What is a featherboard used for?
The primary purpose and function of a featherboard is to apply even and consistent lateral or downward pressure to the work piece as it moves through the blade to help produce cleaner and more consistent cuts.
Featherboards are used on table saws for rip cuts and on router tables.
A featherboard helps to reduce the risk of kickback, but it does not eliminate the risk of kickback. A featherboard should not be relied upon as a failsafe for poor technique or other actions that could result in kickback.
Key Takeaways
- A featherboard helps to make cleaner, better cuts by applying even and consistent lateral and/or downward pressure to the material, keeping it tight against the fence.
- A featherboard helps to reduce, but not eliminate, the chance of kickback occurring.
- A featherboard can prevent a workpiece from rising up by applying downward pressure through the cut
How to use a featherboard
- Start by powering off your table saw and disconnecting it from the power source.
- Loosely fit the featherboard to the left-hand miter slots on your table saw. This is assuming the rip fence is on the right-hand side of the blade.
- Align the rip fence for the piece you’re cutting and leave the material in place.
- Position the featherboard just snug against the material and correctly between the fence and featherboard. It should be firm and snug fit. The material should still be able to move towards the blade, but not backwards easily.
- Tighten the featherboard and lock it into place.
- With the blade lowered, move the workpiece through the table saw and ensure it’s difficult to move in reverse.
- Raise the blade, power the saw on, and make your cut as you normally would.
Incorrect featherboard use
Incorrectly using a featherboard can increase the risk of kickback, unclean cuts, and injury. The points below are 3 common errors when using a featherboard on a table saw.
- Placing the featherboard too close to the blade
- Placing the featherboard past the blade
- The featherboard is placed too far away from the material
The above shows incorrect placement of a featherboard on a table saw
Placing the featherboard too close to the blade
The featherboard needs to be placed at least 2-3” forward of the blade and make adequate contact with the work piece being cut.
Placing the featherboard too close to the front of the blade or on the blade can cause the featherboard to pinch the cut off piece. This can result in unsightly burn marks or the cut off breaking off and flying towards you.
Placing the featherboard past the blade
A featherboard placed behind the blade can result in the rear of the workpiece and its cutoff being pinched. If the cut off piece or the work piece moves towards the rear of the blade, it can result in kickback. Often times if the work piece makes contact with the rear of the blade, the blade will grab the wood and send it flying.
Your riving knife is in place to prevent exactly this scenario. However, if a featherboard is placing pressure towards the rear of the blade, the riving knife may not be able to prevent the wood from making contact with the rear of the blade.
The featherboard is placed too far away from the material
If the featherboard is in the correct location in front of the blade, but is not close enough to the material being cut, the featherboard is not applying any lateral pressure and thus serves no purpose.
The featherboard needs to put just enough pressure on the workpiece so that the workpiece is snug against the fence, but not so much that the workpiece can’t be smoothly pushed through the featherboard and fence. You should always test the fit of the workpiece between the fence and featherboard by lowering the blade and sliding the workpiece through.
A correctly fit featherboard will allow the workpiece to slide smoothly through, but be difficult to pull through in the opposite direction.
Alternatives to traditional finger featherboards
- Rollers
- Foam featherboard
- Hedgehog featherboard
Nowadays, the traditional finger featherboard is just one of many options woodworkers have at their disposal.
Rollers, foam featherboards, and the ‘hedgehog’ style featherboard serve the same purpose as their traditional counterpart, but offer some added benefits. Let’s take a brief look at each option.
Jessem Rollers
JessEm Tool Company, a family owned Canadian Tool manufacturer has developed rolling stock guides that provide both downward and lateral pressure on the workpiece as it moves through the saw blade.
At first glance, you might ask how they are applying lateral pressure when the guides sit on top of the material.
The answer is that each roller sits at a 5 degree angle pointing the roller toward the fence. As the material moves through the guide is constantly being pushed downward and toward the
Foam Featherboards
BOW Products is a New York based manufacturer of woodworking supplies. In 2016 they received patent approval on their foam featherboard product, which is specifically advertised and filed as an anti-kickback device.
The foam featherboard is of similar design to the traditional finger-style featherboards. However, how they work in practice is quite different.
Hedgehog Featherboard
The hedgehog featherboard gets its name from its shape and design resembling that of a hedgehog. While the hedgehog is faster to adjust and set up, it is yet to be determined if it is any safer than the traditional finger-style featherboard.
How to make a featherboard for a table saw
Commercial featherboards are inexpensive and can be found for less than $10 to $20. However, if you have some scrap wood that needs to be used, here are the high level steps for how to make your own:
- Cut a runner for your miter slot.
- Drill holes through the miter runner and countersink them on one end. Set these aside
- With at least a 14” x 6” x ¾” piece of wood, make a 30 degree cut off the length.
- From the previously cut diagonal edge, mark a 3 ½” diagonal line. These will be the length of the fingers.
- Using the table saw, cut each finger approximately a ¼” in thickness until you reach the diagonal depth line .
- Drill two holes on the same line, approximately 1” from each edge, on the opposite side of the fingers
- Run machine screws through the bottom of the runner and and through the featherboard.
- Place adjustment knobs on the top of the machine screws.
Cut the runner for your miter slot
Measure the width and depth of the miter slot on your table saw. Cut a runner, preferably out of a hardwood like oak, or HDPE. The runner only needs to be 6” to 8” in length. The runner should be snug, but slide freely through the miter slot.
You can purchase miter slot runners that are already pre-cut to fit most saws.
Drill holes through the miter runner and countersink them.
Make a mark 4” apart and then find the center of the miter runner. Drill a hole through the middle of the runner according to the diameter of the machine screw you’re using. It is important for these to be dead center of the runner.
Mark the runner’s top and bottom side by labeling each side, “top” or “bottom.”
On the bottom side, countersink the holes your drilled so the machine screw sits flush in it. The machine screw needs to sit flush with the runner so it does not interfere with the table saw’s miter slot.
Set these aside.
Cut a piece of stock for your featherboard
The stock needs to measure at least 14” x 6” x ¾”. With this rectangular piece, measure 30 degrees off from one end lengthwise. Cut this end off.
Measure 3 ½” from the diagonal edge and draw a line. This is your finger depth line.
Cut the fingers
Using your table saw, cut the fingers to the depth line with each finger approximately ¼” in thickness. The fingers do not have to be perfectly even, nor does the depth of each finger need to be perfect.
Drill mounting holes
Approximately 2-3” from the opposite side of the fingers, mark a straight line from the top edge to the bottom edge. Overlay the miter runner holes over this line and mark in the center of the holes. These holes need to align so mark them as accurately as possible.
Drill the holes into the featherboard, again checking to make sure they align with the miter runner.
Insert featherboard hardware
Insert the machine screw through the miter runner and featherboard and attach the adjustment knob on top.