ripped wood on any saw deck and prevent kickback. Feed wheels added to the Grip-Tite base pull ripped wood to the fence, allowing the operator to rip wood on any table saw with no hands near the blade. Miter slot featherboard When a table saw has a table top made of a material other than cast iron, like aluminum, then a miter slot featherboard should be utilized to keep pressure on the stock against the fence when otherwise your hand would be in dangerous proximity to the saw blade. Keep in mind that this style feather board does take more time to set up than the magnetic style when deciding on a tool purchase. If a safety device is more convenient then it may be more frequently utilized. Never place a feather board past the leading edge of the blade or else kickback will occur. Blade height There are two competing schools of thought when it comes to properly setting the height of the blade for sawing. The first is commonly expressed thus: "Only allow the blade to rise above the work by the amount of finger you wish to lose." That is, the blade should protrude above the piece as little as possible, to prevent the loss of a finger in case of a sawing accident. Another competing view is that the saw functions at its best when the angle of the blade teeth arc relative to the top surface of the workpiece is as extreme as possible. This facilitates chip ejection, shortens the overall distance through which the teeth act on the part, reduces power consumption and heat generation, substantially reduces the peak pushing force required, thus improving control, and causes the blade's force on the wood to act mostly downward rather than largely horizontally. Materials cut on table saws Although the majority of table saws are used for cutting wood, table saws can also be used for cutting sheet plastic, sheet aluminum and sheet brass. Accessories Outfeed tables: Table saws are often used to rip long boards or sheets of plywood or other sheet materials. The use of an out feed (or outfeed) table makes this process safer and easier. Many of these are shop built, while others are commercially available. Infeed tables: Used to assist feeding long boards or sheets of plywood. In the past roller stands were pretty much the only option, but there are