Safe Crosscuts
When crosscutting multiple short pieces to length on the table saw, it’s common to clamp a scrap block to the rip fence before the blade as a standoff for setting the length. This prevents the piece from getting trapped between the blade and fence.
I made a self-clamping stand-off block that takes the concept one better. Instead of fiddling with a clamp to attach the block, it slips over the rip fence. Tightening a knob engages a built-in clamp that secures the setup block to the fence.
 |
 |
The body is a plywood, U-shaped assembly that’s sized to fit over the rip fence. The diagram shows the construction. To make the clamp mechanism, cut a dado in one side to house a pressure bar. A T-nut installed in the dado houses a studded knob that pushes the strip against the rip fence to lock the block in place, as in detail ‘a.’ -Tom Hintz from Concord, North Carolina
