New type of "Feather Board"

[Allen Worsham]

I came across an ad for a new type of feather board and found it very interesting. So I thought that I would share it here on TPW.
 

I have a few different feather boards with most of them locking into the slot on the table saw top and I have one of the magnetic ones (which I really like by the way as I can use it for wider boards beyond the table saw slot). 

http://www.featherpro.com/
 

 

[lew]

That's pretty cool, Allen! Seems like they have all the angles covered, reasonable price AND it's made in the good ol' US of A!

[Todd Clippinger]

On April 5, 2016 at 10:21 AM, Allen Worsham said:

I came across an ad for a new type of feather board and found it very interesting. So I thought that I would share it here on TPW.
 

I have a few different feather boards with most of them locking into the slot on the table saw top and I have one of the magnetic ones (which I really like by the way as I can use it for wider boards beyond the table saw slot). 

http://www.featherpro.com/

 

Feather Pro sent me one of their feather boards to try out. I think it works well and recommend it. 

 

They did send it to me for free and it came with both the hard and soft feathers, but after using it I would definitely shell out my own money for it. 

 

 

[lew]

My feather boards are getting pretty ragged. This looks like a plan!

[Todd Clippinger]

4 minutes ago, lew said:

My feather boards are getting pretty ragged. This looks like a plan!

The fingers are replaceable when they wear out. At this point they would need to be ordered in as I have not seen these locally yet. But that may change in the future. 

 

 

[Todd Clippinger]

And you can see they are not limited to a T-Track they can be used in the simple miter slot such as on my DeWalt job site table saw too. 

[RJH30518]

I was impressed with this idea of a feather board -- but did not like the idea of being tied to the miter slot ...

 

So, I just purchased the regular inserts, some mag switches and intend to take a piece of 3/4" ply and cut it to fit the insert, drill holes for the mag switches, and have a unit that I hope will work.

 

I am waiting for the insert to arrive ... and with my scroll saw, it should be pretty easy to make the insert fit tightly.

 

Will let post when I get if made and try it out ...

[lew]

12 minutes ago, RJH30518 said:

Will let post when I get if made and try it out ...

Looking forward to seeing how your idea works!

[RJH30518]

I received the featherpro inserts on Friday and went out to the garage to trace them out on a piece of 3/4 ply and cut out a holder. Then drilled 2 hole for the magswitches and mounted it on the saw to see how it would work.

 

Fantastic -- they really hold a board --- the board easily slide easily forward, but I tried to pull the board backwards -- an it did not move at all. I did not try an actual kickback, but it should hold the board. Cutting the shape around the insert was pretty easy on a scroll saw -- you can see a few spots where you can see light through it, but it still holds the inert without any problems.

 

For me, this is a lot easier to use with the mag switches than using a miter slot ... I may make it over with the switches on the ends of the insert so that a wider board can be used -- as you can see from the pics, it is limited on how much metal is there for the switches to work with.

[lew]

Nicely done!  Agree with your assessment on the Mag Switch location and maybe a little longer piece of ply. 

[RJH30518]

Here is the second one -- with the magswitches on the end ... I think that this will work better.

 

[lew]

Nice!

[Allen Worsham]

On 8/21/2016 at 2:54 PM, RJH30518 said:

Here is the second one -- with the magswitches on the end ... I think that this will work better.

 

I like that custom Mag Switch idea very much!
I have a Mag Switch feather board with the plastic fingers that I use all the time on my Jet Table Saw, but I could really use 2 feather boards for longer boards and I like the the ease of pushing the wood through the foam feathers.