RIPPING
Ripping is cutting lengthwise through a board. The rip fence (A) Fig. 40 is used to position and guide the work. One edge of the work rides against the rip fence while the flat side of the board rests on the table. Since the work is pushed along the fence, it must have a straight edge and make solid contact with the table. The saw blade guard must be used. The guard has
1.Start the motor and advance the work holding it down and against the fence. Never stand in the line of the saw cut when ripping. Hold the work with both hands and push it along the fence and into the saw blade (Fig. 40). The work can then be fed through the saw blade with one or two hands. After the work is beyond the saw blade and
2.If the ripped work is less than 4 inches wide, a push stick should always be used to complete the feed, as shown in Fig. 41. The push stick can easily be made from scrap material as explained in the section “CONSTRUCTING A PUSH STICK.”
3.Ripping narrow pieces can be dangerous if not done carefully. Narrow pieces usually cannot be cut with the guard in position. If the workpiece is short enough, use a pushboard. When ripping material under 2 inches in width, a flat pushboard is a valuable accessory since ordinary type sticks may interfere with the blade guard. When using a pushboard, the width of the pushboard must be added to the width of the rip fence position setting. A flat pushboard can be constructed as shown in Fig. 43 and should be used as shown in Fig. 42.
NOTE: Some special operations (when using the moulding cutterhead) require the addition of an auxiliary wood facing to the fence, not included.
B
Fig. 40
Fig. 41
Fig. 42
Fig. 43
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