Hello all,
I am about to rip my strips and after searching around this forum I have deceided that board buddies are the way to go. I purchased a pair of yellow board buddies and drilled and tapped my beisemer fence on my unisaw for the optional mounting bracket. I have them all adjusted to the point where I am happy with them, but when I ripped a test board, I realized there was a problem I'm not sure how to deal with.
Having done a lot of woodwork in the past (I am a Technology Teacher - Technology is a fancy way of saying shop) and always use a push stick or block for pushing the boards through the blade. So here is the big question - how do I push the board all the way through the blade if I am doing this by myself? I could see how it would work if I had a helper on the other side to pull the last little bit past the blade and out of the buddies, but I just can't visualise how to do it on my own.
Thanks for your help with this issue,
John
Using Board Buddies
-
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:52 pm
Thanks for the reply Sluggo. So when you stopped pushing at approx. 18 inches, did you then move around the other side of the saw and pull the board the rest of the way through? If so, do the board buddies hold the board from kickback, or did you maintain your hold on the board as you moved around the saw.
Thanks again,
John
Thanks again,
John
board buddies
I pushed my stock at least half way through then walked around to other end and pulled it the rest of the way through. Keep an eye on the angle you are pulling it through on and try and keep it flat against the fence. I planed all my planking after both sides so minor differences in thickness were not a problem. I did have help one day and we got a lot done between the two of us one pushing and one pulling the rest of the way through.
Denis
Denis
I'm not sure about these board buddies, but I used feather boards.
With the right sized infeed and outfeed tables you can run just one feather board and use a push stick just fine. It'll keep the board tight to the fence, and the infeed and outfeeds will keep it from bowing up. and it's quicker then dealing with a feather board that comes from the top.
With the right sized infeed and outfeed tables you can run just one feather board and use a push stick just fine. It'll keep the board tight to the fence, and the infeed and outfeeds will keep it from bowing up. and it's quicker then dealing with a feather board that comes from the top.
I think I held on to the board as I walked around but can't quite remember. There's wasn't any kickback though. If there was, the board buddies wouldn't be doing their job.
I'm not a tablesaw guru so I was never super comfortable with pushing wood with a push stick when ripping strips. I think I would be tempted to still walk around and pull the wood off of the back of the saw, in which case for me it wouldn't be any faster than using the bb. Actually, it wasn't the pushstick that bothered me. It was more of an issue of the cut strips flopping around all over the place after I finished pushing it through. I use push sticks all the time with bigger (ie wider) pieces of wood though.
I'm not a tablesaw guru so I was never super comfortable with pushing wood with a push stick when ripping strips. I think I would be tempted to still walk around and pull the wood off of the back of the saw, in which case for me it wouldn't be any faster than using the bb. Actually, it wasn't the pushstick that bothered me. It was more of an issue of the cut strips flopping around all over the place after I finished pushing it through. I use push sticks all the time with bigger (ie wider) pieces of wood though.