[-MIKE-]

Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?


--

-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

[Swingman]

On 10/24/2010 12:04 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

I've often wanted to give them a try.

But, if your table saw/fence combo like mine (Unisaw w/unifence) does
not allow the fence to be secured/locked in both front and back (meaning
the back of the fence can be lifted up, albeit slightly, during a cut)
then they are basically useless for applying sufficient downward force
for when I would really need it.

Might want to let that be a prime factor in considering them for your use.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)

[Larry Blanchard]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:04:38 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

Not that particular brand. I bought a set of these:

http://woodworker.com/anti-kickback-...ssu-96974.asp?
search=kickback&searchmode=2

many years ago and use them all the time. I'm happy with them. The
pressure and angle of the wheels can be adjusted, the anti-kickback pawl
can be flipped over for use as a holddown only, and they can be reversed
(with a bit of work) to work on either side of a fence.

That said, they do occasionally get in the way of a push stick and wont
work on narrow stock. But those attributes seem to be common to all the
brands.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

[-MIKE-]

On 10/24/10 12:28 PM, Swingman wrote:
On 10/24/2010 12:04 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

I've often wanted to give them a try.

But, if your table saw/fence combo like mine (Unisaw w/unifence) does
not allow the fence to be secured/locked in both front and back (meaning
the back of the fence can be lifted up, albeit slightly, during a cut)
then they are basically useless for applying sufficient downward force
for when I would really need it.

Might want to let that be a prime factor in considering them for your use.


Karl, I have a Biesemeyer which doesn't clamp on the back of the table
and hold-down pressure has never been an issue with it. The clamping
mechanism is plenty strong enough to use feather boards, which I do.

I remember being concerned about it when I first got the saw, so I did
some tests. It takes quite a bit of pressure to lift up the end of the
fence.

I don't know about other fences, but it's not an issue on mine.
Thanks for the caution.


--

-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-]

On 10/24/10 12:28 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:04:38 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

Not that particular brand. I bought a set of these:

http://woodworker.com/anti-kickback-...ssu-96974.asp?
search=kickback&searchmode=2

many years ago and use them all the time. I'm happy with them. The
pressure and angle of the wheels can be adjusted, the anti-kickback pawl
can be flipped over for use as a holddown only, and they can be reversed
(with a bit of work) to work on either side of a fence.

That said, they do occasionally get in the way of a push stick and wont
work on narrow stock. But those attributes seem to be common to all the
brands.


I really like those, especially the lateral adjustment. It doesn't look
like it would clamp to my Biesemeyer fence, however, it looks like they
could be bolted straight to 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

[Steve Turner[_3_]]

On 10/24/2010 12:51 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 10/24/10 12:28 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:04:38 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

Not that particular brand. I bought a set of these:

http://woodworker.com/anti-kickback-...ssu-96974.asp?
search=kickback&searchmode=2

many years ago and use them all the time. I'm happy with them. The
pressure and angle of the wheels can be adjusted, the anti-kickback pawl
can be flipped over for use as a holddown only, and they can be reversed
(with a bit of work) to work on either side of a fence.

That said, they do occasionally get in the way of a push stick and wont
work on narrow stock. But those attributes seem to be common to all the
brands.


I really like those, especially the lateral adjustment. It doesn't look like it
would clamp to my Biesemeyer fence, however, it looks like they could be bolted
straight to it.

I've never used either those or the Board Buddies, but these only appear to
apply downward pressure and not "fence-ward" pressure, which I think is the
advantage that the Board Buddies have over the WW Supply hold-downs.

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

[Nova]

-MIKE- wrote:
Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?



I have them mounted on a Biesemeyer type fence on my Jet cabinet saw.
They work great and wouldn't be without them. Their design holds the
stock against the fence as well as applying downward pressure on the
table. Since the wheels only rotate in one direction they offer some
anti-kick back protection. I wouldn't count on them to stop a major
kick back though.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

[Larry Blanchard]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:33:48 -0500, Steve Turner wrote:

I really like those, especially the lateral adjustment. It doesn't look
like it would clamp to my Biesemeyer fence, however, it looks like they
could be bolted straight to it.

I've never used either those or the Board Buddies, but these only appear
to apply downward pressure and not "fence-ward" pressure, which I think
is the advantage that the Board Buddies have over the WW Supply
hold-downs.

Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the wheels
as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of fenceward
pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

[Steve Turner[_3_]]

On 10/24/2010 7:07 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:33:48 -0500, Steve Turner wrote:

I really like those, especially the lateral adjustment. It doesn't look
like it would clamp to my Biesemeyer fence, however, it looks like they
could be bolted straight to it.

I've never used either those or the Board Buddies, but these only appear
to apply downward pressure and not "fence-ward" pressure, which I think
is the advantage that the Board Buddies have over the WW Supply
hold-downs.

Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the wheels
as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of fenceward
pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.

Yes, I suppose so; I was mainly looking at the website and it doesn't mention
either of those things. It only claims to have "hold down" and "anti-kickback"
features, and not any kind of "draw the stock towards the fence" feature. I
don't see how the lateral adjustment capability would have anything to do with
that. And I see that there's an angle adjustment but it only appears to have
"toe-on/toe-out" capability; there's no way to adjust for "camber" (that I can
see), which is the primary method the Board Buddies use to draw the stock
towards the fence thus obviating (or minimizing) the need for featherboards.
The toe-in/toe-out feature of the WW Supply product is sufficient to achieve
this capability?

--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

[-MIKE-]

On 10/24/10 7:07 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the wheels
as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of fenceward
pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.


Apparently *I* missed it, too.
Do you find that it works enough to keep stock against the fence?


--

-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

[Steve Turner[_3_]]

On 10/24/2010 12:28 PM, Swingman wrote:
On 10/24/2010 12:04 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Are any of you guys using Board Buddies on your table saw?

I've always been intrigued by these, because they provide both hold down
pressure and fence pressure without impeding forward motion.

Anyone actually have and use these? What's your opinion?

I've often wanted to give them a try.

But, if your table saw/fence combo like mine (Unisaw w/unifence) does not allow
the fence to be secured/locked in both front and back (meaning the back of the
fence can be lifted up, albeit slightly, during a cut) then they are basically
useless for applying sufficient downward force for when I would really need it.

Might want to let that be a prime factor in considering them for your use.

Where's Leon in this discussion? Doesn't he use Board Buddies?

--
"Our beer goes through thousands of quality Czechs every day."
(From a Shiner Bock billboard I saw in Austin some years ago)
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

[Larry Blanchard]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:04:34 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

On 10/24/10 7:07 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the
wheels as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of
fenceward pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.


Apparently *I* missed it, too.
Do you find that it works enough to keep stock against the fence?

Seems to. I haven't had any problems. I don't, however, know how its
fenceward pressure compares to other brands as I haven't used them.

I just remembered one other minor drawback. The handles used to tighten
various parts are pretty flimsy and bend easily. After several years of
use, the handles on mine look like modern art :-). But they still work,
so I call it minor. And the picture seems to show that they've gotten
rid of all but two of them.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

[-MIKE-]

On 10/25/10 10:34 AM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:04:34 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

On 10/24/10 7:07 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the
wheels as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of
fenceward pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.


Apparently *I* missed it, too.
Do you find that it works enough to keep stock against the fence?

Seems to. I haven't had any problems. I don't, however, know how its
fenceward pressure compares to other brands as I haven't used them.

I just remembered one other minor drawback. The handles used to tighten
various parts are pretty flimsy and bend easily. After several years of
use, the handles on mine look like modern art :-). But they still work,
so I call it minor. And the picture seems to show that they've gotten
rid of all but two of them.


Thanks.
Just to be clear, the angle adjustment on the wheels isn't toed in and
out like the BB's, but turned like wheels steering a car?


--

-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

[Steve Turner[_3_]]

On 10/25/2010 11:59 AM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 10/25/10 10:34 AM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:04:34 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

On 10/24/10 7:07 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
Apparently you missed the "lateral adjustment" comment by Mike and the
"angle" comment in my original post. That allows you to angle the
wheels as much or as little as you like to provide varying amounts of
fenceward pressure. I keep mine at around 15 degrees.


Apparently *I* missed it, too.
Do you find that it works enough to keep stock against the fence?

Seems to. I haven't had any problems. I don't, however, know how its
fenceward pressure compares to other brands as I haven't used them.

I just remembered one other minor drawback. The handles used to tighten
various parts are pretty flimsy and bend easily. After several years of
use, the handles on mine look like modern art :-). But they still work,
so I call it minor. And the picture seems to show that they've gotten
rid of all but two of them.


Thanks.
Just to be clear, the angle adjustment on the wheels isn't toed in and out like
the BB's, but turned like wheels steering a car?

When you said "toed in and out", you really meant "cambered":

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

It's mainly camber that the Board Buddies use, perhaps with a bit of caster
thrown in as well; not sure.

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

[-MIKE-]

On 10/25/10 1:13 PM, Steve Turner wrote:
When you said "toed in and out", you really meant "cambered":

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

It's mainly camber that the Board Buddies use, perhaps with a bit of
caster thrown in as well; not sure.


Yep. Thanks... and good illustration.


--

-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

[Larry Blanchard]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:59:18 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Just to be clear, the angle adjustment on the wheels isn't toed in and
out like the BB's, but turned like wheels steering a car?

Yes. The entire arm that the wheel assembly is mounted on pivots. If
you look closely at the big picture on the website you can see the angle
markings on the part that mounts to the fence.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw