90 degees cut in plywood edge

[TheMonk]

Hi all,

To begin I should say that I'm pretty much a novice to advanced or finishing woodworking. I've made my share of decks and things like bases for sheds etc but nothing that would constitute "fine woodworking" I'm hoping that may change however.

I recently purchased my first table saw and after lots of reading on table saw safety, the first thing I did was set out to create a proper push stick. I ended up with something very similar to the following:

(Mine didn't have the holes inside however)

So here's the question I had, everything went really well except when it came to making the heel of the push stick. I'm still trying to sort out the best way to create a 90 cut in the thin edge of plywood like above. I ended up cutting most of the heel off length wise with the table saw. Then I took out my jigsaw and finished the last of the cut along with the short vertical cut.

However I my jigsaw skills aren't the best and it's not always 90 degree accurate. I was thinking if I had a cross cut sled I could clamp the piece of wood vertically and just make a series of cuts. What technique is best to make clean accurate 90 degree cuts on the edge of a board as shown?

[Mike M]

Just make a straight cut along the bottom then glue a piece of wood on the heel.

[Eric.]

Or use a bandsaw with a fence. A pushstick doesn't have to be perfect, just enough to grab the end of a workpiece.

[SignWave]

Try a speed square as a guide for the saw.

[duckkisser]

it does not matter much as its not squaring off on the machine rather its just holding on to the back of the board and pushing it. if you were pushing with your hands does your hands have to be at a perfect 90 degrees? but if you want to know my method before i do anything i use the miter to cut off the last little bit before the heel. then i make a rip cut to remove the rest of the bottom. then i shape as i want. my prefered method is to make a U shape stick but have one arm making a strait direction. that way i can push with it and instead of the all my preasure on the back its on the front end then the board wont walk up on me.

here are a few push stick keep in mind the stradle stick very safe for small cuts

[duckkisser]

http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2009/07/14-push-block-plans-11-push-stick-plans-save-your-paws-from-table-saws

http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=672

[Jerry_in_SD]

Maybe this is not the type of advice you were looking for but a small cut like this only needs a handtool. Get youself a small handsaw, Japanese or a gents saw. Sometimes its best to go simpler on these things.

[dwacker]

Just stand the piece up against your miter gauge and nibble out a squared notch before making the long cut. Raise your blade all the way up and guard down for the long cut.

Don

[LoneRider]

I might also recommend the Gripper

http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com/reviews/grr-ripper.htm

Yeah, its real money, but these are great. Good control of the material and my hands keep a good distance from the blade.

[jHop]

The best way I've found to do a 90 degree cut is to carefully lay out the lines, and then sneak up on the cut. Either by hand tools or by power tools. That way, you treat the first cut as "eliminate the limiters," so you get it out of the way for the finesse portion of your cutting. Not very efficient, but it gets the bulk of the unnecessary wood out of the way to get right on that line.

But since this is for a push stick, I'd think that you want a slight (only slight, mind you) hook on it, and not actually 90 degrees. So the long line of the base rests on the top of the material, and the bottom point helps guide the material along, leaving a slight gap at the top for dust and stuff to wiggle out.

Then again, I don't use push sticks. (Don't need to; don't have a table saw.)

[Darnell Hagen]

Instead of taking the time to make a perfect 90° I deliberately cut it at less than that, on the bandsaw. As long as it forms a hook, you're good, you just don't want it to be a ramp that slips up and off.

However, if you're looking for perfection, I second what Don said. I'd do it before shaping the rest of the stick, riding the still square top against the fence and keeping the skinny offcut on the outside of the blade. Stop the ts before you get completely through the cut, and wait for the saw to stop before you remove the stock. Rough out the remnants on the bs, and clean up the corner with a chisel. Because the ts's blade is circular, it doesn't cut a straight perpendicular kerf. Stopping the cut before it is all the way through will prevent the bottom of the kerf running past your stop line.

[davestanton]

Don's answer is best if you have a table saw as you obviously do. Jig saws are fine but a little rough. SD Woodworker's comment on using a handsaw is probably the way I would go because you will need to finish the long cut from the table saw as well. I agree with the general sentiment that it is only a push stick, but for other purposes it is good to follow my advise if the piece needs more exact or precise cuts.

[eric71m]

Just make a straight cut along the bottom then glue a piece of wood on the heel.

Mine is just screwed on, so that i can easily replace the heel...

[CessnaPilotBarry]

Personally, I'd also simply screw a consumable block to the back.

Push blocks are meant to get cut up. I can kill an awful lot of cheapies before I get close to the cost of a Grriper. When I get enough grooves in the bottom of my cheapies, I simply joint the bottom smooth, and glue on some $2 mouse pad material from Staples.

I have never seen a Grripper in a pro shop...

[capnjack2]

I made these recently for friends out of 3/4" ply offcuts. I simply made a couple of kerfs in the body which allowed for a piece of 1/4" ply to be friction fit in the kerf. just add a little piece of drawer liner for grip at the front. They work great and my friends have asked for 1/2" thick versions too!

Jack

[Mark Reuten]

Of course you could just glue a little block onto the heel.

If you are just getting started with using a tablesaw, pick up Jim Tolpin's Tablsaw Magic book. Well worth reading.