I did something stupid

[bitingmidge]

Crikey! If I'd known there were going to be group hugs on this thread I would have been here earlier!

Cheers,

P

[Chris Parks]

A few days late but I have been busy. A question for Gripper owners, if the gripper slid forward over the material it was pushing wouldn't your forearm/wrist then be over the blade? I am not trying to be combative here, I really want to see what you guys who own them think of a situation such as this. I am definitly not a big fan of push sticks either especially the longer ones as the hand is unstable when pushing and it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

[BobL]

A question for Gripper owners, if the gripper slid forward over the material it was pushing wouldn't your forearm/wrist then be over the blade?

Check out the following cutting sequence.
Ordinarily I would just use a handsaw to cut something this size but it demonstrates what a gripper (even a big one like mine) can do.
Cutting something this size with push sticks is possible but awkward and there is a possibility the blade can spit the pieces back at you.

To cut something this thick the blade does not need to be fully extended increasing the distance between your hand and the saw blade.

Plus in between your hand and the blade there is a reasonably serious piece of wood.

The handle angle assists the user to naturally push towards the fence and down and forward. If the gripper slips forward, it just passes over the blade. The angle of the handle means your arm is not continuing to pass over the blade (not all grippers have this feature)

One thing my gripper also has is a sloped front that improves visibility when starting the cut. The other thing about it is it is quite heavy so it still has a positive feel when cutting small pieces. BM is right, the sand paper feet are not good for melamine but for that one can use velcro rubber runners, I just haven't needed to cut melamine yet.

I don't use my gripper that often but when I do I feel considerably safer than cutting (especially on small pieces) by hand and safer than using push sticks. It's not fool proof and most fools could still probably cut themselves with it if they tried hard enough.

[madcraft]

Waldo , at least we don't have to say " Where's Waldo 's finger"

Close call mate

Cheers
Glenn