keeping those re-saw fingers safe

fungusgeek

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When re-sawing on the bandsaw, the point where the blade exits the piece being sawn always seems 'troublesome' to me. You are pushing the wood through, then have to grab some sort of push-stick at the last moment just before the blade exits the block. When the blade exits the block all of a sudden things free up, pressure changes, and there is this big moving blade exposed.

I made a 'moving fence' that runs against the real fence, but has a block glued on the end. This block then provides the 'push', removes the need to grab a push stick, and prevents the blade exposure when the blade exits the wood being re-sawn. It also allows a fence surface longer than the actual bandaw fence, which is real handy for longer pieces. This 'moving fence' makes things much safer and easier to handle in my experience.
IMG_20160626_141709.jpg

In addition, I do a lot of resawing of local wood, in billets split from logs. (My current favorite is sycamore, http://jupiteruke.com/ukuleles-gallery/sycamore/ for an example). These billets do not start out with straight edges. With this 'moving fence' the uneven billet is at rest against the moving fence as it slides against the real fence which allows me to cut a perfectly flat side on the otherwise uneven sided billet to start the resaw operation.

IMG_20160626_154828.jpg
 
That is a really nice solution, I like it! I've seen similar ideas, but this one is really simple.
 
Be careful with the push stick. The x-Ray on the left was after the push stick got caught in the 3/4" resaw blade and pulled it and my finger into the blade, even with a double feather board. A great surgeon, 18 stitches and 2 pins put me back together - with full feeling and some limited range of motion (which rehab and ice will correct mostly). When in doubt, pull from the back...
image.jpg
 
That's why I did not like the push-stick. With the moving fence you would have to saw all the way through the stop block on the end for the blade to reach your hand and the height of the blade is never exposed.
 
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