# mass segment cutting question



## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

Well, I cut 3-400 segments last night, have another 600+ to go.

Problem I'm having is that I use my tablesaw, my sled, angled fence, and a saw fence bump out, but issue is pieces resting near to or touching the back of the blade. I'm worried about kickback, had a few jam up, 
Question: I've got all material milled, ready, I want to go on a cannonball run of cutting segments non stop, how would you prep your saw to eliminate pieces touching blade after cutting, and allow you to cut a few hundred of them.

Pic of my setup.

Jim










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## Ben M (Apr 19, 2012)

My first guess: the segments will part from the wood, and fall to the table, before they're in contact with the back of the blade, right? Place a thin sheet of material just to the right of the blade (and attach it to something you can clamp to the table or fence, or maybe to the riving knife?) to serve as a guard. Your segments will break off the sled and land in a safe "chute" between the fence and this guard, and new segments can't push them anywhere except straight back. This might work better with the blade raised a bit.


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

That's not to bad of an idea, basically a blade cover for the back half of the blade.

Ill post pics after I make one

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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I smell a "it seemed like a good idea at the time" thread in the making. Seems to me this would potentially be just one other thing to cause a kick back. Also be careful when doing so many repetitive cuts. Very easy to let your mind wander do something unsafe.


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

Glued to factory insert, worked so well, I knocked out a lot of cuts in 2 minutes.

Just a simple 45° piece of mdf.



















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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

yes, i am still.....working.....need to glue up 10 segmented bowls tonight


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## HLW (Nov 19, 2008)

@oldmacnut and others,since we're on the subject of cutting segments.Do you have a good plan for making a sled for cutting segments that produce accurate cuts for angles?"oldmacnut" yours looks good,did you make it? Thanks for any help.:blink:


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

HLW,

I bought an Incra Build It Kit, then I picked up an Incra Fence. I got tired of making sleds, sometimes it just saves time and money to buy a tool vs making one.

Anyway, I have a 12" Miter saw, but I dont like cutting small pieces with it, so I cut some scrap 3/4" material to the needed angle, set that on the sled, used some more scraps to cut a full rings worth of material to do a test fit, and went from there.

I can do a full step by step guide on cutting, gluing, turning a segmented bowl if there is a need for it. I dont have a fancy lathe, in fact, mine is 8 levels of crap below a harbor freight one, so it's not like I have tools people can only dream about.


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## HLW (Nov 19, 2008)

Thanks "oldmacnut".Where did you buy the kit? I think I saw one Rockler offered.What kind of price are we talking about for the kit? Thanks.:thumbsup:


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

I think the build of kit is 100.00, fence I think was 50.00, I got it direct from incra, but woodcraft sells them as well.

Incramentaltools.com

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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

oldmacnut said:


> Well, I cut 3-400 segments last night, have another 600+ to go.
> 
> Problem I'm having is that I use my tablesaw, my sled, angled fence, and a saw fence bump out, but issue is pieces resting near to or touching the back of the blade. I'm worried about kickback, had a few jam up,
> Question: I've got all material milled, ready, I want to go on a cannonball run of cutting segments non stop, how would you prep your saw to eliminate pieces touching blade after cutting, and allow you to cut a few hundred of them.
> ...


I have only made one segmented bowl, but the sites I looked at before I made mine, either used a mitre saw, or mitre gauge.

I used a mitre gauge. As you commented the pieces are smaller than I cared to cut using mitre saw.

Rockler sell a jig for cutting thin strips. I made the jig for setting a cut width for cutting thin strips. A cheaper version of the Rockler.

For some reason the slots in the MDF are not showin, but the piece slides side to side in the slots.

The key feature I wanted was to have the width setting BEFORE the blade. I slide the piece down the fence to the stop block, hold against the fence then cut. The piece normally stops or I use a push stick in the left hand to move the piece away.









I would not want to use a sled for this purpose. I would be concerned about the piece dropping and hitting the blade. Could be a nick in the piece, or worse, flying wood.

With your setup, I would want to use a thicker piece against the fence so I leave lots of room for the piece to fall away from the blade.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Make a much larger spacer between the fence and blade. I have a 6" rig that I clamp to the fence. That give plenty of room for cuttoffs to go. I have one hell of a kickback hit me in the chest and left a fist size bruise. The pieces simply vibrated and once they got sideways there wasn't enough room between the fence and blade. I was using a 3/4" block on my fence the same as you. 
I now have a dedicated sliding miter jig that rides in both slots. I have a clamp on the stop block so each time I bring the jig back I can clear the piece safely. I either use a De-staco clamp if the pieces are large or a stick with a pointer on it and hold the piece with my right hand.


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## oldmacnut (Dec 27, 2010)

Dave Paine said:


> I have only made one segmented bowl, but the sites I looked at before I made mine, either used a mitre saw, or mitre gauge.
> 
> I used a mitre gauge. As you commented the pieces are smaller than I cared to cut using mitre saw.
> 
> ...



I found the use of a sled allows me to clamp the material down vs holding it against the fence, I have the same fence you have on your miter gauge.

2 things crossed my mind with cutting the first 10 bowls of material.
1, I wondered if having 2-3 pieces of 3/4" mdf against the saw fence would eliminate pieces kicking back.
2, how can i eliminate any chance of kickback.

I was hit in the mouth 2 years ago, small piece of pecan, 25 stitches to sew lip back on, and alot of other things happened, so to me, kickback is a huge fear.

I cut a piece of MDF at a 45 deg angle, glued it to the factory insert, and first thing I noticed, pieces slide down and away from the blade, then I noticed as I cut a new piece, it was pushed into the line of cut pieces and not 1 of them came close to the blade.

I need to make a more permanant reusuable jig tonight, I will take pics, might do a write-up for people interested in the process but find segmenting to be to much of a challenge. I tried both, turning segmented, and turning from solid stock, I much prefer segmented, to me there is more creative control, yeah it takes a little longer, but I can glue up 4 bowls worth of material in time it takes to turn 2 solid stock.

preference I guess, however, If I do a write up, I will make sure that safety is #1, 2 and 3 on the list.


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## tdaniels (Sep 18, 2011)

oldmacnut said:


> Glued to factory insert, worked so well, I knocked out a lot of cuts in 2 minutes.
> 
> Just a simple 45° piece of mdf.
> 
> ...


I use the same type of 45degree slope but have inserted magnets in bottom which stays put right next to blade


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