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Ripping is cutting lengthwise through a board. The rip fence (A) Fig. 62 [not supplied] is used to position and
guide the work. One edge of the work rides against the rip fence while the flat side of the board rests on the table.
Since the work is pushed along the fence, it must have a straight edge and make solid contact with the table.
The saw blade guard must be used. On Delta saws, the guard has anti-kickback fingers to prevent
kickback and a splitter to prevent the wood kerf from closing and binding the blade.
1. Start the motor and advance the work holding it down
and against the fence. Never stand in the line of the saw
cut when ripping. Hold the work with both hands and
push it along the fence and into the saw blade (Fig. 62).
The work can then be fed through the saw blade with
one or two hands. After the work is beyond the saw
blade and anti-kickback fingers, the hand is removed
from the work. When this is done the work will either
stay on the table, tilt up slightly and be caught by the
end of the rear guard, or slide off the table to the floor.
Alternately, the feed can continue to the end of the table,
after which the work is lifted and brought along the
outside edge of the fence. The cut-off stock remains on
the table and is not touched until the saw blade has
stopped, unless it is a large piece allowing safe removal.
When ripping boards longer than three feet, use a work
support at the rear of the saw to keep the workpiece
from falling off the saw table.
2. If the ripped work is less than 4 inches wide, a push
stick should always be used to complete the feed, as
shown in Fig. 63. The push stick can easily be made from
scrap material as explained in the section
“CONSTRUCTING A PUSH STICK.”
3. Ripping narrow pieces can be dangerous if not done
carefully. Narrow pieces usually cannot be cut with the
guard in position. If the workpiece is short enough, use a
pushboard. When ripping material under 2 inches in
width, a flat pushboard is a valuable accessory since
ordinary type sticks may interfere with the blade guard.
When using a pushboard, the width of the pushboard
must be added to the width of the rip fence position
setting. A flat pushboard can be constructed as shown in
Fig. 65 and should be used as shown in Fig. 64.
NOTE: Some special operations (when using the
moulding cutterhead) require the addition of an auxiliary
wood facing to the fence, as explained in the section
“USING AUXILIARY WOOD FACING ON THE RIP
FENCE” and use of a push stick.
Fig. 62
A
Fig. 64
Fig. 63
Fig. 65
RIPPING
A RIP FENCE SHOULD
ALWAYS BE USED FOR RIPPING
OPERATIONS. NEVER PERFORM A
RIPPING OPERATION FREE-HAND.