54 SawStop 10” Contractor Saw
Using Your Saw
When using a push stick to feed your workpiece
toward the blade, it can be difficult to maintain
the position of the workpiece flush against the
side of the rip fence. In these situations, use a
featherboard to hold the workpiece against the
fence (see page 85 for making a featherboard).
Clamp the featherboard to the top of the table
against the side of the workpiece opposite the
rip fence to hold the workpiece flush against
the fence
(see Fig. 68).
If your cut requires the fence to be positioned too close to the blade to use a push stick, use an auxiliary fence
and a push block to make the cut. (See pages 83 and 84 for instructions on making an auxiliary fence and a
push block.) In this case, clamp the auxiliary fence to the rip fence and slide the workpiece along the auxiliary
fence. When your hand comes within 6 inches of the blade, remove your hand from the workpiece and finish
the cut using the push block.
Continue pushing the workpiece toward the back of the saw until it clears the anti-kickback pawls on the
spreader. Turn off the motor. Do not attempt to remove the cut-off portion until the blade has come to a
complete stop.
When ripping pieces longer than approximately 4 feet, use rollers, an out-feed table or a similar support to
prevent the workpiece from dropping off the back of the table. See page 57 for more information on out-feed
tables.
When making non-through cuts, the blade
guard and spreader must be removed. For
these cuts, install the riving knife (except
when making dado cuts) and use one or more
featherboards to hold down the workpiece
and help prevent kickback. (See page 85 for
instructions on making a featherboard.) The
featherboard should be clamped to the rip
fence.
Alternatively, the featherboard can be clamped
to an extender board that is clamped to the rip
fence as shown in Fig. 69. Although not shown
in the illustration, a second featherboard can
be clamped to the top of the table and against
the left side of the workpiece to hold the
workpiece against the rip fence.
clamp
featherboard
to table
Fig. 69
Fig. 68
