Ok so you-tubing around and I come across this video on spline joints, so I give it a look...now we just got through looking at the kickback video on our forum and I see this guy who calls himself a professional doing the most dangerous way of making splines that i can think of, so I leave a comment and link to our kickback thread, guess I should have just kept my mouth (keyboard) shut...but jeez I am getting real tired of people who claim to be professional doing and showing people the most un-professional way to do things. Now I am no professional, not by a long shot, but I have been doing woodwork damn near all my life and I still got all my fingers, how come professional can't learn anything, or admit to being wrong, is it an ego thing. Here is the video (click on title to goto site), what do all think, am I wrong here..I didn't say anything about his jig, that's fine, and I will probably make one like it, just not the spline making part.
This bugs me
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That's almost exactly the way I do it. What is the safer way?
Bret
Bret
You don't think not using a blade splitter or guard of any kind standing directly behind the blade so you get smacked by the wood if kicks back
that ok, you don't think a slid with no fence would be safer. Not talking about when he used the jig, but when he cut the splines strips about 4 mins into the video. Ok guess I am wrong then, but I'll never make a cut like that on my table saw and my splitter is always on, even before I saw that kickback video.
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I appreciate your concern for safety. I don't use a splitter either. I'm old school. I'm not defending my method but I am probably not going to change. Still got all ten.
The most dangerous thing you can do on a table saw is cut thin warped plywood. It can lift up above the blade and then catch and instantly sling it at you very very hard. A splitter could help prevent this.
I once dropped a black walnut plank onto the spinning TS blade by accident. It really really hurt when it hit me. A splitter might have prevented that also.
Bret
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With the jig he had wrapping over the fence it could only move forward and backward only making a very minor cut. There is really no way it could kick back. Usually a kickback occurs when the material you are cutting strays away from the fence so that wouldn't happen in this instance. He never had his hands close to the blade nor did he have any loose clothes so I would say it was very safe. There are just many operations in woodworking where you just can't have a guard on the saw.
OK I said NOT when he was using the jig, when he cut the strips of spline, he didn't use a splitter who's main job is preventing kickback for the very thing he was doing running a board between the fence and blade, the jig is fine I understand not using it then, but not when cutting the strips, and he was standing directly behind where that thing would kickback, which all it would take is a slight pinch, you have very little holding power with a push stick.
I use my panel sled, with the fence about 2 or 3 inch off the blade, for indexing only. Place a short piece of 2x4 well before the blade and shim for the thickness you want plus the blade against the sled, move your fence to it lock it down, remove the shim, now it is index to the thickness of the strip you want, when you clamp down your piece on the slide, when you slide it to the blade your off the 2x4 and there is no fence to pinch the piece, because it's on your panel slide, the strip being cut is a 2x4 width from the fence, no pinching there either, the strip you cut will simply fall away, with no chance for kickback, you are safely away from the blade, no push stick, and I can still use every safety feature the saw has, doesn't get in the way. I can cut as many strips has I want and get clamped to the panel sled by just re-indexing the piece back to the 2x4, no fence moving. Doing it the old way requires you to keep setting the fence for every strip you cut, and I still think is dangerous, because the more strips you cut moves that fence closer and closer, even if it has been done that way for a hundred years.
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As I would agree that using a splitter or riving knife would be safer...... I don't use either and still have all my fingers 
I am a professional and spend countless hours in my shop using the TB and other machines that are far more dangerous. It's just all about being cautious guy and being aware of what you are doing. As long as he isn't putting others at risk I don't see a problem. Just my opinion though.
I am a professional and spend countless hours in my shop using the TB and other machines that are far more dangerous. It's just all about being cautious guy and being aware of what you are doing. As long as he isn't putting others at risk I don't see a problem. Just my opinion though.Well I am not a professional and guess I am in the minority...lol..so not going to push my ideas on anyone, but I can tell you I feel a whole lot safer doing it the way I do now. I have made strips that way before, always scared me when I did it. I said a panel slide but to be more accurate it is a cross cut sled, the kind that butts upto the blade from the left side and runs along the channel opposite side of the blade from the fence, probably not suppose be used it the way I am using it for ripping strips, but it sure works good, I have hold downs on the sled and can hold down a board as thin as 2 1/2 inch wide and three feet long more then enough for several strips off a 1x6, just my goofy way of doing things. I don't remember where I picked this up, might have been an old Yankee workshop show. I searched for a video of this and couldn't find one, so I guess I am the only one doing it this way...hmmmAs I would agree that using a splitter or riving knife would be safer...... I don't use either and still have all my fingers
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here is a u-tube on thin cuts, this is by charles neil very good
He is still basically doing the same thing, just added the feather board, but notice he still has his splitter and even has an antikick bar for good measure, which is way better then then what that other guy was doing...I am actually kind of surprised there aren't more folks using a sled for this, I just assumed it was the new way of things, but I see it's not...lol....
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I haven't had a splitter or blade guard onto table saw for years. I always use a push shoe when making rip cuts. I use zero clearance inserts when doing thin strips. I also make sure everything I cut has a flat face and a 90 degree square edge before it gets to the table saw. In 15 years I've had one kickback, and that was due to a defect in the piece I was cutting. I still have all 10 and have no worries of losing a finger as I make sure my attention is ONLY on what I'm doing.
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My saw doesn't have a guard but I do use feather boards and splitters. Anything 1/8" and larger I cut on the fence side thanks to my pair of Grippers and 1/8" legs. Smaller than 1/8" I cut to the outside of the blade.
Only time I've ever had a kick back was at the router table when trying to reverse cut a dove tailed slot. Darn router threw the wood across the carport and through the laundry room wall. Thankfully I was standing to the side and not in line with the bit.
What that guy was doing may not have been the best way to be totally OHSA approved but it may have been done that way to film the process without anything in the way of the camera.
Only time I've ever had a kick back was at the router table when trying to reverse cut a dove tailed slot. Darn router threw the wood across the carport and through the laundry room wall. Thankfully I was standing to the side and not in line with the bit.
What that guy was doing may not have been the best way to be totally OHSA approved but it may have been done that way to film the process without anything in the way of the camera.
You know I get tired of people saying I still have all Ten.
Most people other carpenters, woodworkers etc will tell you I'm one of the safest people they know with tools. Yet I have only nine. I didn't say oh after 20-25 years of being safe I'm going to be stupid today. Accidents happen and by definition they are unplanned.
Accident- An accident, mishap, or, more archaically, misadventure, is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It usually implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.
Hind site people is golden.:thumbsup:
Most people other carpenters, woodworkers etc will tell you I'm one of the safest people they know with tools. Yet I have only nine. I didn't say oh after 20-25 years of being safe I'm going to be stupid today. Accidents happen and by definition they are unplanned.
Accident- An accident, mishap, or, more archaically, misadventure, is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It usually implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.
Hind site people is golden.:thumbsup:
:laughing:...that's for sure, in hind site I sure wouldn't have brought this up..it was definitely an accident, and I am way off in left field and alone on this one...lol...I think I may just be a little passive aggressive toward the table saw cause I don't like using it...
...it's the only tool in my shop I will only use if I absolutely have too and I can't get away with using anything else to get the cut I want, then I'm some what over protective I guess.That's a shame because the table saw is the main piece of machinery in most shops.:laughing:...that's for sure, in hind site I sure wouldn't have brought this up..it was definitely an accident, and I am way off in left field and alone on this one...lol...I think I may just be a little passive aggressive toward the table saw cause I don't like using it...
I've seen this method of cutting "keys" for mitered corners just as the video shows. I would call a spline as something that is cut and inserted into the face of the mitered joint.
There is nothing wrong with cutting keys as is demonstrated. As for no splitter, with the jig sliding along the fence there is no real need for a splitter. If, and it's a big IF, the fence is not locked there is a slim possibility of a kick back. (More than likely the saw would be stalled.)
There is nothing wrong with cutting keys as is demonstrated. As for no splitter, with the jig sliding along the fence there is no real need for a splitter. If, and it's a big IF, the fence is not locked there is a slim possibility of a kick back. (More than likely the saw would be stalled.)
lol...guess I'm not the only one in left field, once again someone has associated my comment with the jig. Forget the jig, I know we can't use a splitter with the jig. 4 minutes and 2 seconds into the video, this is the sequence I am referring too, he is ripping a 1/8" inch strip, this is where I have the problem with no splitter, this is the classic setup for kickback, this is where he is standing directly in the line of fire if it kicked back. What is really amazing to me is just how many people are so comfortable with this way of ripping small strips. I am shocked is all I can say, jeez I never thought it would happen to me, but it has....
...I have become an OLD FUDYDUDEE....oh the humanity...screw it, I am still going to keep using my sled....:laughing:You got into the verbiage trouble with your initial post. You made a general comment when you should have made a specific comment.lol...guess I'm not the only one in left field, once again someone has associated my comment with the jig. Forget the jig, I know we can't use a splitter with the jig. 4 minutes and 2 seconds into the video, this is the sequence I am referring too, he is ripping a 1/8" inch strip, this is where I have the problem with no splitter, this is the classic setup for kickback, this is where he is standing directly in the line of fire if it kicked back. What is really amazing to me is just how many people are so comfortable with this way of ripping small strips. I am shocked is all I can say, jeez I never thought it would happen to me, but it has....
Stop, look and listen before you speak or write.
George
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