Thin Rip Jig for Table Saw: Cut Safe, Identical Thin Strips Every Time

Thin strips are everywhere in woodworking: edge banding for plywood shelves, inlay lines for boxes, laminations for curved parts, cock beading for drawers, and shims for everything else. They are easy to imagine and surprisingly awkward to cut.

The usual way to rip a board, with the fence on the right and the strip between the blade and fence, works badly for thin strips. The strip is trapped in a tight space, your push stick barely fits, and the thin piece can flutter, bind and shoot backward. A thin rip jig solves all of that with one simple change: it moves the strip to the other side of the blade. In this guide, you will learn how that works, how to use a jig accurately, and which jigs make the job easiest.

In this article

1. The Problem With Cutting Thin Strips
2. How a Thin Rip Jig Works
3. Thin-Strip Methods Compared
4. Step-by-Step: Setting Up and Using a Thin Rip Jig
5. What You Can Make With Thin Strips
6. Safety Tips for Thin Rips
7. What to Look For in a Thin Rip Jig
8. Build a Simple DIY Thin Rip Jig
9. Thin Rip Jig vs Band Saw: Which Should You Use?
10. Thin Rip Jigs Worth Buying
11. Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
12. Pro Tips
13. Real-Life Examples
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Your Thin Rip Checklist

The Problem With Cutting Thin Strips

Picture ripping a ⅛-inch strip the normal way. You set the fence ⅛ inch from the blade and push the board through. The strip you want comes out between the blade and the fence, in a gap barely wider than a pencil line.

Here is why that is a problem:

• No room for your push stick. Most push sticks are too wide to fit in that narrow gap, so hands drift closer to the blade.
• The strip can get trapped. A thin strip caught between the spinning blade and the fixed fence can bind and kick back violently.
• Inconsistent thickness. Thin wood flexes, so strips often come out uneven.
• Constant measuring. Each strip means resetting and measuring the fence from the blade.

For a deeper look at why kickback happens, read our table saw kickback guide.

How a Thin Rip Jig Works

A thin rip jig is a small guide that locks into the miter slot on the opposite side of the blade from your fence, usually the left slot on a saw with a right-hand fence. It sits a few inches in front of the blade and has a bearing or roller on its edge.

Instead of setting the fence to the strip thickness, you set the jig so its bearing is exactly one strip-thickness away from the blade’s teeth. Then you push your board against the bearing and slide the fence over until it touches the other side of the board. Lock the fence and cut. The strip falls off on the left side of the blade, where nothing can trap it.

For the next strip, you unlock the fence, slide the board back against the bearing, move the fence to meet it and cut again. Every strip comes out the same thickness without measuring.

💡 Key insight: a thin rip jig flips the usual setup. The offcut becomes your strip, and the bigger board stays safely between the blade and fence, where your push stick fits easily.

Thin-Strip Methods Compared

There are a few ways to cut thin strips. Here is how they compare.

Method	Safety	Accuracy	Speed	Notes
Strip between blade and fence	Poor	Fair	Slow (re-measure each time)	Strip can be trapped; not recommended for very thin strips
Thin rip jig in miter slot	Good	Excellent, repeatable	Fast	Strip falls free on the open side
Band saw, then plane or sand	Good	Good after cleanup	Moderate	Great for resawing thicker stock into strips
Shop-made stop block on a sled	Good	Good	Moderate	Works, but less convenient than a dedicated jig

Step-by-Step: Setting Up and Using a Thin Rip Jig

The exact controls vary by jig, so check the instructions for yours. This is the general process with the saw unplugged during setup.

1. Unplug the saw and install a zero-clearance insert so thin strips cannot drop into the throat. See our guide to zero-clearance inserts.
2. Lock the jig in the miter slot on the open side of the blade, a few inches in front of the blade’s front teeth.
3. Zero the jig to the blade. Many jigs have a cursor or scale you set against a tooth that points toward the jig.
4. Set your strip thickness using the jig’s scale, or set the bearing that distance from the blade with a gauge block, then lock it.
5. Place your board against the jig’s bearing, on the fence side of the blade.
6. Slide the fence over until it touches the board, then lock the fence.
7. Remove the board slightly forward of the blade, plug in, and make the cut using a push stick or push block on the main board.
8. Repeat: unlock the fence, push the board back against the bearing, move the fence to meet it, lock and cut again.

What You Can Make With Thin Strips

Once you can cut perfect thin strips quickly, a lot of projects open up. Here are some common uses and typical strip sizes.

Project	Typical strip thickness	Why a jig helps
Edge banding for plywood	About ⅛”–¼”	Consistent thickness for neat, flush edges
Inlay and stringing	About 1/16″–⅛”	Very thin, matching pieces
Bent laminations	Thin enough to bend to your curve	Many identical strips glued into a curve
Cock beading on drawers	About ⅛”–3/16″	Uniform beading on every drawer
Shims and spacers	Any small thickness	Quick, repeatable batches
Splines for miter joints	Match your spline slot	Strips that fit the slot exactly

For bent laminations, the right thickness depends on the tightness of the curve and the wood species. Test a strip by bending it around your form before cutting a full batch. Making splines? See our spline jig guide.

Safety Tips for Thin Rips

A thin rip jig makes thin strips much safer, but good habits still matter.

• Keep the riving knife or splitter on for these through-cuts.
• Use a push stick or push block on the main board between the blade and fence. A good push block keeps it flat and tight to the fence.
• Use a zero-clearance insert so thin strips do not fall into the blade opening.
• Feed at a steady pace and do not stop halfway.
• Stand to the side of the blade, out of line with the board.
• Let the strip fall away. Do not reach for it until the blade has stopped.
• Stop when the board gets too narrow to push safely between blade and fence. Use the remainder for something else.

What to Look For in a Thin Rip Jig

1. Secure miter-slot lock. An expanding miter bar that locks firmly in standard ¾” × ⅜” slots keeps settings accurate.
2. Clear scale and zero cursor. A hairline or laser-engraved scale makes setting thickness quick and repeatable.
3. Smooth bearing or roller. Bearings let the board slide easily into position without dragging.
4. Solid build. Aluminum or steel bodies resist flexing better than thin plastic.
5. Fits your saw. Check whether your saw’s miter slots are T-slots or standard slots, and whether the jig supports them.

Build a Simple DIY Thin Rip Jig

If you prefer to make your own, a basic thin rip jig is a nice weekend project.

1. Make a miter bar from hardwood or UHMW plastic that fits your miter slot snugly.
2. Attach a short wooden block across the bar, with a slot cut into it so the block can slide sideways.
3. Mount a small bearing (a skateboard bearing works well) on the end of the block nearest the blade.
4. Add a knob and bolt through the slot so you can lock the block at any position.
5. Set the bearing a strip-thickness away from the blade, test, and adjust.

A DIY jig works well but takes time to build and tune. A commercial jig is quicker to set up and usually includes a scale, which makes changing thicknesses easier.

Thin Rip Jig vs Band Saw: Which Should You Use?

If you own a band saw, you might wonder whether you need a thin rip jig at all. Both can make thin strips, but they suit different jobs.

Choose the table saw and a thin rip jig when you need many identical strips with clean, square edges straight off the saw. Edge banding, cock beading and splines are good examples. The table saw’s cut is usually smoother, so strips often need little or no sanding.

Choose the band saw when you are resawing a thick board into thin slices, cutting strips wider than your table saw blade can handle in one pass, or working with very valuable wood where a thinner kerf saves material. Band saw strips are rougher, so plan to plane or sand them to final thickness.

Many woodworkers use both: the band saw to slice thick stock into rough boards, then the table saw and thin rip jig to cut those boards into perfectly uniform strips. If you are weighing up the two machines, our guide to table saws vs band saws explains their strengths in more detail.

Thin Rip Jigs Worth Buying

These jigs are popular with woodworkers for fast, repeatable thin strips. Specifications come from the manufacturer listings on Amazon. Check that each jig fits your saw’s miter slot type.

Jig	Body	Scale	Standout feature	Best for
Rockler Thin Rip Jig	Metal with ball bearings	Inch & metric (1/16″ / 1 mm)	Hairline zero cursor, expanding miter bar	Most woodworkers
Woodpeckers ThinRip Guide	Solid aluminum	Inch & metric, laser engraved	Dual bearings, made in USA	Precision work
GOINGMAKE Thin Rip Jig	Metal	Inch & mm	One-way roller bearing, extends to 8″	Budget buyers

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Pro Tips

• 💡 Joint one edge straight first. A straight edge against the jig bearing gives uniform strips.
• 💡 Use a fine-cut blade for strips that will show, such as inlay or edge banding.
• 💡 Keep strips in order if grain matching matters, for example on laminations or banding.
• 💡 Cut extra strips. A few spares save time if one breaks or has a flaw.
• 💡 Wax the table and fence so the board slides smoothly into position. See our guide to paste wax for table saws.
• 💡 Calibrate with calipers. A cheap digital caliper makes dialing in thickness fast and exact.

Real-Life Examples

These scenarios reflect experiences woodworkers commonly share online. They are illustrative, not specific people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your Thin Rip Checklist

• A zero-clearance insert is installed
• The jig is locked in the slot opposite the fence, in front of the blade
• The jig is zeroed to the current blade
• The strip thickness is set and checked with a test strip
• The board’s edge against the bearing is straight
• The riving knife or splitter is on
• A push stick or push block is in hand
• I stand to the side, and let strips fall away until the blade stops

A thin rip jig is one of those small accessories that changes how you work. It makes thin strips faster, more accurate and far safer, and it opens the door to edge banding, inlay and laminations you might have avoided before. Set it up carefully, test once, and enjoy perfectly matched strips every time. For more jigs that expand what your saw can do, see our guide to table saw jigs for cutting angles.