Band Saw Push Stick

There are a lot of push stick designs for table saws on the web but band saws need a different style push stick to provide safety. This design keeps your hand clear of the blade and guides of the band saw. I used Fusion 360 for drawing the handle but it could be cut with a coping saw or jigsaw.

Supplies

Plywood, 1" screws, 1 1/2" screws, coping saw or CNC machine.

Step 1: Measure Your Bandsaw Fence

The measurements of your push stick will depend on your saws fence dimension. I made my sides slightly higher than the height of the fence so that they slide on the table not on the top of the fence because the top of my fence is a rough casting. The key is to make it tight enough to be stable as it slides along the sides of the fence.

Step 2: Add a Handle

I cut this with a CNC machine but you could cut it with a coping saw or scroll saw. I drew my handle with Fusion 360. I found that a backsaw had just the right shape that I wanted for the handle. For a table saw you need to hold the part down as you push it through but the band saw blade assures constant down pressure on your workpiece. The backsaw provided a comfortable hand position to push the workpiece through the blade. I downloaded a picture of the saw from the web and imported it into Fusion 360 as a canvas.

Step 3: Draw Your Handle

I used some straight lines and some Fit Point Spline lines to trace the backsaw picture. I extruded the sketch to make a new body.

Step 4: Cut Out Your Handle

I used a 1/4" flat end mill to cut out the handle. Note that you want to select the cutout for the handle first and then the outside as contour cuts. Be sure to select, Preserve Order, on the passes menu in Manufacturing so that it cuts the hole for the handle before cutting the outside contour. I routed the edges of the handle with a 1/2" round over bit.

Step 5: Assemble Your Push Stick

I screwed the blade side into the top and screwed the top board into the non blade side. I screwed the handle to the non blade side. For my saw I added the handle to the non blade side guide to provide a good clearance from the blade and upper guide bearings. I used 1" thick plywood for all parts except the blade side guide which was thinner to allow cutting thinner parts.

Step 6: Use Your Push Stick

Enjoy additional safety using this push stick. Share your ideas to improve this in the comments below.