Grip tites

Re: Grip tites

Bill Sams

>Not woodpecker brand, but I got mine from Mcfeeleys and love them, use them on the TS, BS, router table, shaper, jointer. Really strong adhesion to the tables.

Worthless.....

Mark Goodall - ATL - tooljunkie

>I bought a couple of the Wooden bodies Grip-Tites years ago at a woodworking show, and was very disappointed with them when I got them at home. I found they had very little holding power.

They say for a year or so in the workshop unused.

Then one day right here (well it was BP, but you know what I mean) I posted a similar response to this one, and someone (can't remember the kind soul) pointed out that he and many others found the same thing.... but the trick was to SAND the bottom side.

Sure enough, if you sand the bottom you'll remove enough wood so that the magnet touches the saw table top. I had not realized but when they put/glued the magnets in, I guess the hole was a tiny fraction of an inch deeper than the magnet, so the magnet was held up a bit, not close enough to the cast iron table top.

So I sandered it until the wood was flush with the magnet and gave it a try.

Sure enough, that was it.

They work like a charm, and I'd but them again.

It's too bad that I and others didn't know about this "fix" earlier.

I see they are now made of plastic (yellow plastic bodies it appears) so perhaps their tolerances are better and the new ones don't have that trouble. Perhaps the wooden ones swelled a bit and that's what caused the problem.

Happy Woodworking!

Mainly jointer use

Hoa Dinh in Alameda

>I use them on the jointer for edge jointing, but not on the TS.

There is no simpler way to attach featherboards to the jointer bed. The Grip-Tite works well there.

On the TS, I find the Grip-Tite gets in the way in many opererations because of its height. I use featherboards that are clamped to the TS top or attached to the miter slot.

If the TS fence is ferrous, you can attach the Grip-Tite to it. Or you can attached a piece of steel to the rip fence first, then attach the Grip-Tite to this piece of steel. But that's too much for me. It's easier just clamping a simple featherboard to the fence.

-- Hoa

Re: Grip tites - a little disappointed

Chet Kloss from Livonia, MI

>I had to add a metal face to my TS fence to be able to use them there. That invalidated all of my fence jigs.

It could be me, but I find it quicker to use traditional feather boards (and I think they do a better job - especially since I made a couple double high ones).

I recommend you save the money and buy another Lie-Nielson plane - but thats just me :)

Re: Grip tites

Kent in Emmaus, PA

>I have a Grip-Tite... somewhere, but it hasn't been used in quite some time. I didn't have the problem that Mark reported; mine works as advertised, but I just don't find it useful very often.

On the table saw, I don't care much for feather boards in general. I'm often ripping random-width boards, so a feather board would have to be reset for each cut. I prefer a good splitter, which controls the important "keeper" piece on a rip cut and never has to be repositioned.

Furthermore, a feather board can only be used to apply horizontal force on the infeed side of the TS blade. It can't help with the critical "kickback zone" at the back of the blade. This limitation also means the last few inches of the cut will be uncontrolled, and I've always found the moment when the board slides free of the feather board to be a bit nervy.

For dado or molding operations, the Grip-Tite could be useful. It would also be handy on a router table, but my RT has a nonmetallic top. I don't own a shaper.

Bottom line, I find the Grip-Tite useful for some situations, but it doesn't make my list of must-have shop items.

Mark, I Just Betcha

George@Colonel's Workshop-Havertown PA

>Good afternoon Mark,

Wait and see that the next Klingspor catalog will have megnet holder debrieders available in multiple grits and backings. I prefer cloth backed debrieders myself. :<)

George

Re: Grip tites

Barry Irby

>I have a pair I bought at a WW show ten or more years ago. Mine are made of wood and the magnets appear to be glued in with silicon. The tacky nature of the silicon seems to work well. It appears the combination of the magnet and the silcon gives thme better grip than I expected. Mine have the "Feather board" on each side and a L shaped piece through the handle that acts as a verticle feather board on stock less than and inch. I set them jsut at the point the stock touches the blade. I don't use them as much as I should because of the random board thing mentioned above, but when I ripped thousands of stickers I used them and thought they were great.

Re: Grip tites

David Hay @ Denver

>I have one...but I have to say that I don't use it much. It seems that the times I want to use it on the table saw, I want to put it right on the throat plate (but still in front of the blade)...where it doesn't stick.

I'll have to try using it on the jointer...but I really haven't had any problems there either. Though I could see how it would be useful if I was trying to joint really small stock.

David

Here's One I Made

Garrett in Victoria BC

>

The feather is a small piece of 1/8" Lexan, just a jam fit in either side. Works like a charm. I also cut out an L shape, but haven't used it.

I had an old Lee Valley magnet sold for recovering metal objects dropped in the lake, but if not, I would have used some rare earth magnets that I pulled out of a couple of old computer hard drives that I destroyed before disposing of them. (They are REALLY powerful.)

Cheers, Garrett

Great product

Lee Schierer, McKean, PA

>I bought mine at a wood show near Buffalo probably 15 years ago. The thing I like about them is the go on and off the table in seconds, so they actually get used. Unlike feather boards I've made that take a minute or more to set up or adjust. Mine have a ripping attachment for one side that is a sandpaper covered roller. It works great with the steel fence plate they also sell. I made a special fence cover for my beismeyer fence (see photo below), that also gives me a nice high face for making raised panels. As the demonstator said the best safety features only work if you acutally use them.

The old wood ones, like I have tend to change dimensions seasonally so they may not stick tight. Place a sheet of 220 grit sand paper under them grit side up on a flat iron surface and "sand the bottom" to remove some material. The gripping power will improve dramatically. Believe it or not this information is actually written in the instructions that came with them.

If any one doesn't want theirs because they feel they are useless, let me know. You can send them to me and I will pay the shipping. They will find a good home and much use in my shop.

Lee

LV just came out with their version

Bart Goldberg

>of a magnetic feather board and it looks to be superior in design to the grip tite. I own the grip tite and like it, but if I was in the market now, I'd get the LV version.

Bart

Re: Mark, I Just Betcha

Kneale Brownson in Northern MI

>I thought those were for taking callouses off your fingertips.

Re: Grip tites - also a bit disappointed

Ken Platt (Granby, CT)

>I got one because they seemed like a great idea and there were many favorable posts. I've ended up not using it because it tends to shift position as it snaps down to the tablesaw, so I frequently ended up with too much or too little pressure against the stock. It was just hard to control it's motion as you get it close to the surface and the magnets take over (how 'bout that inverse-square thing, eh?)

I think the new LV ones with the magnet that you turn on and off would be much better, and if I wanted to try that sort of device again that'd be what I'd get.

I've gotten fond though of the orange plastic kind that clamps in the miter slot. I think Benchdog is the brand name. That one I'd buy again in a second.

Ken

MagSwitch� Magnetic Featherboard *LINK*

Hoa Dinh

>If you are referring to "MagSwitch� Magnetic Featherboard," it's not made by Lee Valley nor Veritas. It's made by, well, Magswitch.

Many other stores (Rockler, Woodcraft, Hartville Tool, ...) also carry it.

Do a search and you'll find plenty.

-- Hoa


Magswitch's Website