U.S. Market fences are ALL long, extending all the way to the back of
the table saw’s table, some even locking back there as well as in
front. Euro fences tend to be short - just long enough to extend a
little past the back of the saw blade when the blade is at maximum
height. Some can be shortened for shallower cuts.

When you think about it, beyond the back of the exposed blade PLUS the
distance to the riving knife, which keeps the kerf open, there really
isn’t any need to keep the stock behind the blade against the fence. In
fact, if the piece being ripped Wish Bones (I.e. Opens up like a “Y” )
it can push against the fence behind the cut and try to move the whole
piece of stock being ripped AWAY from the fence and bind against the
blade. In an extreme case, it could push the riving knive out of
alignment with the blade enough to allow the stock to contact the
blade’s rear teeth - the ones that typcially initiate a “kickback”. OR
- it could try and push the end of the fence away from the blade - also
not a “good thing”.

Now let us examine The Short Fence vs The Long Fence from a leverage
perspective. And let’s begin with both fences locked down only at the
front of the table. If you apply one pound of force to the end of a one
foot lever you produce one foot pound of torque. Apply the same one
pound of force to the end of a two foot lever and you produce TWO foot
pounds of torque - twice that of the one foot lever. Now if you’re
tying to lift something, the longer the lever arm the better. BUT - if
you’re trying to keep the lever from moving, which is what you want to
do if the lever is your rip fence, LONGER ain’t better at all, SHORTER
IS BETTER. Kind of obvious when you think about it - right?

OK - so what if we can lock down BOTH the front AND rear of the fence?
Well if you look at it from a Moment Diagram perspective - forces
applied to lever arms, The Short Fence vs The Long Fence Locked Down At
Both Ends is about a push - basically they’d work the same.

BUT - what’s it take to lock down both the front and rear of the fence
AND keep it parallel to the blade its entire length? If the back locks
down before the front, or the front locks down before the back, you
could cause the fence to go out of parallel with the blade. If the
front of the fence is closer to the line of the blade you’ll bind the
stock against the outside of the saw blade. If the front is farther
from the line of the blade you’ll bind the stock against the inside of
the blade. Neither situation is desirable.

ALL the mechanisms to lock the front and rear of the fence down together
and parallel to the saw blade introduce one more critical set up
requirement - AND one more thing that needs to be checked periodically
and adjusted if necessary. Don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend
time cutting wood rather than checking and adjusting things BEFORE I can
cut wood.

I can only think of one reason for a longer fence - a place to attach
Hold Downs behind the cut - Board Buddies, magnetic Draw-Tite etc. - all
keep the stock down on the saw table and some also pull the stock into
the fence. You don’t want the stock behind the blade coming up off the
table - and perhaps into those spinning teeth rising up out of the table
top. It’s those rear teeth that raise all the hell. ANYTHING that can
cause the stock to come in contact with those rear teeth is “not
good”. The Rear Teeth ARE BAD!

So other than the fact that you're use to a long fence is there any
reason why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

charlie b

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 18:27:49 -0700, charlie b wrote:

So other than the fact that you're use to a long fence is there any reason
why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

I think a longer fence helps keep long stock properly aligned for the cut.
There have been times that I've wished my fence was even longer. Of course,
for that purpose, it would be fine if all that extra length was in front of
the blade.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

Art Greenberg wrote:

I think a longer fence helps keep long stock properly aligned for the cut.

Who cares if the stock is aligned to the back of the fence BEHIND the
blade - it's already been cut.

There have been times that I've wished my fence was even longer. Of course,
for that purpose, it would be fine if all that extra length was in front of
the blade.

NOW THAT would sort of make sense. A bit inconvenient but perhaps
actually useful.

charlie b

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 18:27:49 -0700, charlie b wrote:

So other than the fact that you're use to a long fence is there any
reason
why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

I like my Delta Unifence. I can slide it forward and achieve about the same
effect as a short fence and have the advantage of more fence up front.

Max

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 19:30:12 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

Art Greenberg wrote:

I think a longer fence helps keep long stock properly aligned for the cut.

Who cares if the stock is aligned to the back of the fence BEHIND the
blade - it's already been cut.

Uh, but it's still attached to the rest of the wood that hasn't been
cut yet. It'd be awfully hard to keep an 8' long piece of stock
against the fence when you've only got 2" of fence left to bear
against. That whole leverage concept you were getting at.

My old direct drive saw the blade was right at the back. Having that
extra table and fence back there makes life much easier.


-Leuf

In article ,
charlie b wrote:
...snipped...
So other than the fact that you're use to a long fence is there any
reason why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

charlie b

For the most part I agree with your analysis though I usually just use
the stock fence on my saw. However, one advantage of a long fence, is
that a straight edge can be ripped on a non-straight board, provided
the board can maintain contact with the fence at both of it's ends for
the full length of the cut.


--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland

"charlie b" wrote in message
...
snip
So other than the fact that you're use to a long fence is there any
reason why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

charlie b

I'd have to echo Leuf and say that while once the the part of the piece
you're cutting has already been cut when it passes the rear of the blade,
the problem is that it's still attached to the part you haven't cut yet. It
gets hard to keep a 6 ft. board parallel to the blade when the amount of
moment arm able to force it out of parallel is increasing as you cut. It
seems to me that the short fence thing would have more merit if the cutter
was hypothetically something like a laser beam perpendicular to the top of
the table. Then, as long as you were tight against the fence next to the
cutter, it wouldn't matter what the part behind or in front of the cutter
did. I have a Unitfence, so in the cases where a shorter fence might come
in handy, I can accomodate that easily.

todd

"todd" wrote in message

I'd have to echo Leuf and say that while once the the part of the piece
you're cutting has already been cut when it passes the rear of the blade,
the problem is that it's still attached to the part you haven't cut yet.
It gets hard to keep a 6 ft. board parallel to the blade when the amount
of moment arm able to force it out of parallel is increasing as you cut.

Not yet mentioned, but very important, is a proper outfeed table, or
rollers, or something to support the wood as it exits the blade. Length of
the fence does not matter if the 8" board is falling off the end and coming
up in your hand.

As Lwasserm has indicated, the longer the fence the less important it is
that the board be perfectly straight.

Lets think about that board with a bow in it .... As is more than likely the
bow is not consistent throughout the length of the board. If the amount of
bow increases slightly, with both ends of the board in contact with the
fence. Where is the board forced to go? ... into the side of blade. We have
two options here. If the blade is thin enough and the increased bow is only
minor the blade will flex enough to absorb the extra side forces being
applied. If the blade is rigid or the increase in bow is considerable then
things start to jam up. Hopefully at this point your saw in a little
underpowered and the motor will start to stall, if not you can guess what
happens next. You must remember that a rip saw is designed to cut straight
stock. A jointer is used for truing stock. I so often see articles in
various woodworking forums about near misses and unfortunately sometimes
more serious injuries. Nine times out of ten the operator was trying to make
a machine do something it was not originally designed to do. Always remember
there is no such thing as an accident. 99.99% of 'accidents' are usually the
result of someone doing something wrong, whether it be a deliberate decision
to do it or simply a lack of concentration on the task at hand

"Leon" wrote in message
. ..

As Lwasserm has indicated, the longer the fence the less important it is
that the board be perfectly straight.

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:28:34 GMT, B A R R Y wrote:

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 19:30:12 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

Art Greenberg wrote:

I think a longer fence helps keep long stock properly aligned for the cut.

Who cares if the stock is aligned to the back of the fence BEHIND the
blade - it's already been cut.


Dadoing and rabbetting.

If the stock moves at back of the blade, it can mess up the end of the
dado or rabbet.


Two points for the correct answer. And become dangerous as you might
pivot off the end of the fence, exposing the cutter.

Also 4' x 8' panels are much easier to control through the cut with a
longer fence.

The analysis that the dimension of the cut is determined only by the
fence that is in front of and adjacent to the blade is accurate.

Rear locking fences tend to have short fence blocks and shouldn't
required constant checking to insure blade alignment if properly
designed and adjusted the first time. Fences that lock on the front
only, depend on the wide stance of their t square fence bodies
contacting very stout guide rails. They should not need to be locked
in the rear.

Frank
Other than that, I agree with the short fence concept.

"Paul D" wrote in message
...
Lets think about that board with a bow in it .... As is more than likely
the
bow is not consistent throughout the length of the board. If the amount of
bow increases slightly, with both ends of the board in contact with the
fence. Where is the board forced to go? ... into the side of blade.

ONLY if one end of the board begins or eventually is not in contact with the
blade during the entire cut.

If the board is relatively short, too short to go through a jointer to
straighten, and will remain in contact with the fence through the entire cut
the pricedure would benefit from the a longer fence as the piece would
travel in a straight line.


We have
two options here. If the blade is thin enough and the increased bow is
only
minor the blade will flex enough to absorb the extra side forces being
applied. If the blade is rigid or the increase in bow is considerable then
things start to jam up. Hopefully at this point your saw in a little
underpowered and the motor will start to stall, if not you can guess what
happens next.

Actually I have had to guard against more "starts of a kick back" with an
under powered saw. With my cabinet saw and regular kerf blade the blade
seldom shows any sign of binding as the saw has the power to power through
the cut. In my experience the more HP the safer all cuts are.



You must remember that a rip saw is designed to cut straight
stock.

True, however with the proper jig/sled, it can easily and safely straighten
stock also.

Snip

Always remember
there is no such thing as an accident.

If that were true there would be no such word, as accident.
Partially agreeing however, "MOST" accidents can be prevented. A power
failure in a basement during a cut could easily cause an accident and
probably happens quite often. I personally have had power failures during
cuts and they were not because of a blown breaker. This situation would be
next to impossable to prevent.

99.99% of 'accidents' are usually the
result of someone doing something wrong, whether it be a deliberate
decision
to do it or simply a lack of concentration on the task at hand

I'll not disagree here, you are preaching to the choir. ;~) The other .01%
are accidents. Unfortunately no one is not incapable of an accident. There
are simply too many situations that come into play that fall outside the
situations that one is taught to help prevent an accident. The moment that
you think that all you know about safety will save your butt is the moment
that something can get you. NO ONE is incapable of covering all bases in
every situation or scenario.

Paul D (in ) said:

| Lets think about that board with a bow in it ....

| We have two options here

There is a third option: using a sled or jig to ensure that the board
travels in a straight line parallel to the cut line.

I built a simple board sled (follow the link below for a pair of
photos) and use it whenever I have any doubt about the stock feeding
straight along my normal fence.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/BoardSled.html

Doesn't anyone own and use a hand plane? If you've got a bowed
or twisted piece of stock - cut it to a shorter length if possible
to do safely and reduce the problem then hand plane it closer
to straight.

If you want to cut a rabbet/rebate on a bowed or crooked piece
- USE a rabbeting/rebating bit - with appropriate bearing - and
a routertable! The bearing will follow the edge - no matter how
bad the piece is bowed or crooked.

If the piece is twisted enough to cause problems ripping -
well you shouldn't be trying to rip it on a table saw - regardless
of how long your fence is, the thickness of your saw blade
or how much horsepower is spinning the blade.

OK - so you can use a sled and maybe some shims to stabilize
the stock to semi-safely rip a piece that doesn't have a flat
face down on the table and a straight edge against the fence
-but why not just prepare your stock correctly?

As note by another poster, the table saw is made to do one
thing - cut straight and parallel to the rip fence in the case
of a ripping operation, and cut straight and square to an
edge if cross cutting - the rip fence should be well out of
the way.

Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
and in the name of all that's holy - don't try cutting
circles on a table saw! Coves - maybe.

As for working with wide sheet stock - I've got a sliding table
that'll handle about 50+ inches - with the blade just high
enough for cutting 3/4" ply. I take the fence off the saw
to get it to hell out of the way. Anything more than that gets
cut down to 50" or less with a Clamp N Guide and a circular
saw. With 4x8 sheet goods I want the wood stationary and
the saw moving, not the other way around. MUCH easier
keeping a circular saw against the guide than manhandling
a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" on the table of the table saw - WHILE
keeping one edge against the fence.

charlie b

Man, has this thread drifted or what?


--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland

ONLY if one end of the board begins or eventually is not in contact with
the
blade during the entire cut.

If the board is relatively short, too short to go through a jointer to
straighten, and will remain in contact with the fence through the entire
cut
the pricedure would benefit from the a longer fence as the piece would
travel in a straight line.
Lets say we have a 30" deep saw bench, with say a fence of matching
length running a 12"blade running at full height. You would only have approx
9" clear of the front of the blade which would mean you could have a maximum
of a 9" piece of timber remain in full contact with fence. I don't know
about you but it would be very rare for me to be working with such short
pieces of timber.
When I commented I was referring to ripping long lengths of stock. The
two types of fence are designed for 2 different purposes. A short fence is
designed for ripping rough stock and a long fence is primarily designed for
cutting panel stock.

Actually I have had to guard against more "starts of a kick back" with an
under powered saw. With my cabinet saw and regular kerf blade the blade
seldom shows any sign of binding as the saw has the power to power through
the cut. In my experience the more HP the safer all cuts are.
I agree totally about more power the safer. Its like the sharper a
tool/knife the less dangerous it is. But the reality is that a majority of
saw benches sold aimed at the domestic market are usually underpowered for
the size they are capable of cutting.

The reason we are seeing some confusion about fences is because
manufacturers are trying to make one machine more versatile and do two jobs,
Anything designed to do 2 jobs only ever does half a job of each job.
If you look at the sliding tables on saw benches (European design I
believe there are refereed to as) and full length fences which is primarily
designed for panel work. The table is usually of too short a travel for
sheet work and the rigidity of the guide rails is usually questionable. A
true panel saw is set up so the bed travels right next to the blade and all
the weight of the sheet is on the travelling bed. On most of these European
style saw benches their is usually about 12" of fixed bench top between the
traveling bed and blade. However, the sliding fence is a big improvement in
safety over the mitre guide when it comes to cross cutting normal stock. I
hate mitre guides they have no 'secure' attachment to the bench. Something
goes wrong ant they rip straight out of your hand and the saw bench.
Ripping of rough stock is always done on a short fence. Take a trip to a
local mill and have a look how they have their fences set. Front of fence
will be in line with gullet just above the thickness of the stock being
ripped. Although you will find most operators are not religious about this
setup, but their setup will be close. In the real world you cant change
setup all the time for minor variations. You will also find that the fence
is set with a slight lead in. Once the stock has been cut by the teeth there
is no reason for it to be guided by a fence any further. The saw blade and
riving knife take over this job from there. Sawing green rough stock on a
full length fence will generally cause no end of problems with jamming.
Stable, seasoned dressed timber will usually rip OK with a full fence.
However if it is under stress as bowed timbers are it will tend to jamb when
the stress is relieved by the sawcut.

I appoligise if my words seem bit strong at times but coming from a trade
background using "Real" machines and seeing some horific accidents over the
years, I have some very strong views about the safety of machinery designed
for the small workshop/domestic market. I have a great respect for a lot of
ppl in here and have seen some very ingenious ideas and some very exqissite
work, but on the other hand I have seen a lot of sugestions on very
dangerous ways of doing things. Just as I would be totally lost if I lost a
part of my anatomy and not able to do what i enjoy most, I feel you would be
the same.

Here, Here ... I agree totally with all you say. well with one minor
exception

Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
and in the name of all that's holy - don't try cutting
circles on a table saw! Coves - maybe.

Coves ... no thanks not for me. The method used for cutting circles and
coves is basicly the same, creeping up slowly and 'planing' the cut. You are
making the saw blade cut in a direction it was not intended to.The number 1
rule of a saw bench is to avoid contact with the rear teath of the blade ...
thats where kickback monster lives and if you have ever seen him in full
stride you know how scary he is ..... worse than the missus with pmt and she
just found that you spend another cpl of grand on tools. Apart from that
bearings on saw arbours are not designed for lateral forces.

One line from your reply that i think deserves at least one more mention
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose
Use the right tool or machine for its intended purpose

sorry, am I nagging again?

"Paul D" wrote in message
...
Lets say we have a 30" deep saw bench, with say a fence of matching
length running a 12"blade running at full height. You would only have
approx
9" clear of the front of the blade which would mean you could have a
maximum
of a 9" piece of timber remain in full contact with fence. I don't know
about you but it would be very rare for me to be working with such short
pieces of timber.
When I commented I was referring to ripping long lengths of stock. The
two types of fence are designed for 2 different purposes. A short fence is
designed for ripping rough stock and a long fence is primarily designed
for
cutting panel stock.

Ok, I do not recall seeing your refernece about only ripping long board in
yout OP but I do agree with yout comments concerning long board ripping.

Actually I have had to guard against more "starts of a kick back" with an
under powered saw. With my cabinet saw and regular kerf blade the blade
seldom shows any sign of binding as the saw has the power to power
through
the cut. In my experience the more HP the safer all cuts are.
I agree totally about more power the safer. Its like the sharper a
tool/knife the less dangerous it is. But the reality is that a majority of
saw benches sold aimed at the domestic market are usually underpowered for
the size they are capable of cutting.

Snip

Just as I would be totally lost if I lost a
part of my anatomy and not able to do what i enjoy most, I feel you would
be
the same.

Actually you learn to adapt to loosing a part of you anatomy. :~) I lost
part of my left thumb on the TS 17 years ago and I was not performing a
cutting operation at the time, other than my thumb.

Actually you learn to adapt to loosing a part of you anatomy. :~) I lost
part of my left thumb on the TS 17 years ago and I was not performing a
cutting operation at the time, other than my thumb.

OK curiosity got me, I just have to ask ..... how did you manage that?

"Paul D" wrote in message
...
Actually you learn to adapt to loosing a part of you anatomy. :~) I
lost
part of my left thumb on the TS 17 years ago and I was not performing a
cutting operation at the time, other than my thumb.

OK curiosity got me, I just have to ask ..... how did you manage that?



I had just completed making narrow dado/grooves in some tool box sides and
had turned the saw off, walked a couple of steps to put the board in the
previously cut stack and came back to remove the rip fence. As I was
reaching over to grab the back of the fence I drug my thumb across the very
top of the slowly turning blade.
Since my cuts were not "through", a guard would not have been usable. I was
simply in a little bit too much of a hurry. I still recall the feeling of
each tooth hitting my thumb and violently shaking my hand. Had the blade
been running at full speed I suspect the cut would have been quite quick and
with less exaggerated shaking of my hand.

For several months I thought I had actually had a kick back but all my wood
was neatly stacked and there was no blood on the wood.

It was a freak accident that 20/20 hind sight can easily foresee but no one
is perfect.

charlie b wrote:

is there any
reason why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

charlie b


even though I have a pretty nice jointer, I often find it convenient to
straighten boards on the table saw. set the fence for the nominal width
of the board, run it through, flip it, run it through, increment the
fence 1/64th or so, repeat. pretty soon you have a board that is
straight and has parallel edges. the straightness you can achieve with
this method is affected by the length of your fence- the longer the
better.

I was simply in a little bit too much of a hurry. I still recall the
feeling of
each tooth hitting my thumb and violently shaking my hand. Had the blade
been running at full speed I suspect the cut would have been quite quick
and
with less exaggerated shaking of my hand.

One advantage of old age catching up on you over the years, you probably
dont move as quick now so the chances of it happening again are very slim.
With the blade at full speed you would not have felt each tooth. As a simple
'semi' guard when cutting non through cuts is a piece of perspex / lexon
screwed flat on the top of the fence ( assuming you dont have a very high
fence) works well. it won't totally stop access from the side of the blade
but at least it is a bit of a barrier. I have a radial arm saw I am always
very wary of doing a similar thing with. Although they are very handy
machine the design of them has a lot to be desired, safety wise.
Unfortunately for them to be practical the blade is always exposed near your
hand. Although I have it guarded well from the side there is still the
area directly in front of the blade where you have easy access. It's a 14"
3hp direct drive and takes nearly 3 minutes to run down totally.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Why do 12 runs through saw bench readjusting each time when you have the
correct tool whic would do the job in 1 or 2 rund with no setup time? You
mast have a lot more spare time on your hands than me.

wrote in message
oups.com...

charlie b wrote:

is there any
reason why you wouldn't even consider going with a short fence?

charlie b


even though I have a pretty nice jointer, I often find it convenient to
straighten boards on the table saw. set the fence for the nominal width
of the board, run it through, flip it, run it through, increment the
fence 1/64th or so, repeat. pretty soon you have a board that is
straight and has parallel edges. the straightness you can achieve with
this method is affected by the length of your fence- the longer the
better.

bridgerfafc:

I think, with your "use the table saw as a joiner", you've
provided support for the Short Fence. What you described
-straightening a crooked board on a table saw with a long
fence - isn't such a good idea, or a safe practice, especially
when you do have a joiner and perhaps a joiner hand plane
(#6 for short stuff, #7 for longer stuff or a #8 for the
Arnold S. folks who just like to lift heavy things).

Now if I understand your method correctly, you have both
the front and rear edge of the crooked board against the
rip fence as you start and end the rip cut. Let's say the
board in question is 36" long. That would require 36" of
fence from the front of the blade as well as 36" of fence
behind the front of the blade. Unless you have an auxillary
fence added on to the back of your fence as well as to
the front of your rip fence, you'd be asking for trouble,
even if you have a riving knife in place.

A short fence won't let you even consider making the
cut you describe. Just because it's possible to do
something doesn't mean it's safe to do. And my point
with the short fence - though implied but not stated -
was safety.

It's possible so I'll try it.
I've got a 12" sliding compound miter saw that'll
CROSS CUT a tad over 12" WIDE boards. Since
it works sort of like a radial arm saw I figured
I could rip a wide board with it - ie cutting "with
the grain" rather than the intended "acrossed
the grain". I took the precaution of using one
of the saw's hold downs - and clamped that
sucker down nice and tight.

When the first saw tooth made contact with
the end grain, or within nano seconds afterward,
all hell broke loose, as did the fence and the support
to which the hold down was attached! The chunk of
wood blown off my board was never found and it
took me a while to find, and get my heart back
in my chest. Figured I should do that before I
went in and changed my shorts - priorities you
know.

USE THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB!

DON'T TRY AND MAKE A TOOL OR MACHINE
DO WHAT IT WASN'T DESIGNED TO DO!

Neither is good for you - or the tool. One of
the objectives is to have you AND the tool
last a lifetime - in good working order.

rant mode OFF

charlie b

replying to Paul D,

Your comments seem to be the most logical of those I have read on this
topic. Thank you. wrote:


JustMe wrote:

the
cut
Lets say we have a 30" deep saw bench, with say a fence of matching
length running a 12"blade running at full height. You would only have
approx
9" clear of the front of the blade which would mean you could have a
maximum
of a 9" piece of timber remain in full contact with fence. I don't know
about you but it would be very rare for me to be working with such short
pieces of timber.
When I commented I was referring to ripping long lengths of stock. The
two types of fence are designed for 2 different purposes. A short fence is
designed for ripping rough stock and a long fence is primarily designed for
cutting panel stock.
I agree totally about more power the safer. Its like the sharper a
tool/knife the less dangerous it is. But the reality is that a majority of
saw benches sold aimed at the domestic market are usually underpowered for
the size they are capable of cutting.
The reason we are seeing some confusion about fences is because
manufacturers are trying to make one machine more versatile and do two
jobs,
Anything designed to do 2 jobs only ever does half a job of each job.
If you look at the sliding tables on saw benches (European design I
believe there are refereed to as) and full length fences which is primarily
designed for panel work. The table is usually of too short a travel for
sheet work and the rigidity of the guide rails is usually questionable. A
true panel saw is set up so the bed travels right next to the blade and all
the weight of the sheet is on the travelling bed. On most of these European
style saw benches their is usually about 12" of fixed bench top between the
traveling bed and blade. However, the sliding fence is a big improvement in
safety over the mitre guide when it comes to cross cutting normal stock. I
hate mitre guides they have no 'secure' attachment to the bench. Something
goes wrong ant they rip straight out of your hand and the saw bench.
Ripping of rough stock is always done on a short fence. Take a trip to
a
local mill and have a look how they have their fences set. Front of fence
will be in line with gullet just above the thickness of the stock being
ripped. Although you will find most operators are not religious about this
setup, but their setup will be close. In the real world you cant change
setup all the time for minor variations. You will also find that the fence
is set with a slight lead in. Once the stock has been cut by the teeth
there
is no reason for it to be guided by a fence any further. The saw blade and
riving knife take over this job from there. Sawing green rough stock on a
full length fence will generally cause no end of problems with jamming.
Stable, seasoned dressed timber will usually rip OK with a full fence.
However if it is under stress as bowed timbers are it will tend to jamb
when
the stress is relieved by the sawcut.
I appoligise if my words seem bit strong at times but coming from a trade
background using "Real" machines and seeing some horific accidents over the
years, I have some very strong views about the safety of machinery designed
for the small workshop/domestic market. I have a great respect for a lot of
ppl in here and have seen some very ingenious ideas and some very exqissite
work, but on the other hand I have seen a lot of sugestions on very
dangerous ways of doing things. Just as I would be totally lost if I lost a
part of my anatomy and not able to do what i enjoy most, I feel you would
be
the same.




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