Oh right - then I imagine there must be a different type that is compatible with the 745.
Totally agree with that.
Are Grippers much safer than push sticks?
- Thread starter tony359
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lurker
Le dullard de la commune
My ts came with a plastic push stick, it has only ever been used for a template to draw around when making mdf push sticks.
I always use two.
I always use two.
Chris Hawkins
Established Member
Hi, I haven't read all the replies here. I used solely push sticks for years. I then invested in some microjig stuff (guess I fell for the marketing!) - both the 3D gripper and the push blocks. I had to saw off the top of the riving knife for the 3D gripper to function - doesn't effect functionality of the riving knife, but eliminates use of the cover guard. I bought a replacement set of knife and guard for when I feel the need. Initially, I was trying to use the 3D Gripper for every job and quickly discovered that it was probably detrimental to my safety in some cases. Now I use the best tool for the job - sometimes its the 3D Gripper, sometimes the push blocks and sometimes the push sticks - or indeed a combination of them.
I had a wakeup call a few years ago when I understood (through reading and watching rather than experience thank goodness) that keeping yourself simply away from the blade is not enough. A kickback scenario can throw your hand into the blade - you've always got to allow for this.
Regards
Chris
I had a wakeup call a few years ago when I understood (through reading and watching rather than experience thank goodness) that keeping yourself simply away from the blade is not enough. A kickback scenario can throw your hand into the blade - you've always got to allow for this.
Regards
Chris
transatlantic
Boom!
Which is why I think this type of push stick is so bad. Yet it's very popular. Accident waiting to happen. Especially when they haven't lowered the blade to only allow for minimal exposure.
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
The video you posted is using a very different beast to the GRR-RIPPER he is using a push block that can only put pressure on one side of the blade, he is pushing toward the blade, due to his stance and has no riving knife or even a US splitter.
The stupidity of not, as a minimum, having a riving knife (he may not have been able to get his kickback with one) shows what he tried to demonstrate should have involved more planning.
I use GRR-RIPPERs when the overhead guard is off and they are safer than many designs of push stick, but then I seldom have the blade high enough that it could get to bite me without me trying hard.
transatlantic
Boom!
Of course he has no riving knife as he was TRYING to induce a kick back.
I already said it was a different kind of push block.
If you're using a gripper close enough to the blade that you can't use a guard, then you still have the opportunity for something unexpected to happen and you hand to be flung towards the blade.
This is what I have
www.rockler.com/bench-dog-reg-single-feather-loc-reg-multi-purpose-featherboard
other makes are available, and I have made my own on a table saw out of wood.
The 745 has standard mitre slots and this fits.
This site seems to be equally divided between being totally indifferent to table saw dangers, and so scared that I dont know how they stay in the same room as one. When ever you approach a cutting machine, all you have to do is (horrors!) a risk assessment. look at that blade, and imagine what CAN happen if you get careless, because one day, EVERYBODY gets careless.
The micro jig gripper, (as opposed to other micro jig push blocks) I have already said, can only be used on a table saw if the top guard s removed. If youve removed the top guard, good luck and god speed. No point having the ambulance on speed dial if you have no fingers to push the buttons.
On a router table or a bandsaw, the gripper is very useful for small and awkward shape pieces.
www.rockler.com/bench-dog-reg-single-feather-loc-reg-multi-purpose-featherboard
other makes are available, and I have made my own on a table saw out of wood.
The 745 has standard mitre slots and this fits.
This site seems to be equally divided between being totally indifferent to table saw dangers, and so scared that I dont know how they stay in the same room as one. When ever you approach a cutting machine, all you have to do is (horrors!) a risk assessment. look at that blade, and imagine what CAN happen if you get careless, because one day, EVERYBODY gets careless.
The micro jig gripper, (as opposed to other micro jig push blocks) I have already said, can only be used on a table saw if the top guard s removed. If youve removed the top guard, good luck and god speed. No point having the ambulance on speed dial if you have no fingers to push the buttons.
On a router table or a bandsaw, the gripper is very useful for small and awkward shape pieces.
Lazurus
Established Member
Feather boards when applicable and long push sticks for me on both table saw and band saw, been doing it like this for years I have never needed to remove a guard or riving knife and consider my self risk averse. Still when i look at the nicks and cuts in the push sticks gained over the years makes me wonder what would have happened if I had lesser items to hand!!
Woody2Shoes
Impressive Member
If it's plastic - use it as a template for making a wooden one then bin it. Plastic ones can and do snap when you least want them to (DAMHIKT).
Your first (critical) line of defence is guarding of the blade - so even in the worst possible scenario, your body parts can't physically get near the moving blade and the blade can safely cut to its design efficiency (blade guard, riving knife, proper dust extraction etc.).
Your second line of defence is push sticks, feather boards and sliding tables.
Your third line of defence is taking time to think about each cut and what could go wrong - chip out/splintering, kickback etc etc
Cheers, W2S
One more vote for the long handled wooden push stick. If I'm cutting a shorter piece I'll often use two, one to push the wood through and another as a sort of featherboard to nudge the wood against the fence when starting the cut.
Maybe I'm paranoid and the gripper is OK, but I always feel that my fingers would be just a bit too close to the blade if anything went wrong.
Maybe I'm paranoid and the gripper is OK, but I always feel that my fingers would be just a bit too close to the blade if anything went wrong.
Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
TheTiddles
Established Member
Yes, there have been some heated debates on these things in the past.
I would summarise that safety advice from a country that permits completely untrained people to buy semi-automatic weapons with ammunition that’s banned by the Geneva convention with no checks at all, but bans kinder eggs as a choking hazard... might be one to take with a pinch of salt.
Over here we have more fingers too.
When it comes to machinery, if it feels a bit dodgy, it’s time to stop and do it another way.
Aidan
I would summarise that safety advice from a country that permits completely untrained people to buy semi-automatic weapons with ammunition that’s banned by the Geneva convention with no checks at all, but bans kinder eggs as a choking hazard... might be one to take with a pinch of salt.
Over here we have more fingers too.
When it comes to machinery, if it feels a bit dodgy, it’s time to stop and do it another way.
Aidan
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
I know he was trying to demonstrate kickback.
I knew that the first time I saw the video a few years ago. That doesn’t contradict any of my comment.
From your last sentence you either don’t use a GRR-ripper, know how it’s designed to be used or use it for a job it isn’t designed for.
The tool is designed to be used over the blade not to one side of the blade, so cannot be used correctly with an overhead guard, if you are using it to the side because you have the overhead guard on then you are using the wrong tool, but you probably can’t get a major kickback anyway
If you are using it to the side with the overhead guard off you are using it in a way it’s not designed for so a slip that can allow your hand/body part to contact the blade is your poor technique or education.
We work with dangerous equipment, there is always risk involved, used correctly we are generally safe. Get careless or don’t think enough as he did not and you may not be lucky.
transatlantic
Boom!
I stand by what I said in my first comment of this thread. I think a Gripper is better than nothing, but all you're doing is temporally guarding the blade whilst the jig is over the blade. Still lots of room for an accident where that blade has become fully exposed and now you're reaching over.
Doug71
Established Member
I have been a joiner for 30+ years and in that time I don't think I have ever put my hands as close to a running table saw blade as a Grr-ripper would put them.
You won't see a grr-ripper used in a professional workshop.
You won't see a grr-ripper used in a professional workshop.
user22161
Established Member
I rarely use my gripper on the saw but find it very useful on the router table when needing down pressure as well as feeding across the cutter.
Ah, thanks. I thought the feather board was attached to the ripping fence. That makes sense. I'll get one, thanks for the tip.
Great advice, many many thanks! I was indeed thinking of making a nice sliding table - one that allows for the blade guard stays in place too, thanks for confirming that that is indeed a good idea
I usually do not brush a group of people with the same brush - I'd rather take the individual's opinion and evaluate it. Where this opinion comes from does not really matter.
Indeed. However, your hand is still in a dangerous area and the "what if" situations are still valid. What if you make a mistake, the blade catches the gripper and launches it away from your hand, which then falls on the blade? You may argue with "you must hold the gripper firmly" but that is not relevant. Safety measures is for when a mistake happens or the unthinkable happens unfortunately.
I use a pair of these on the router table, and on the planer, can't see that he gripper has any advantage
Well, a push stick has two functions. It must push the piece forward and hold it down to the table. The type shaped like a tenon saw with a notch at the back works best. The gripper is a bit pricey and you definitely have to have the guard removed. Its not too hard to make your own - rubber strip is freely available.
MikeG.
Established Member
Do you not understand that these two highlighted phrases are in complete contradiction to each other?
A pushers job is not to hold the wood down and push it forward. A pusher's fundamental job is to keep you hand away from the blade. By removing the guard you are making an accident with hand-in-blade far more likely.
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