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?

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
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?

My experience is to avoid helpers. I use multiple roller stands with swivel
wheels on infeed and outfeed to support both sides of the cut and when
cutting to press the plywood against the fence. Where material allows, I cut
it 1/4 inch oversize, then retrim the cut piece when it is more manageable
in size.

I find helpers tend to try to help too much and often move about as they are
easing the wood through the saw when walking backwards, which causes binding
and a weaving cut.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
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?


I find 8' plywood rips aren't possible (with a full 4' sheet.) It's one of
those times where a straightedge and the wormdrive circular saw is the right
tool (for me).

Ed

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)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

EXT wrote:

My experience is to avoid helpers. ...

I find helpers tend to try to help too much and often move about as they
are easing the wood through the saw when walking backwards, which causes
binding and a weaving cut.


I agree about the helpers.
Inevitably, you end up fighting each other, even if you're not trying to.


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

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.

Get/make outfeed support for both the cut and offcut. Infeed support is
good as well.

Hold the plywood at the back left corner. I like to have one hand on
the back and one on the left side. Start the cut, applying pressure
towards the front right corner to keep the board against the fence.
Once you get fast the first few feet, move directly behind the sheet and
push it through.

Chris

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
EXT wrote:

My experience is to avoid helpers. ...

I find helpers tend to try to help too much and often move about as they
are easing the wood through the saw when walking backwards, which causes
binding and a weaving cut.


I agree about the helpers.
Inevitably, you end up fighting each other, even if you're not trying to.

And so I sent her off to start supper.

I stacked some stock on the Workmate for a bit of help at the far infeed
end, and added a featherboard for hold-down at the fence for insurance. It
was a complete non-event. Most of it, I think, was a mental block that said
it would be a difficult cut. One down, 6 more to go. Thanks for the nudge.

"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
el...
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.

Get/make outfeed support for both the cut and offcut. Infeed support is
good as well.

Hold the plywood at the back left corner. I like to have one hand on the
back and one on the left side. Start the cut, applying pressure towards
the front right corner to keep the board against the fence. Once you get
fast the first few feet, move directly behind the sheet and push it
through.

I envy you that. It just wouldn't start straight for me. The long leverage
made it especially easy to over correct. (It turned out to be pretty
manageable just by adding some support at the far end, behind me. I just
stoood at the table and fed it, just like any other rip. Maybe some day in
the far future, I'll try it again... but I suspect I'll just happily pay the
$1/cut.)

MikeWhy wrote:

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?

Board Buddies

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

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:

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?

Board Buddies

That's them. Wow! $50/pair.

"Dave Balderstone" wrote in message
news:151220081737540378%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderst one.ca...
In article , 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

Use a long straight edge and circ saw, with the plywood laying on some
styrofoam pieces on the floor.

Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long straightedge.
It's unbelievable how much a 2" sheet costs these days. About $30 a 4x8 a
few months ago.

MikeWhy wrote:
"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:

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?

Board Buddies

That's them. Wow! $50/pair.

I think I paid a litle under $40 for my set - and you may find a better
price if you look around carefully.

They do work well, tho.

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

MikeWhy wrote:
Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long straightedge.


Sure ya do. You just made 14 of them, right? :-)


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:
Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long straightedge.

Sure ya do. You just made 14 of them, right? :-)


--

-MIKE-


Or, sacrifice one rip of your next sheet of ply... the factory edge is
going to be everything you need. Rip an 8" piece and (combined with a pair
of clamps) you have all the straightedge you need.

I think I paid a litle under $40 for my set - and you may find a better
price if you look around carefully.

They do work well, tho.


Those definitely fall under the category of, "worth the money."


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Ed Edelenbos wrote:


"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:
Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long straightedge.

Sure ya do. You just made 14 of them, right? :-)


--

-MIKE-


Or, sacrifice one rip of your next sheet of ply... the factory edge is
going to be everything you need. Rip an 8" piece and (combined with a
pair of clamps) you have all the straightedge you need.


Is there an echo in here? :-)


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
Ed Edelenbos wrote:


"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:
Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long
straightedge.

Sure ya do. You just made 14 of them, right? :-)


--

-MIKE-


Or, sacrifice one rip of your next sheet of ply... the factory edge is
going to be everything you need. Rip an 8" piece and (combined with a
pair of clamps) you have all the straightedge you need.


Is there an echo in here? :-)


--

-MIKE-


Nah, just someone who replies before reading all the other replies. (grin)

Ed

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
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...

I'm not sure why you're having this trouble. With a properly sized infeed
and outfeed tables and smooth surface to slide on, I've very rarely had
trouble taking slices off an 8' sheet of plywood.

I've never been able to get a lumberyard to make a clean straight cut for
me. It's been a waste of time. Home Depot with their panel saw does a little
better job, but they don't sell the veneered ply that I often buy so I can't
get it cut there.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
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.

Never tried a full sheet, don't ever intend to try. I get it cut to close on
a panel saw where I buy the plywood and make the finish cuts. Handling a
smaller sheet is not a big deal with good support. You can do the same with
a circular saw for the first cut.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
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...

I'm not sure why you're having this trouble. With a properly sized infeed
and outfeed tables and smooth surface to slide on, I've very rarely had
trouble taking slices off an 8' sheet of plywood.



Woks for me too.
I recently upgraded the front rail on my Delta Contractors saw to the 50"
version. Of course I had to add a longer wing to match. Then I replaced my
out feed table with one that runs the whole length of the saw. I also have a
small infeed table I built so it will quickly install in the front rail. and
I support it wit ha roller stand. I cut 4x8 sheets of 3/4" MDF all by
myself, as long as I can lift them on the table! One thing I do when cutting
full sheets is to cut the piece slightly wider than needed then make a
second pass to trim it to size. That way if I fudge up the cut I did not
screw up the piece.
Greg

"Greg O" wrote in message
myself, as long as I can lift them on the table! One thing I do when
cutting
full sheets is to cut the piece slightly wider than needed then make a
second pass to trim it to size. That way if I fudge up the cut I did not
screw up the piece.

Sure, that's common sense to cut a long piece slightly oversize and then
trim it to needed size. One other thing I do is use a single roller stand
just to the left of the tablesaw for added support when slicing from a full
sheet. And naturally depending on width, I try to cut wider pieces first, if
there are any.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
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?


Long straight rip on a TS? The secret is a sharp blade on a well tuned TS,
and practice. I generally stand on the left back side of the piece with
my left on the side opposite and parallel to the fence and my right hand
on the trailing end.
Of course it is much easier with a helping hand.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:37:46 -0600, "MikeWhy"
wrote:

"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
tel...
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.

Get/make outfeed support for both the cut and offcut. Infeed support is
good as well.

Hold the plywood at the back left corner. I like to have one hand on the
back and one on the left side. Start the cut, applying pressure towards
the front right corner to keep the board against the fence. Once you get
fast the first few feet, move directly behind the sheet and push it
through.

I envy you that. It just wouldn't start straight for me. The long leverage
made it especially easy to over correct. (It turned out to be pretty
manageable just by adding some support at the far end, behind me. I just
stoood at the table and fed it, just like any other rip. Maybe some day in
the far future, I'll try it again... but I suspect I'll just happily pay the
$1/cut.)

What Chris says works for me, too...but, really, what it's all about
is practice. One more thing, though, try real hard to get your
footwork good enough to keep the sheet (or board, if you will) to move
through without stopping. Do some dry runs...plug in your
hands...keeping your eyes on the fence connection. I find the hardest
part to be getting the sheet set up to *start* the cut...the cut
itself is no longer an issue due to repetition. Now, all that said,
depending on the widths of my rips, I'll most always get at least
*one* done where I purchase the stock (at HD they'll do one cut
free...most yards out here will do that) and that cut just a smidge
over the dimension I'm after...this gets the sheet size much more
managable. Then the procedure described above...practice, baby,
practice...

cg

Subject

Unless you set up infeed, out feed and side support tables, the
mechanics of the process are not in your favor.

If you are trying to only break down one or two sheets, having all
those tables set up take up a lot of space for what is basically a
short time project.

An edge guide, a couple of C-Clamps and a 4'x8'x2" foam sheet, and a
hand held circular saw simplifies life a great deal.

Have fun.

Lew

An edge guide, a couple of C-Clamps and a 4'x8'x2" foam sheet, and a
hand held circular saw simplifies life a great deal.

Have fun.

Lew


I hope you're not cutting through the foam with your blade. :-)


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:
Yah. I do that for shorter cuts, but don't have an 8' long straightedge.

Sure ya do. You just made 14 of them, right? :-)

Doh! Yeah. Also eyeing the spare 8' long white melamine shelf that's been
gathering dust in the corner. A length of cleats down its length, and a
simple cut with the saw will turn it into a usable guide. (No matter. I'm
just pleased as punch with how easily it cuts on the TS now.)

Anyway, there's not much left of the plywood. There's a little less than a
square foot of small bits and pieces in scrap. It was quite an epiphany to
discover that there's a bookcase hiding in each 4x8 sheet of plywood. Just
add some edge banding and a 1/4" back sheet.

"-MIKE-" wrote:

I hope you're not cutting through the foam with your blade. :-)

As a matter of fact, yes.

About 1/4-1/2".

That's why a 2" thick sheet.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:8vH1l.1926$c35.1622
@nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

"-MIKE-" wrote:

I hope you're not cutting through the foam with your blade. :-)

As a matter of fact, yes.

About 1/4-1/2".

That's why a 2" thick sheet.

Lew



I use a 1/2" sheet of plywood to support cuts in large pieces. It takes
a few minutes to adjust the blade depth so it cuts just past the depth of
the piece and doesn't cut too deep into the plywood.

This sometimes causes a bit of trouble with slightly warped (cupped)
pieces, as the blade may not want to go all the way through. The 2" foam
gives a deeper cut, and thus eliminates this problem.

Puckdropper
--
On Usenet, no one can hear you laugh. That's a good thing, though, as
some writers are incorrigible.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

"Puckdropper" puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:8vH1l.1926$c35.1622
@nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

"-MIKE-" wrote:

I hope you're not cutting through the foam with your blade. :-)

As a matter of fact, yes.

About 1/4-1/2".

That's why a 2" thick sheet.

Lew



I use a 1/2" sheet of plywood to support cuts in large pieces. It takes
a few minutes to adjust the blade depth so it cuts just past the depth of
the piece and doesn't cut too deep into the plywood.

This sometimes causes a bit of trouble with slightly warped (cupped)
pieces, as the blade may not want to go all the way through. The 2" foam
gives a deeper cut, and thus eliminates this problem.

Puckdropper
--
On Usenet, no one can hear you laugh. That's a good thing, though, as
some writers are incorrigible.

And on e-bay no one can hear you scream.

MikeWhy wrote:
"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
el...
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.

Get/make outfeed support for both the cut and offcut. Infeed
support is good as well.

Hold the plywood at the back left corner. I like to have one hand
on the back and one on the left side. Start the cut, applying
pressure towards the front right corner to keep the board against
the fence. Once you get fast the first few feet, move directly
behind the sheet and push it through.

I envy you that. It just wouldn't start straight for me. The long
leverage made it especially easy to over correct. (It turned out to
be pretty manageable just by adding some support at the far end,
behind me.

It would be even more manageable if you extended the fence. Consider: you
have a foot or so of fence between the infeed side of the table and blade;
that means you have seven feet or so of heavy, hard to manage plywood
hanging off the end. Even if it were totally supported it would be easy to
wobble off the fence. If you clamp a piece of straight 2x4 to the fence so
that it is hanging off the infeed side by two feet you now have three feet
of initial contact area instead of one.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

"dadiOH" wrote in message
I envy you that. It just wouldn't start straight for me. The long
leverage made it especially easy to over correct. (It turned out to
be pretty manageable just by adding some support at the far end,
behind me.

It sounds like you're having trouble sliding the wood and that it's not
travelling past the blade smoothly. If you were cutting a simple piece of
pine, does it cut smoothly, without burning? If not, then you likely have a
blade/fence alignment problem. If that's not the case then it's likely
friction from your support surfaces.

For any infeed/outfeed support that you're using, what kind of surfaces do
they have? For example, if you're trying to slide the plywood onto another
support that is plywood, then you're going to get some friction causing
difficulty cutting. Either hardboard, or better yet, some type of melamine
surface are about as smooth as you're going to get.

On Dec 15, 6:30*pm, "MikeWhy" wrote:
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?

Woodstock W1104 Yellow Anti-Kick Back Board Buddies
http://www.tools-plus.com

"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"dadiOH" wrote in message
I envy you that. It just wouldn't start straight for me. The long
leverage made it especially easy to over correct. (It turned out to
be pretty manageable just by adding some support at the far end,
behind me.

It sounds like you're having trouble sliding the wood and that it's not
travelling past the blade smoothly. If you were cutting a simple piece of
pine, does it cut smoothly, without burning? If not, then you likely have
a
blade/fence alignment problem. If that's not the case then it's likely
friction from your support surfaces.

The saw cuts fine. The fence was trued to less than .001 its entire length,
and the top freshly waxed. The saw was ready.

I made a dry run with the blade down to see what I was in for, and found I
couldn't keep the edge on the fence. Extending the fence forward as dadOH
suggested likely would have solved it, or helped quite a bit. Once it had
about somewhat more than 2 feet of contact, I had no trouble keeping it on
the fence. The problem was getting it started and moving straight. Even with
some practice, it weaved and bobbed enough to, if it didn't kick back
outright, leave divots and burns.

For any infeed/outfeed support that you're using, what kind of surfaces do
they have? For example, if you're trying to slide the plywood onto another
support that is plywood, then you're going to get some friction causing
difficulty cutting. Either hardboard, or better yet, some type of melamine
surface are about as smooth as you're going to get.

The outfeed is the router table, also freshly made slicker than snot for the
occasion. The trouble was the infeed. It needed more support, which I solved
for the moment by stacking and clamping some cutoffs on the Workmate. It
supported the last 2 feet or so, behind me, while I worked as normal from
right at the table. That worked out pretty well, and was all the help I
needed. In the future, I'll look at making or buying a roller stand, or look
at Board Buddies. Maybe just focusing on walking a straight line while
pushing would have worked, but I wasn't encouraged by the first few tries.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
needed. In the future, I'll look at making or buying a roller stand, or
look
at Board Buddies. Maybe just focusing on walking a straight line while
pushing would have worked, but I wasn't encouraged by the first few tries.

I use two roller stands actually. One is a single roller stand that I use
left of the table saw and the other is a 13 roller stand that I use
primarily for outfeed support.

As others have mentioned, it probably comes down to practice. I use a
wheelchair so I don't walk the boards at all because I need my hands to push
the wood through while at the same time keeping it pressed against the
fence. Sometimes I need to reposition myself so I have to let go of the
wood, move to a more optimal position and then resume my cutting. Those are
the only times I might get a burned edge, but they're infrequent. And yeah,
if you can get stuff cut slightly oversize at the wood store before bringing
it home, then all the better. We make do the best we can.

I hope you're not cutting through the foam with your blade. :-)

As a matter of fact, yes.

About 1/4-1/2".

That's why a 2" thick sheet.

Lew


There's another thread going on about saw blade sharpening.
You're gonna need it. :-)


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

I use two roller stands actually. One is a single roller stand that I use
left of the table saw and the other is a 13 roller stand that I use
primarily for outfeed support.


Props for keeping up with the woodworking in the chair.

As to those roller stands....
The ones with multiple bearing balls don't push or direct the stock like
the ones with the single, long roller.
If you have the ones with the single long roller, I find that angling
them ever so slightly towards the fence helps keep stock against the
fence. When they angle away from the fence they try to pull the stock
away, too.

Every advantage helps when you're on rollers, yourself. :-)


--

-MIKE-

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

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

MikeWhy wrote:

The trouble was the infeed. It needed more support,
which I solved for the moment by stacking and clamping some cutoffs
on the Workmate. It supported the last 2 feet or so, behind me, while
I worked as normal from right at the table.

Do you mean you were AT the table or you were on the right side? If the
latter and if your fence is to the right of your blade then you are on the
wrong side. You needed to be on the *left* side of the sheet so you could
keep it against the fence with your left hand and feed with your right. The
same is true of ripping anything.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:45:01 -0600, -MIKE-
wrote:

I use two roller stands actually. One is a single roller stand that I use
left of the table saw and the other is a 13 roller stand that I use
primarily for outfeed support.


Props for keeping up with the woodworking in the chair.

As to those roller stands....
The ones with multiple bearing balls don't push or direct the stock like
the ones with the single, long roller.
If you have the ones with the single long roller, I find that angling
them ever so slightly towards the fence helps keep stock against the
fence. When they angle away from the fence they try to pull the stock
away, too.

Every advantage helps when you're on rollers, yourself. :-)

Working out of a chair is amazing and I'm counting my blessings!

Now...while I like rollers and have a couple of pairs, the most
handy dandy items in my small shop are a set of simple stands that I
made to help with the infeed side of my TS...surface areas are
four-foot long 1x3" hardwood with a strip of that slidey stuff stuck
on top (could be laminate)...ends are rounded-over and it's held to
TS height by a couple of legs with some "T" feet at the bottom with a
stretcher between 'em. These things are easy to move around with one
hand ('cause that's all about working alone, eh?) and serve as horses
of a sort when I need a work table or whatever.


cg

"dadiOH" wrote in message
...
MikeWhy wrote:

The trouble was the infeed. It needed more support,
which I solved for the moment by stacking and clamping some cutoffs
on the Workmate. It supported the last 2 feet or so, behind me, while
I worked as normal from right at the table.

Do you mean you were AT the table or you were on the right side? If the
latter and if your fence is to the right of your blade then you are on the
wrong side. You needed to be on the *left* side of the sheet so you could
keep it against the fence with your left hand and feed with your right.
The same is true of ripping anything.

I'm right handed and normally belly up to the table, taking advantage of the
butter smooth, perfectly rigid and linear delivery developed over a half
century of shooting pool to pay the rent. I can't even picture doing it from
the right of the fence. A leftie might have a different viewpoint.

On Dec 15, 6:30*pm, "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?

34" high plane chest sits between my saw and my bench,
where it also functions as an infeed table.