> 3-phase radial arm saw that will make a 24 inch cut. I do it because
> I can't think of anything more expedient for speed and accuracy, but I
> get tired of mooching after 24 years. I was just wondering about other
> methods to acheive the same results for less of an investment that I
> could set up in my own meager little shop. Any ideas, anybody?
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On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I think
>> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled might
>> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board, but
>> it could come close.
>>
>Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut that
>wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
>
Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something about
WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood. So,
w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run the
wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about this?
Build the sled. Easiest, cheapest and works perfectly.
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
> about
> > WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> > about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> > orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood.
So,
> > w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run
the
> > wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
> this?
>
> Yes Igor, cross cutting is generally accepted as cutting across the grain.
> But, with plywood, IMHO a cross cut would be using a fence to cut a piece
> that is wider than it is long regardless of grain orientation. With that
in
> mind though cross cutting with the fence is inherently more risky than
using
> a sled or miter gauge. Unfortunately pieces can be to large for a sled or
a
> miter gauge to cut safely also. Bigger wider pieces being guided by the
> fence will tend to be a safer cut. As long as the edge of the board that
is
> being guided by the rip fence is long enough that you can easily keep it
> flush against the fence, there should be no worry about kickback. With a
> push stick and a helper for the long panels this is a safe operation. I
> build lots and lots of cabinet doors and generally do not pay a whole lot
of
> attention to the rails and styles being in perfectly alignment on the
ends
> as long as the door is square. When the glue has set, I use the rip fence
> to guide and put a clean edge along the tops and bottoms of the doors.
> Essentially I am cross cutting the ends of the doors and using the fence
as
> the guide.
>
> Now, this is not to indicate that all cross cuts with the rip fence are
> safe. Certainly a short width panel or board should always be cut with a
> sled or miter gauge and away from the rip fence. In those instances, the
> piece between the blade can VERY easily rack and come flying back at you.
>
>
Get a Table Saw.
"BUB 209" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every time I get into a project where I have to crosscut wide pieces of
> plywood I end up going to my friend's millshop and using their Italian
> 3-phase radial arm saw that will make a 24 inch cut. I do it because
> I can't think of anything more expedient for speed and accuracy, but I
> get tired of mooching after 24 years. I was just wondering about other
> methods to acheive the same results for less of an investment that I
> could set up in my own meager little shop. Any ideas, anybody?
How about a panel saw!
Ted
[email protected] (BUB 209) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Every time I get into a project where I have to crosscut wide pieces of
> plywood I end up going to my friend's millshop and using their Italian
> 3-phase radial arm saw that will make a 24 inch cut. I do it because
> I can't think of anything more expedient for speed and accuracy, but I
> get tired of mooching after 24 years. I was just wondering about other
> methods to acheive the same results for less of an investment that I
> could set up in my own meager little shop. Any ideas, anybody?
On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 00:16:52 GMT, "Mike in Mystic"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>The definition of rip vs. cross cut is entirely due to the direction of the
>grain, you're correct. Rip is parallel to the grain, and cross-cut is,
>well, across the grain.
>
>The key to this discussion, though, is the size of the piece you're cutting.
>If the piece is wide enough, as Leon suggests, it really would be safe to
>use the rip fence. I haven't really determined when the safety factor
>becomes an issue, though. Generally, if you are crosscutting from a long,
>relatively narrow piece, then you will have danger if you use the rip fence.
>
>Just yesterday I got my first "taste" of kickback, actually. I stayed home
>from work today because of it. I was cutting a 16" piece by 12" piece off
>of a sheet of 12" by approx. 30" 1/4" MDF. I thought this was reasonable
>and used the rip fence. DUMB! It would probably have been fine except for
>2 things. #1 I was a total stupid idiot and didn't have my splitter
>installed. #2 a bug landed on my face just as I was finishing the cut and
>this caused me to jerk to the side AND I raised my hand off the piece.
>Looking at the offcut, it probably had cleared the blade completely, but my
>motion must've pulled it back into the blade. At any rate, it came flying
>at me full-speed, hit my left wrist and my abdomen exactly halfway between
>my belly button and you-know-where. Thank god I'm not 3 inches taller! I
>can't believe how much it hurt and how lucky I am. Bottom line: I'm an
>idiot. And I'll leave that damn splitter in the saw ALL the time. AND, I
>ordered the Penn State overarm blade guard today, too. Maybe a little
>paranoid, but I've proven that I can be a schmuck. If it was anything
>thicker and harder than 1/4" MDF I might have some serious injurious instead
>of just bruising and swelling.
>
>So, I'm going to build one of these 30" crosscut sleds, because I don't see
>why I should take chances anymore. Being an idiot makes you do things like
>that. hehe
>
>I still can't believe how stupid I was. Oh well.
>
>Mike
>
Thanks for the story -- glad you survived. I'm 6'3" so maybe I should be
extra careful. This is kind of like Clockwork Orange for WW. See the
horror, and remember.
"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I think
> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled might
> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board, but
> it could come close.
>
> An easy solution is to use a circular saw and a straight edge clamp. You
> have to take care to set it up, but if you have a good blade you can get
> perfectly square cuts this way. Definitely a lot less than $3000!
>
> Mike
>
There are a number of guides rails with a carriage to attach to the circular
saw that makes this whole process easier.
The most expensive and best version of this I have seen is the Festool
circular saw. It seems to me that the guide rail is built into the original
design. It is not an add on. I saw it used once and it was outstanding.
Forgot what it cost but it was VERY expensive. But it did a wonderful job
with pinpoint accuracy.
There was talk at the time of them adding plunge capability to this setup.
Don't know what the latest features are. Festool has an excellent reputatiom
among folks who actually USE tools to make a living. Most of us hobby folks
would look at these heavanly tools enviosly as a very expensive toy.<drool>
Yeah, you're right, Bob S. I took the
plywood over there and had an entire
kitchen of cabinet doors cut out in
about half an hour. What I do usually
is buy the material there and they let me work it, and whatever I can throw
them I
do, like somebody was giving away
a 3 phase plasma cutter cause they
didn't have 3 phase for it, so I donated
it to the shop. Great bunch of guys
"Young Carpenter" <Fiddleronroof*@*juno.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Panel saw. Many on the market are just kits designed to add you Circular
> saw. Rockler sells 2 and I have seen even more. However expect to pay
> 1,000 - 3,000 US.
Absolutely! BUT there are cheaper panel saws. Try this one for starters:
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/favorites.cfm?sku=5311
or just do a Google search for Panel Saw, which is where it showed up, along
with the prebuilt commercial ones and this one:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000224SO/104-6638725-7055138?v=glance
Lots of ways to get the job done without having the $3K invested.
Nahmie
You allowed that bug to break your concentration. When I was a machine
apprentice in '65 I ran many old manual machines. These all had large sheet
metal splash guards. The old timers had a habit of sneaking behind a machine
you were running and hitting the metal splash guards as hard as they could
with a hammer or a wrench just to see how high we could jump. I trained
myself not to be bothered by this annoyance. As it turned out the old timers
were teaching a very valuable lesson. After nearly 40 years in the trades
that bug could have landed on me anywhere and I would not have broken my
concentration.CONCENTRATION IS ONE OF THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SAFTEY
DEVICES WE HAVE. Work hard to develope it and use it.
--
Bill Rittner
R & B ENTERPRISES
[email protected]
"Don't take this life too seriously.......nobody
gets out alive" (Unknown)
Remove "no" to reply
"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The definition of rip vs. cross cut is entirely due to the direction of
the
> grain, you're correct. Rip is parallel to the grain, and cross-cut is,
> well, across the grain.
>
> The key to this discussion, though, is the size of the piece you're
cutting.
> If the piece is wide enough, as Leon suggests, it really would be safe to
> use the rip fence. I haven't really determined when the safety factor
> becomes an issue, though. Generally, if you are crosscutting from a long,
> relatively narrow piece, then you will have danger if you use the rip
fence.
>
> Just yesterday I got my first "taste" of kickback, actually. I stayed
home
> from work today because of it. I was cutting a 16" piece by 12" piece off
> of a sheet of 12" by approx. 30" 1/4" MDF. I thought this was reasonable
> and used the rip fence. DUMB! It would probably have been fine except
for
> 2 things. #1 I was a total stupid idiot and didn't have my splitter
> installed. #2 a bug landed on my face just as I was finishing the cut
and
> this caused me to jerk to the side AND I raised my hand off the piece.
> Looking at the offcut, it probably had cleared the blade completely, but
my
> motion must've pulled it back into the blade. At any rate, it came flying
> at me full-speed, hit my left wrist and my abdomen exactly halfway between
> my belly button and you-know-where. Thank god I'm not 3 inches taller! I
> can't believe how much it hurt and how lucky I am. Bottom line: I'm an
> idiot. And I'll leave that damn splitter in the saw ALL the time. AND, I
> ordered the Penn State overarm blade guard today, too. Maybe a little
> paranoid, but I've proven that I can be a schmuck. If it was anything
> thicker and harder than 1/4" MDF I might have some serious injurious
instead
> of just bruising and swelling.
>
> So, I'm going to build one of these 30" crosscut sleds, because I don't
see
> why I should take chances anymore. Being an idiot makes you do things
like
> that. hehe
>
> I still can't believe how stupid I was. Oh well.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon" <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > >news:[email protected]...
> > >> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I
> think
> > >> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled
> might
> > >> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide
board,
> but
> > >> it could come close.
> > >>
> > >Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut
that
> > >wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
> > >
> >
> > Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
> about
> > WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> > about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> > orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood.
So,
> > w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run
the
> > wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
> this?
>
>
The definition of rip vs. cross cut is entirely due to the direction of the
grain, you're correct. Rip is parallel to the grain, and cross-cut is,
well, across the grain.
The key to this discussion, though, is the size of the piece you're cutting.
If the piece is wide enough, as Leon suggests, it really would be safe to
use the rip fence. I haven't really determined when the safety factor
becomes an issue, though. Generally, if you are crosscutting from a long,
relatively narrow piece, then you will have danger if you use the rip fence.
Just yesterday I got my first "taste" of kickback, actually. I stayed home
from work today because of it. I was cutting a 16" piece by 12" piece off
of a sheet of 12" by approx. 30" 1/4" MDF. I thought this was reasonable
and used the rip fence. DUMB! It would probably have been fine except for
2 things. #1 I was a total stupid idiot and didn't have my splitter
installed. #2 a bug landed on my face just as I was finishing the cut and
this caused me to jerk to the side AND I raised my hand off the piece.
Looking at the offcut, it probably had cleared the blade completely, but my
motion must've pulled it back into the blade. At any rate, it came flying
at me full-speed, hit my left wrist and my abdomen exactly halfway between
my belly button and you-know-where. Thank god I'm not 3 inches taller! I
can't believe how much it hurt and how lucky I am. Bottom line: I'm an
idiot. And I'll leave that damn splitter in the saw ALL the time. AND, I
ordered the Penn State overarm blade guard today, too. Maybe a little
paranoid, but I've proven that I can be a schmuck. If it was anything
thicker and harder than 1/4" MDF I might have some serious injurious instead
of just bruising and swelling.
So, I'm going to build one of these 30" crosscut sleds, because I don't see
why I should take chances anymore. Being an idiot makes you do things like
that. hehe
I still can't believe how stupid I was. Oh well.
Mike
"Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I
think
> >> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled
might
> >> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board,
but
> >> it could come close.
> >>
> >Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut that
> >wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
> >
>
> Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
about
> WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood. So,
> w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run the
> wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
this?
"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I think
> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled might
> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board, but
> it could come close.
>
Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut that
wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
Glad to hear that you were not hurt Mike... Next time consider using a
spacer clamped to the front side of the fence to reference your piece
against. Adjust the fence accordingly for the width of the spacer. Then
use your miter gauge to guide the narrow pieces through. I use a 1" wide
spacer on my fence and adjust my fence 1" wider. That 1" space places your
work 1" from the fence after you pass the spacer and lessens the chance of
kick back and the miter gauge keeps every thing square after clearing the
spacer.
"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The definition of rip vs. cross cut is entirely due to the direction of
the
> grain, you're correct. Rip is parallel to the grain, and cross-cut is,
> well, across the grain.
>
> The key to this discussion, though, is the size of the piece you're
cutting.
> If the piece is wide enough, as Leon suggests, it really would be safe to
> use the rip fence. I haven't really determined when the safety factor
> becomes an issue, though. Generally, if you are crosscutting from a long,
> relatively narrow piece, then you will have danger if you use the rip
fence.
>
> Just yesterday I got my first "taste" of kickback, actually. I stayed
home
> from work today because of it. I was cutting a 16" piece by 12" piece off
> of a sheet of 12" by approx. 30" 1/4" MDF. I thought this was reasonable
> and used the rip fence. DUMB! It would probably have been fine except
for
> 2 things. #1 I was a total stupid idiot and didn't have my splitter
> installed. #2 a bug landed on my face just as I was finishing the cut
and
> this caused me to jerk to the side AND I raised my hand off the piece.
> Looking at the offcut, it probably had cleared the blade completely, but
my
> motion must've pulled it back into the blade. At any rate, it came flying
> at me full-speed, hit my left wrist and my abdomen exactly halfway between
> my belly button and you-know-where. Thank god I'm not 3 inches taller! I
> can't believe how much it hurt and how lucky I am. Bottom line: I'm an
> idiot. And I'll leave that damn splitter in the saw ALL the time. AND, I
> ordered the Penn State overarm blade guard today, too. Maybe a little
> paranoid, but I've proven that I can be a schmuck. If it was anything
> thicker and harder than 1/4" MDF I might have some serious injurious
instead
> of just bruising and swelling.
>
> So, I'm going to build one of these 30" crosscut sleds, because I don't
see
> why I should take chances anymore. Being an idiot makes you do things
like
> that. hehe
>
> I still can't believe how stupid I was. Oh well.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon" <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > >news:[email protected]...
> > >> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I
> think
> > >> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled
> might
> > >> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide
board,
> but
> > >> it could come close.
> > >>
> > >Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut
that
> > >wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
> > >
> >
> > Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
> about
> > WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> > about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> > orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood.
So,
> > w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run
the
> > wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
> this?
>
>
"Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I
think
> >> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a sled
might
> >> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide board,
but
> >> it could come close.
> >>
> >Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut that
> >wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
> >
>
> Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
about
> WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was thinking
> about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood. So,
> w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run the
> wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
this?
Kind of right. Plywood typically has an odd number of plies. Generally the
larger number are oriented the long direction of the sheet and are visible.
Thus it is not uncommon to hear people talking about ripping plywood
(cutting parallel to the face grain) or doing a crosscut (perpendicular to
the face grain). In reality you are ripping some plies and cross cutting
some no matter what you do.
-Jack
Hi Leon,
I have a cut-off fence, too. Yet another example of how impatience (and
perhaps ignorance) can lead to disaster. I just thought that the piece was
big enough to use the rip fence. I have a panel sled, too, I was just being
stupid. Woodworking is teaching me patience, I think. I just wish the
lesson would get learned a little bit faster hehe.
I will say that the kickback movie by Kelly Mehler is right on the money.
Maybe I should take a picture of the piece that kicked back at me. It looks
exactly like the thing Mehler shows, IIRC. It has sort of a semi-circular
arc and 2 or 3 smaller gouges on the underside of the piece. I guess the
blade caught it on the bottom and pulled it back where it hit the rip fence
and sort of bounced on top of the blade until it was flung backwards at me.
An old story, I know.
Anyway, I'm off to work today. I just hope I don't drop anything on the
floor because bending over isn't too much fun right now hehe.
Mike
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Glad to hear that you were not hurt Mike... Next time consider using a
> spacer clamped to the front side of the fence to reference your piece
> against. Adjust the fence accordingly for the width of the spacer. Then
> use your miter gauge to guide the narrow pieces through. I use a 1" wide
> spacer on my fence and adjust my fence 1" wider. That 1" space places
your
> work 1" from the fence after you pass the spacer and lessens the chance of
> kick back and the miter gauge keeps every thing square after clearing the
> spacer.
>
>
> "Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > The definition of rip vs. cross cut is entirely due to the direction of
> the
> > grain, you're correct. Rip is parallel to the grain, and cross-cut is,
> > well, across the grain.
> >
> > The key to this discussion, though, is the size of the piece you're
> cutting.
> > If the piece is wide enough, as Leon suggests, it really would be safe
to
> > use the rip fence. I haven't really determined when the safety factor
> > becomes an issue, though. Generally, if you are crosscutting from a
long,
> > relatively narrow piece, then you will have danger if you use the rip
> fence.
> >
> > Just yesterday I got my first "taste" of kickback, actually. I stayed
> home
> > from work today because of it. I was cutting a 16" piece by 12" piece
off
> > of a sheet of 12" by approx. 30" 1/4" MDF. I thought this was
reasonable
> > and used the rip fence. DUMB! It would probably have been fine except
> for
> > 2 things. #1 I was a total stupid idiot and didn't have my splitter
> > installed. #2 a bug landed on my face just as I was finishing the cut
> and
> > this caused me to jerk to the side AND I raised my hand off the piece.
> > Looking at the offcut, it probably had cleared the blade completely, but
> my
> > motion must've pulled it back into the blade. At any rate, it came
flying
> > at me full-speed, hit my left wrist and my abdomen exactly halfway
between
> > my belly button and you-know-where. Thank god I'm not 3 inches taller!
I
> > can't believe how much it hurt and how lucky I am. Bottom line: I'm an
> > idiot. And I'll leave that damn splitter in the saw ALL the time. AND,
I
> > ordered the Penn State overarm blade guard today, too. Maybe a little
> > paranoid, but I've proven that I can be a schmuck. If it was anything
> > thicker and harder than 1/4" MDF I might have some serious injurious
> instead
> > of just bruising and swelling.
> >
> > So, I'm going to build one of these 30" crosscut sleds, because I don't
> see
> > why I should take chances anymore. Being an idiot makes you do things
> like
> > that. hehe
> >
> > I still can't believe how stupid I was. Oh well.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > "Igor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 19:09:40 GMT, "Leon"
<[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > >"Mike in Mystic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > >news:[email protected]...
> > > >> A table saw will have a hard time doing 24 inch wide cross cuts. I
> > think
> > > >> the cast iron on my Unisaw is only 27" from front to back, so a
sled
> > might
> > > >> have a hard time tracking true on the last few inches of a wide
> board,
> > but
> > > >> it could come close.
> > > >>
> > > >Not really, I do 24" and larger cross cuts quite often. A crosscut
> that
> > > >wide is easily and safely done with the rip fence.
> > > >
> > >
> > > Thank you Leon. From your posts here it does seem you know something
> > about
> > > WW. "A cross cut ... with the rip fence." Just this AM I was
thinking
> > > about what the difference is. The best I could come up with is the
> > > orientation to the grain. And maybe the shape of the piece of wood.
> So,
> > > w/ plywood there is no difference -- except for the method used to run
> the
> > > wood through, with the fence or a sled/miter gauge. Am I right about
> > this?
> >
> >
>
>