Although I think your solution will work just fine, my problem isn't the strip closing the kerf, so far I have that under control. My problem is that the plank itself is closing the kerf on the last few feet of the cut. I cobbled up a stout steel splitter and I'll see if that helps ... no reason it shouldn't.

Ken

: I think your rip fence is located too close to the blade, after the cut.
: There is no extra space for the strip to go to, and bing thin and springy,
: it just bounces back.

: You could put in a spliiter or kerf keeper, but this must be EXACTLY the same
: width as the kerf, or just a few thousandths thinner. If you made it
: thicker than the kerf, then it will do one of two things. It will either
: trap the thin strip against the fence and bind, or it will force the end
: of the board away from the fence, and give you strips with variations in
: thickness.

: There is a reasonably simple way to change this though, and that is to
: provide some area after the blade for the strip to move into. To
: accomplish this, you want your infeed fence to stop at roughly the middle
: of the sawblade -- and you do this by adding a strip of scrap wood to the
: face of the fence. Let's say you get a 2 foot long piece of 1x4, set it on
: edge, and clamp that to your fence so that one end is by the blade, and
: the other extends off the infeed side of the table. Of course you will
: need to move the fence about 3/4 of an inch away from the blade to
: accomodate this addition. Now you will find that after the cut, your strip
: has a roughly 3/4 inch area in which to maneuver, and stay away from the
: blade, while it is still on the table. Of course after it clears the table
: and the end of your fence it can move as freely as you allow.

: This works fine for the first few feet of your cut, as the board can slide
: along that 2 foot fence extension and be supported by it as it hits the
: blade. As you get to the end of the board, however, the area of the board
: in contact with the fence decreases rapidly, and you end up the cut with
: almost no control.
: This is a bad thing, so we add another control to the saw table, after the
: blade. This control surface must be aligned so that it is in line with the
: outside edge of the sawblade, and it can't be any wider 3/4 inch, or
: however thick your fence extension is. If you need a wider piece, make the
: fence extension from thicker stock. A small "C" clamp with a
: scrap of wood, or even by itself can work well. This MUST be mounted
: securely. Think of this as a well mounted splitter, or an
: "island" fence.

: Here is how it works: As you start your cut the board is forced against the
: extension you built on the infeed fence. As teh cut progresses, the new
: strip is guided between your "island" splitter and the actual
: rip fence -- remember you now have that 3/4 inch space to play with. As
: the strip goes off at a slight angle the board now rests on the side of
: that "island", and also on the infeed fence. For the remainder
: of the cut the board has two solid support points, the extended infeed
: fence and the island, so it can feed straight right up to the very last
: inch.

: Hopefully this will give you long, straight cuts.

: hope this helps

: PGJ