Bill wrote:
If you happen to have this book, maybe you can help me. If you don't
and
are interested, you can also see the whole page by clicking on the
follow
link to amazon.com and then searching inside the book for the phrase
"End
Lap on the Table Saw",
http://www.amazon.com/Joint-Book-TER...2854848&sr=1-1

If you've never done that before, searching inside books this way is
a nice
way to find useful information.


In "End Lap on the Table Saw", page 46, Step #3, the author writes

Lock the fence and clamp the scrap in front of the blade.
Butt the stock against the block and push the cut through with the
gauge.


After considering it over in my head for 3 days, I may have the jist
of it,
but I think it may be important so I'll post anyway. It beats
reading the
political thread. : ) First off, what the author is doing here is
making a
cut one side of which will form the shoulder. I had to wonder why
he is
working so hard at it (as a beginner, it would not have occurred to
me to
make it so difficult). And that is the reason I am asking. I have
decided
that it should probably say, "butt the stock against the FRONT side
of the
block and against the fence and push...". Yet the author still does
not
explain his rationale.

I can see how using the block and fence help ensure a square cut,
but I'm
curious why that should be expected to do better than the gauge and
fence
alone assuming the mitre guage is square. I saw a similar technique
used on
NYW online tonight (free online episode, 1 per month here), though I
don't
recall Norm clamping the block.
http://www.newyankee.com/online.php

So it all boils down to: Why is it worth using/clamping an extra
block in
place?

Table saw safety 101--stock should never touch the miter gage and fence at
the same time during a cut--doing so risks getting a piece of stock wedged
between the blade and fence which results in the stock being thrown at you
violently.

The block allows you to align the stock without having it be in contact with
the fence during the actual cut.

If you find "The Table Saw Book" by Kelly Mehler and look on page 65 there
is demonstration of kickback.

You might want to get a copy of that book and read it through--a table saw
can hurt you in some non-obvious ways.

The idea of putting a clamps on an expensive TS fence seems
counter-intuitive to me.

The fence is not fragile in that way. At least it shouldn't be--if putting
clamps on it damages it it was a piece of crap to begin with. "Table Saw
Magic" by Jim Tolpin shows a wide variety of useful accessories that attach
to the fence.

I hope I haven't beat a dead horse...

Safety is never a dead horse.


Bill