Push sticks

[Don Case]

Has anyone come up with a great push stick for a hobby table saw? I just started trying to make gratings and and it's kind of tight. When you get down to cutting .020" planks and .040x .040" strips it starts to get dicey as to whether you keep all your fingers. My fence is 1/4" high so that may be one thing I can change. The table is about 12" long so ripping anything less than 6" means that the wood is right in the corner between the fence and the table. Is a consumable push stick maybe the best way to go? Any thoughts?

Oh, I just remembered the Byrnes saw post at the top of the page. I'll go read that now.

[Chuck Seiler]

Pencils.  Use the eraser against the wood.  It grips better than wood on wood.

[mtaylor]

Pencils are great as has been mentioned above.  I also use chopsticks (buy them by the bag) and just notch the end that will be pushing the wood.

[allanyed]

AND, the chop sticks are easy to split multiple times with a razor or scalpel, then run through a draw plate for tree nails!!!!

Allan

[bruce d]

While on the subject, I have made small featherboards from tongue depressor/lolly-pop sticks, they are invaluable on the fiddly bits.

The medical grade tongue depressors in my stash seem to be made from pretty good wood.

[the learner]

On 6/15/2021 at 12:04 PM, bruce d said:

While on the subject, I have made small featherboards from tongue depressor/lolly-pop sticks, they are invaluable on the fiddly bits.

The medical grade tongue depressors in my stash seem to be made from pretty good wood.

What ever push stick you make sure to keep your fingers away as far as possible!

 

EDITED OUT GRAPHIC PHOTO, ADMIN

Edited June 17, 2021 by James H
removed gory photo.