How To Make a Feather Board Homemade Machines & Jigs

I can’t recall where I saw this type of feather board, but it has long been on my list of things to do. The concept is simple: it mounts on the outside edge of the table saw top and an arm with a spring loaded pad extends over to hold the stock against the fence. The advantage over one the clamps into the miter slot is a greater range – it will work with wider stock. It’s also a good option for table saws that don’t have a top that a magnet will stick to, like mine with a plastic top or a low cost saw with an aluminum top.

I didn’t take many pictures of the build but made a detailed video showing all of the steps:

The pad that guides the stock is made from solid hardwood with a spacer block glued onto each end. This gives space for the spring to operate:

I used a piece of the same plastic I used for the table saw top as the spring and cut it to about 3/16″ thick. Another option is thin plywood or another type of plastic – flattened PVC pipe would be good.

Solid maple 1-1/2″ thick was used for the clamping block that mounts on the edge of the saw. There’s a single 3/8″ bolt with a handle on the end that holds it in place and a slot to allow for some front / back adjustment:

The underside of the clamping bar has a piece of self adhesive sandpaper to improve the grip on the arm.

The arm extends over as far as the blade:

And here’s a typical example of it in action: