Building nice wood

A few weeks ago the folks over at MicroJig were nice enough to send me a pair of GRR-Rippers and their new MicroDial tapering jig. By the time Katie’s Quilt Rack was finished the GRR-Rippers had proven themselves must have shop aids.

When I unpacked the box from MicroJig, I was excite by the build quality of their hardware. Because I already own their MJ Splitter and ZeroPlay Guide Bar I wasn’t surprised by the quality, but it was still nice to see on their flagship product. Thankfully, the MicroJigs and MicroDial tapering jig they sent me were pre-assembled. When I read through the assembly instructions, I think putting them together might have been the hardest part of using them.

In the shop, I put the GRR-Rippers right to work on my Katie’s Quilt Rack project. While building the sculpted quilt rack didn’t involve any tapered cuts, it did see lots of square rips on the table saw (to prepare the leg blanks and make the panels which were glued up for the drawer box).

For these cuts, both narrow and wide, I used the GRR-Rippers to push the maple and walnut blanks through the saw. While I’m sure most of you know how wonderful the GRR-Rippers are at cutting small and narrow stock, what impressed me the most about them was their overall gripping ability.

I used them on relatively wide stock (4” to 8”). This may make it seem as though the GRR-Rippers were unnecessary. While that is technically true (I could have cut the boards with my old push blocks), even in this situation the GRR-Rippers proved amazingly helpful. Their most outstanding feature is the grippy stuff on the bottom. It’s a rubber like material of some sort. It grips the wood like glue.

On the long, wide pieces of the quilt rack there was no edge to hook a finger (or push stick) on while performing the first 2/3 of the cut. With my hands (or a less grippy push block) I would have worried about slipping across the top of the board during such a cut. Not with the GRR-Rippers. They did not slip.

The GRR-Rippers proved a great accessory to my table saw for all cuts. Given how well they grip, I’m tempted to buy the new GRR-Rip Bock too, as it’s a simpler device with the same grippy bottom. The MicroDial Tapering Jig will have to wait until I have a tapered project. I expect it’ll perform just as well. I’ll let you know how it does.