# the rip snorter push block



## trojan62 (12 Jul 2013)

hi all,
this is my take of the rip snorter adjustable push block, where you can find all the details on http://lumberjocks.com/projects/71503, it was made by dewayne peck and is obviously a variant of the GRRipper push block system that they all rave about in the states.
its pretty straight forward to make and does work surprisingly well.
its the only push block i think ill be needing from now on in.

note: the only drawback with this and of course the GRRipper is that as you push through the blade, your wrist is above the blade 
as you go through, but as in all actions around the table saw, you just have to be carefull and concentrate on what your doing.
i for one find it excellent, thanks dewayne.

cheers

chris.......


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## Phil Pascoe (12 Jul 2013)

:? Is it me? I can't see what it's supposed to do?


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## Jacob (12 Jul 2013)

phil.p":2bdm1jw7 said:


> :? Is it me? I can't see what it's supposed to do?


Me too! Looks bloody dangerous to me. What's wrong with a couple of push sticks?


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## John Brown (12 Jul 2013)

I'd want that grain running the other way, just in case...


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## Dodge (12 Jul 2013)

Put the riving knife and crown guard back on before you end up in A & E!!

Sorry but the crown guard is there for a reason as is the riving knife and they should be left in place :shock:


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## Jacob (12 Jul 2013)

In the fire with it before someone has an accident!


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## Harbo (12 Jul 2013)

I don't get it too - a gloried push stick with adjustment?!

The riffing knife is still in place I think but still looks incredibly dangerous - and why the slot - is that to cut your fingers off?

Rod


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## wizard (12 Jul 2013)

Accidents only happen to other people so he will be ok :shock: 

Well that is what i thought


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## longinthetooth (12 Jul 2013)

It precludes the use of a saw guard, and is limited in itself as a guard by its short length. What if you slipped? Why don't you submit it to HSE for approval?

Of course what we do privately in non-commercial workshops is outside HSE's remit, but all their advised procedures aren't the result of beaurocracy run wild, rather the accumulated wisdom of a century & a half of people using machinery. 

American amateurs have a lot to answer for in many of the techniques they use & propagate. For an allegedly litigeous society they are strangely gung-ho. Well, fine - if you want your fingers to inhabit the Wild West, carry on.


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## Dodge (13 Jul 2013)

I will stick with my home made push stick!!













It holds the wood down, keeps the crown guard in place and ensures your hand is always over the fence not the blade and as it bridges the fence there is no chance of it slipping - have been using it for years.

I know its not for everyone and no doubt comments will be raised regarding my full length fence but that is how the machine came from the factory and locking at both ends works provides safety in its rigidity in my book!


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## Jacob (13 Jul 2013)

So what do you do with your left hand? If you have a push stick in it, it will put you too far away from your device. 2 push sticks better IMHO. Keeps your hands further away from the cutter. I don't see the point of these devices when there is a much simpler and safer solution available.
Eventually you get quite dexterous with push sticks until it feels unnatural not to be using them.


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## G S Haydon (13 Jul 2013)

If you need to remove the crown guard it's a sign you select another tool to do the job.


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## Aden30mm (4 Sep 2013)

I kind of wonder how robust a crown guard is. I've just purchased a new bench saw from those nice Devon company, and like my old Rexon the crown guard is quite a flimsy plastic type construction bolted onto the riving knife. In day of old, saws had in my recollection battleship type guards.

My thinking is if you deflected a crown guard into the moving saw blade, my guess is that the guard would shatter.

I'm not advocating removing guards (nip that idea in the bud before that thread escalates), but how effective and suitable are the ones on say sub £420 machines.

Be interesting to hear other views on the subject.

Regards

Aden


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## marcros (4 Sep 2013)

shouldn't they hit the table before they can deflect into a blade. I have had similar thoughts, specifically falling against the thing and that is what puts me off the suva type guard (on paper, I have never seen one in the flesh). At least with the riving knife mounted one, it cant really go anywhere, as long as it cant move side to side, ie twisting the knife.

I am not sure what the guards are actually to protect you from. Fingers into a spinning blade, obviously, but there are a lot out there that i wouldn't fancy 20 stone of woodworker suddenly landing on and being expected to stay perfectly in place. If the main purpose is to stop you being tempted to push timber in too close to the blade, by blocking your hand 6" away then they are fine.


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## Jacob (4 Sep 2013)

Aden30mm":7o8vhjg6 said:


> I kind of wonder how robust a crown guard is. I've just purchased a new bench saw from those nice Devon company, and like my old Rexon the crown guard is quite a flimsy plastic type construction bolted onto the riving knife. In day of old, saws had in my recollection battleship type guards.
> 
> My thinking is if you deflected a crown guard into the moving saw blade, my guess is that the guard would shatter.
> 
> ...


Mine's steel (Minimax combi). Plastic sounds wrong to me - I've had plastic push sticks shatter and now only use wooden ones. I think a wood crown guard would be better than plastic - and would damage the blade less than a steel one come to think.


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## SteveF (19 Oct 2013)

i thought everyone took the plastic guard off on day one , put it in the bin ....job done
just me and my foolishness i guess
me bad i guess


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## MMUK (19 Oct 2013)

Has trojan62 been online since? Maybe he's lost his fingers........


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## blackrodd (19 Oct 2013)

Jacob":286dnm4n said:


> In the fire with it before someone has an accident!



Well put!^

If the riving knife is adjusted properly, allowing the guard attached to it, let the maximum height of cut pass under, the guard doesn't need to be removed. I don't see a situation to use a saw unguarded like that. 
In all the years of working in the mill, i cannot recall a single wood machine accident as we were taught NEVER pass you're hand or hands over the saw or planer cutters or even the spindle's "false" fence. Constant, constant, constant drummed into you!
With the "notch" on the push stick, you can keep the timber down AND feeding it along. 
This Rip snorter would appear to me to be an excellent book end or an entry to the "Shiny" gadget show. 

regards Rodders


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## Togalosh (20 Oct 2013)

SteveF":q9apmlkw said:


> i thought everyone took the plastic guard off on day one , put it in the bin ....job done
> just me and my foolishness i guess
> me bad i guess



..that's just what I was thinking.

I'd better dust mine off & refit it then.


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## woodbrains (21 Oct 2013)

Hello,

We need to be careful what we 'learn' from American woodworkers. Until very recently, their table saws were not equipped with riving knives and crown guards as we understand them, so all kinds of gizmos have been developed there. If a gizmo causes us to down grade our saws to the American standard, then we should avoid like the plague. 

I have to admit, though, I find a table saw invaluable for cutting tenon cheeks, and this is impossible to do with a riving knife which is higher than the top of the saw teeth. In a small workshop having a dedicated tenoner is unlikely, so there is no real alternative for me. I reduced the height of the riving knife on my saw to just below the top of the saw blade and obviously had to lose the crown guard from there. I added a boom with a guard and overhead extraction and would advise anyone who needs to remove the crown guard for a similar situation, to do the same. This set up will not allow silly rip snorter push blocks, either.

Mike.


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## Togalosh (21 Oct 2013)

woodbrains":ml6g7bro said:


> Hello,
> 
> We need to be careful what we 'learn' from American woodworkers. Until very recently, their table saws were not equipped with riving knives and crown guards as we understand them, so all kinds of gizmos have been developed there. If a gizmo causes us to down grade our saws to the American standard, then we should avoid like the plague.
> 
> ...



Did you buy the overhead extraction or DIY one?..any pics??


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## woodbrains (22 Oct 2013)

Hello,

If I were doing it now, in the shed which serves as my home workshop, I would DIY overhead saw guarding/extraction. As it is, I had a small, one man professional shop, so I had equipped my table saw with the Axminster boom thingy. TBH my table saw was not up to commercial use and it was only ever intended as a stop gap until I got the 'forever' saw, but this never happened and I now woodwork as a hobby (home owner necessity!)

The boom was originally fixed to the RH extension table of the saw. When I moved into the shed ( the move is still under going, everything is not set up just yet) I thought it would be better for space saving, if my router table was the RH extension table of the saw. This meant that the leg which supported the boom would be in the way, so I re jigged the thing to hang down from the roof beam. This is where a DIY solution would have sufficed, but I already had the bits, so I used those. It would not have been hard to do from scratch, though, there were enough mods needed to get mine to work, it might as well have been a scratch build.

When I sort the rest of the shed out, I'll post some piccies. I have no storage at the minute, so the tools are stacked everywhere, it is a mess. I'm working on a new bench with storage to solve the problem, but a big job broke out at home, so there is a delay for the mo. I think people will find the bench interesting, I'll post pics of that too when I'm done.

Mike.


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## Tony Spear (23 Nov 2013)

phil.p":3oyllej1 said:


> :? Is it me? I can't see what it's supposed to do?



It's American you f**l - design it first, then find a use for it!


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## Jacob (23 Nov 2013)

Jacob":2f0at8y3 said:


> Aden30mm":2f0at8y3 said:
> 
> 
> > I kind of wonder how robust a crown guard is. I've just purchased a new bench saw from those nice Devon company, and like my old Rexon the crown guard is quite a flimsy plastic type construction bolted onto the riving knife. In day of old, saws had in my recollection battleship type guards.
> ...


Oh no it isn't it's plastic. Don't know why I said that. The riving knife is steel.
2 boring push sticks is the way!


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