MikeWhy wrote:
The concept seemed simple enough, and it didn't occur to me that I had
never tried cutting anything this long before. I have to cut some 8'
sheets of plywood the long way on the TS. A few dry runs with a helper
had it weaving and bobbing off the fence and table. We tried it with the
helper making like a featherboard. We tried it with the helper making
like an infeed support roller, which worked a little better. The
lumberyard would have ripped it for me at $1 per cut, if I had been
thinking. But now that it's here...

Is there a secret to a long rip on tablesaws? 8' of leverage easily
overcomes whatever force I can apply holding it to the fence. I've seen
conical feed rollers that hold the work to the fence, but never paid
much attention, since I didn't have problems with the size of work I was
doing. I can't find them now on online stores. What are those
roller-things called?

There's no problem on the outfeed end. I just need to get the first 3'
or so to feed straight enough to not kick back. From there, it's a very
comfortable rip, just like the ones I'm used to. What's the secret?


For important stuff, I always use a table on the outfeed side of the
saw, and a rolling work table on the infeed.
I roll the sheet (on the table) up to the saw and the table stops
rolling when it gets to the saw, but the top is slick enough that the
sheet keeps going. The surface of both in and out feed tables are
slightly lower than the saw top.

Without tables, I'd suggest making rough cuts, then final cuts on the
smaller, more manageable pieces.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
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http://mikedrums.com

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