Tool Review
Rating
Overall rating
Retail Price: $159.99 + shipping & tax
Purchase Price: $119.99 incl shipping & tax
Specifications:
- Solid aluminum slider and base
- Laser engraved scale (imperial and metric)
- Cuts strips from 1/32″ to 1 1/4″ wide (depending on wood species)
The Woodpeckers ThinRip Guide™ is designed to allow you to safely and accurately cut thin strips of wood on your table saw.
The guide sits in a t-track style miter slot of a table saw, and lets you easily set the gap between the guide rollers and the edge of the table saw blade.
Note: your table saw must have t-track style miter slots otherwise this jig will not work with your table saw (photo below).
The verdict
overall rating – 4/5
There are a number of methods and products available if you need to cut consistent thin strips of wood on your table saw. Under no circumstances will the Woodpeckers thinrip guide be the cheapest, but it is certainly one of the easiest and quickest to set up and provides consistent accurate cuts.
Pros
- Easy set-up
- Ease of use
- Weight/heft
Cons
- Retail price
- No storage case available
- Must have t-track style miter slots
Build quality
Ease of use
Price
Storage (lack of a case)
Compatibility (won’t fit all table saws)
alternatives
- Rockler.com: Rockler Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig: $39.99 + shipping & tax
- Chipsfly.com: Thin rip table saw jig: $24.00 + shipping & tax
Note that I own the Rockler thin rip jig linked above, and I’m not a fan. In my opinion , the fatal flaw with the cheaper versions of thin rip jigs is that they use the same knob to secure the jig in the meter slot and the position of the bearing (gap between the saw blade). I’ve found that it’s almost impossible to set the distance between the bearing and the saw blade and then slide the jig to the cut position keeping the same gap distance. With the clamp loose, the slider tends to move as you reposition the jig. The woodpecker jig solves this by using a two different mechanisms to secure the position of the slider/bearing and the jig in the miter slot (see below).
In-Depth Review
For many woodworkers, you can have any number of projects that call for consistent thin strips of wood. A table saw is usually the easiest way to cut these, but you can run in to problems with both consistency and safety cutting these thin strips of wood on a table saw.
In order to cut consistent anything of a consistent width on a table saw, you need something that’s a fixed distance from the saw blade, and normally that’s the adjustable fence. The problem is that when you’re trying to cut thin strips of wood, the gap between the fence and saw blade can be dangerously small. If the wood breaks or splinters in that small gap, there’s a very real chance of a kickback. You can also end up trying to cut strips of wood where the gap between the saw blade and fence is narrower than your push stick.
The answer is something that sites to the left of the saw blade in a fixed position that won’t allow the strips of wood you’re cutting to get jammed and is easily adjustable…and that would be a thin strip table saw jig.
In this review, we’ll be looking at a factory second Woodpeckers ThinRip Guide. I purchased it from the Woodpeckers web site after receiving an e-mail notification that discounted factory seconds were available.
Cutting 1/4″ strips against the fence vs. thin rip guide
Using the fence
(dangerously narrow gap between the blade and the fence)
Using a jig
(little chance of jamming or kickback)
Unpacking – Picking up the package, it was immediately obvious that there was some serious heft to this tool as the box was much heavier than what I was expecting. After unpacking and subsequently weighing the bare tool, it comes in at 2 lbs 5 oz (1.05 kg); the weight feels nice while you’re adjusting the guide.
Otherwise, the thin strip jig well packed in multiple layers of cardboard, and the hardware was in a plastic bag in multiple wraps of paper.
It was immediately clear why this was sold as a factory second. As you can see in the photos, there is a serious mismatch in the red anodizing between the base and the slider. Otherwise I couldn’t find any other issues with it, and of course the color of the parts has zero impact on the functionality of the jig.
Assembly – Out of the box, very little assembly is needed. The slider is already attached to the base. Two miter slot nuts are secured with a plastic knob, and two scale markers are attached to the slider with two stainless steel screws. There’s one marker each for the metric and imperial scale.
Set-up – after assembly, the only real set-up is adjusting the two scale markers for the imperial and metric scales on the base of the tool.
Mount the jig in the t-slots of the saw and position it so the bearing is even with the forward-most tooth on the saw blade, and adjust the position of the slider so that the bearing just touches the saw tooth (see photo). Secure the
Mount the jig in the t-slots of the saw and position it so the bearing is even with the forward-most tooth on the saw blade, and adjust the position of the slider so that the bearing just touches the saw tooth (see photo). Secure the
Mount the jig in the t-slots of the saw and position it so the bearing is even with the forward-most tooth on the saw blade, and adjust the position of the slider so that the bearing just touches the saw tooth (see photo). Secure the tool by tightening the two black knobs, and the slider by tightening the knurled slider knob. The bearing should still be just in contact with the saw tooth.
For each of the scale markers, loosen the the two stainless screws holding the marker in place, and slide the marker left or right to the mark that you want to be your zero-point on the scale. Tighten the two screws to secure the marker. Note that you will have to repeat that procedure whenever you swap saw blades in your table saw if you want to use the scales on the tool as your reference (I use set-up blocks, so this isn’t an issue).
Use – Using the Thin rip guide is easy enough:
- Move the guide so the roller bearing is even with the front-most saw tooth,
- Set the cut width between the roller and left-side of the saw tooth (this will be the width of your strips),
- In the example, I’m using a set-up block.
- Tighten the knurled knob the secure the position of the insert in the base.
- Move the jig forward a few inches so you’re not pinching your workpiece between the jig and saw blade.
- Tighten the two black knobs to secure the position of the jig in the miter slot.
- Now you can position your work piece between the jig roller and you table saw fence:
- Hold the work piece tight against the fence and adjust the position of the fence so the left edge of the work piece just touches the roller bearing on the jig. Lock the fence in position.
- You can now start the saw and make your cut.
- It’s always a good idea to measure the first strip you’ve cut to make sure you’ve hit your target size.
- Make additional strips by unlocked the fence, repositioning the work piece and fence as described above, re-locking the fence position and making the next cut.
- Important: You work piece can’t have a taper where it’s wider at the back than the front, otherwise it will jamb between the fence and the jig. Anything cut using this method needs to have a consistant width.
Short video demonstration using the Thinrip Guide
Final Thoughts – After a few month of use, I’ve found that as with most Woodpecker tools, the Thin Rip Guide has a well thought out design and it’s easy to set-up and use. With separate mechanisms to set the width of the cut and secure it in the miter slot, the design solves the problem that the jigs with a single clamping mechanism have (see above). I only see two real issues with the tool; it would have been nice if it either came with a case or purchasing a case was an option, and the full retail price. After having used it, I’m very satisfied with the $120 that I paid for the factory second, however I’m not sure I’d spend the $160.00 that it normally runs. As with any tool, if this is something you think you’ll use often, or consistent thin strips are critical to your work, then it’s probably well worth the price.
References/links
- Woodpeckers.com: Thin rip Guide
- Woodpeckers.com: Thin strip owners manual (PDF)