Start with the jigs that keep hands clear
| Jig | Used for | Key sizes | Pattern source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push stick | Rips where hands would come close to the blade | 1/2–3/4 in thick (SawStop); 15.7 in long with a notch (DEWALT) | SawStop and DEWALT manuals |
| Push block | Rips too narrow for a push stick | 3/4 and 1/2 in plywood; heel glued, no metal fasteners | SawStop manual |
| Featherboard | Holding work against the fence or table | About 3/4 in thick, knot-free wood | SawStop manual; DEWALT manual |
| Auxiliary fence | Narrow rips with a push block | 3/4 in hardwood on 1/2 in plywood, 24 in long | SawStop manual |
| Narrow-rip auxiliary fence | Rips of 2 in or less, with the guard still on | Cut to the table's length, sides parallel | DEWALT manual |
Each pattern is the maker's, for its own saw. Use the one in your saw's manual where it gives one.
Both makers tie these jigs to their rules for ripping: SawStop calls for a push stick when a hand comes within 6 in of the blade, DEWALT for one when there is 2–6 in between fence and blade and for its narrow-rip fence and a push block at 2 in or less. The reasons are set out in the safety guide; the patterns are here.
Build them to the pattern
- Use the maker's shape. DEWALT's compact-saw manual says to use only the push stick supplied or one built to its instructions. An improvised shape can put the hand closer to the blade than the pattern does.
- Non-conductive, no metal where the blade can reach. SawStop specifies push sticks of electrically non-conductive material such as scrap wood, and its push block's heel is glued on with no metal fasteners — on a brake-equipped saw, metal touching the blade can fire the brake.
- Sound wood. SawStop calls for knot-free wood for featherboards; Freud's push-stick pattern for its dado sled warns against wood that shows splitting or checking.
- Replace, don't repair. DEWALT: never use a damaged or cut push stick. A push stick that the blade has nicked has done its job; make another.
- Featherboards are for the fence, not the gauge. SawStop says not to use them when cutting with the miter gauge.
Sleds
A crosscut or dado sled is the next project for most saws. Published plans, and the safety rules they leave out, are in table saw sled plans; how a sled works and how to square it are in the sled guide.
An outfeed table
Kreg publishes an outfeed and assembly table plan with a 36 × 67 in top; its legs are cut to suit the saw's height and the thickness of the top. Two points the plan does not cover come from the saw and sled makers:
- Height: SawStop sets its own outfeed table flush with or just beneath the saw table. Cut the legs so the top lands there, not above it.
- Clearance for runners: POWERTEC warns that outfeed support must not obstruct a sled's miter bar. The Kreg plan has T-track in its edges but no grooves for runners; cut grooves in line with the slots, or stop the table short of them.
For mounting a saw in a bench and supporting long work, see workbenches and outfeed tables. To plan the parts, the cut list optimizer lays them out on the sheets the plan calls for.
Taper, tenon and other jigs
Bosch's manual for its 4100 saw says not to make tapered cuts without a tapered jig accessory. This page gives no plans for taper, tenon, spline or jointing jigs: no saw maker's pattern for them was reviewed, and a jig that holds work against the blade is not something to improvise from a sketch. If you buy or build one, follow its maker's instructions and your saw's manual on whether the guard and riving knife can stay on for the cut.
Before using a shop-made jig
- It follows a pattern from your saw's manual or the jig's maker
- It is made of sound, non-conductive material, with no metal where the blade can reach
- It is undamaged; a cut push stick is replaced
- The guard and riving knife are on for the cut wherever the manual allows
- Featherboards are used against the fence or table, never with the miter gauge
Sources
Jig sizes are the saw makers' patterns for their own saws; follow the pattern in your saw's manual where it differs. No pattern from a maker was reviewed for taper, tenon, spline or jointing jigs, so none is given here.
- 1.
Owner's Manual, 10" Professional Cabinet Saw, Model PCS31230. SawStop.
Used for: SawStop's patterns: a push stick 1/2 to 3/4 in thick of sturdy, electrically non-conductive material such as scrap wood, used for rips narrower than 6 in; an auxiliary fence of 3/4 in hardwood on 1/2 in plywood, 24 in long, clamped to the rip fence 1–2 in back from the table's front edge; a push block of 3/4 and 1/2 in plywood whose heel is glued on with no metal fasteners; a featherboard about 3/4 in thick, of knot-free wood, never used with the miter gauge.
- 2.
DWE7491 10" (254 mm) Job Site Table Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: Patterns in the manual for a push stick, a narrow rip auxiliary fence, a push block and featherboards; the narrow-rip fence for rips of 2 in or less, which lets the guard stay on; a push stick for 2–6 in between fence and blade; a 15.7 in push stick with a notch.
- 3.
DWE7485 8-1/4" (210 mm) Compact Job Site Table Saw, Instruction Manual. DEWALT.
Used for: Using only the push stick supplied or one built to the manual's instructions, and never a damaged or cut one.
- 4.
Creating a Dado Sled — safety instructions. Freud Tools.
Used for: Freud's push-stick pattern: 1/2 in wood with the grain as marked, never wood that shows splitting or checking.
- 5.
Outfeed/Assembly Table (plan, by Knotty Dog Woodshop). Kreg Tool.
Used for: A published outfeed and assembly table: a 36 × 67 in top, leg length set by the saw's height and the top's thickness, T-track in the edges, and no grooves for miter-gauge or sled runners.
- 6.
Owner's Manual, Folding Outfeed Table, Model TSA-FOT. SawStop, 2025.
Used for: An outfeed surface set flush with or just beneath the saw table.
- 7.
Owner's Manual, Model No. 71403 Table Saw Crosscut Sled. POWERTEC.
Used for: Out-feed support that must not obstruct a sled's miter bar.
- 8.
4100XC-10 Operating/Safety Instructions. Bosch Power Tools, 2019.
Used for: Bosch's instruction not to make tapered cuts on its saw without a tapered jig accessory.
About this guide
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