Feather
Board Description and Usage
A featherboard is a safety device used when working with
stationary routers or power equipment such as table
saws, band saws or Jointers. The purpose of a featherboard is to prevent
fingers from slipping into the cutting blade. A feather board is also helpful
to ensure an accurate cut by securing a work piece against the fence.
Featherboard shapes and sizes vary depending on the
tasks for which they are intended. A serviceable featherboard can be
shop-fabricated from an approximately 3/4 x 3 x 11 inch piece of straight
grained, defect-free wood cut crosswise at a 45 degree angle on one end. Several parallel cuts in the direction of
the grain create fingers or "feathers" that flex in the direction of
work piece travel, preventing the work piece from being dragged backwards by
blade friction.
Commercial featherboards are usually made of
plastic.
A feather board can be clamped in place, locked in a miter
track or held in place with strong magnets. Note: Magnet feather boards will
only work with steel or cast iron tables or fences.
AGreat
Description from member Dale Evans
Think of it like a comb. The teeth of the feather board though are much
larger and they don't project from the spine at right angles but at something
like 15 or 20 degrees. Because these teeth, more often referred to as fingers
are at an angle when you rake a finger along them in one direction the finger
slides relatively easily. when you run the other direction the fingers of the
feather board resist movement. Something like stroking a cat from tail to nose.
When using the feather board as a hold-down on a router table for
example you would fix it to the face of the fence with the fingers pointing
down and angled from upper right to lower left so they will more easily allow
the stock to slide under them running from right to left. You clamp it in place
so that the fingers are making contact with the stock. I like to bridge the router
bit if I can so that the pressure is continuous as the stock passes into and
out of the other side of the bit if I can, some bits are too broad to allow
that. The feather board is lowered to make contact with the stock or you use a
scrap of material the same thickness as the stock to adjust the height of the
feather board. Mine are plastic and reasonably flexible so I generally set it
down firmly enough to create a little deflection of the fingers but not so
tight I need to struggle to move the stock under the feather board finger tips.
So now, the router is running, the bit spinning, depending on the width
of the stock I may use my hands to push the stock against the fence then move
it to the right under the fingers of the feather board and into the bit and on
through. I don't need to get my hands anywhere near the bit to hold the stock
firmly down onto the table because the pressure of the fingers of the feather
board will hold the stock firmly down onto the table. Because of the direction
of the flexing fingers they will resist the tendency of the bit to kick the
stock back but permit you to move it forward.
The principle is the same when using a feather board to guide stock
through a saw or keep stock snuggled up against the router fence. In this case
the feather board is flat on the table top usually held into the miter slot. It
can be adjusted to slide closer to or further from the fence. In the case of
the saw you will usually also set it up so that the furthest finger is a little
short of being across from the leading edge of the saw blade so that the
feather board isn't going to pinch the stock against the blade. The point here
is to pinch the stock between the feather board and the rip fence.
Again the fingers of the feather board are oriented to ease forward
progression and resist kicking back. It means that you don't have to use your
fingers near the blade to keep the stock against the rip fence of the saw or
use a piece of scrap to push the leading end of the stock against the fence and
risk it slipping or otherwise being grabbed by the blade.
When I use one to hold narrow stock against the fence of my router table
I again generally set it up to bridge the point where the bit is working so
that the stock is supported all the way through the cut however this depends a
little on what sort of router cut I am making. Again most usually the fingers
of the feather board will be oriented from the front right of the table toward
the rear left to enable easy movement from right to left over the spinning bit.
You will probably also be using a push stick particularly if the stock is
narrow so that you can push it past the feather board without using your hands.
Where the miter track is used to fix the feather board there will
usually be a bar which fits into the miter track. Two bolts run through this
bar and up through slots in the feather board. At least one bolt has a tapered
head so, when the nut, usually with a knob on it is tightened the wedge of the
tapered head causes the bar to expand trapping it tightly in the miter track.
Because the bolt projects up through slots in the feather board it can be slid
closer or further from the fence while the device can be slid along the track
and when positioned tightened down into place.
I included a miter track in the face of my router fence both for locking
a feather board into but also intended as a place to fix stops or run
sleds as yet not fabricated.
Making
Your Own Feather Board
To begin making a featherboard, cut a clean piece of
3/4" stock (I prefer to use a scrap of 1x6, preferably from stock with
less sap than pine) anywhere between 12-18" in length by 5-6" in
width. In this example, we'll cut the stock down to 12" x 5"
dimensions.
Next cut a 30 degree angle at one end of the board.
Next
make a stop line
Using
a bevel set to 30-degrees; mark a line three inches in from the mitered end of
the board, parallel to the 30-degree mitered cut. This will serve as the stop
line while cutting the fingers of the featherboard with the table saw.
To
make the cuts
Set
the fence of the table saw 1/4" from the blade. Place the long side of the
board firmly against the fence (and flat on the table) and run the board
through the saw until you reach the stop line. Next, carefully retract the
board until it safely clears the blade.
With the stock and your hands clear of the blade, move the fence an additional
3/8" away from the blade and make another cut, parallel to the first and
again up to the stop line. To be safe, the saw should always be turned off
while adjusting the fence.
To make this
easier for those who cannot see. Clamp a thin stop block on your fence for the
distance of the first cut. Then mark the front edge of the block with a piece
of tape. Then move the block a little until the stop line is reached. For each
consecutive cut move the stop block the same distance further from the tape to
make the next cut.
Sources for Comercial
Featherboards
Rockler
Woodworking-Featherboard
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