Cutting small pieces safely and conveniently

[Don Case]

I'm cutting some cleats for the jeer blocks for the Discovery1789. In order to make them all the same I decided to cut the shape in a wide board and then I'm going to rip off the cleats on my 4" saw. I will be trying to push a piece of wood that is 5/8"x3/16"x1" through a saw that is turning 3400 rpm. Does anyone have any tips that will (1) save my fingertips for future use and (2) keep the small pieces from flying across the garage and disappearing forever into the clutter.

 

[kuba91nt]

For such cuts, I use saw featherboard,. Or I glue double-sided tape or a small amount of wood glue to a piece of plywood under this element. Then the elements stay on the plywood with double-sided tape and do not fly around. If there is not enough glue you can also peel it off from the plywood underneath.

 

[Don Case]

I don't see how a featherboard would help in my situation but I do like the tape/glue idea. I did manage to cut them using two push sticks but I did lose one piece. I cut extra so it didn't matter.

 

[kuba91nt]

On a large saw like a Bosch GTS, I use the fetherboard vertically from the top, then the element stays in place and does not fall off, or sometimes it falls under the saw anyway is cut cleanly, but the maximum width of the element can be about 5 mm. Featherboard is destroyed after a few cuts, but it works.
On a small saw like the Proxxon KS230, I use double-sided tape with plywood and it works.